Drafting and CAD TechnologyAS DegreeCertificate of Achievement
- Community of interest
- Industrial Technologies & Agriculture
- Award
- AS Degree
- Program code
- 01324.00AS
- Department
- Drafting/CAD
- CIP code
- 15.1301: Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General.
- TOP code
- 0953.00 - Drafting Technology*
Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP
Program Snapshot
- Community of interest
- ITAG Industrial Technologies & Agriculture
- Award
- AS Degree
- Program code
- 01324.00AS
- Department
- Drafting/CAD
- CIP code
- 15.1301: Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General.
- TOP code
- 0953.00 - Drafting Technology*
Next Steps
AS Degree — expand to learn about this award
The Associate of Science is typically awarded for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Like every Butte College associate degree, it has two parts: a general-education curriculum that gives you a broad base of knowledge, and an academic program where you specialize.
About General Education. GE is an integrated program of learning designed to foster intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, critical thinking, creative reasoning, oral and written communication, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. By graduation, you'll have developed the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, apply quantitative reasoning, understand how the major academic disciplines ask their questions, comprehend diverse cultures and historical periods, and assess ethical problems — alongside the depth you build in your major.
Semester-by-Semester Map
Term 1
Class Schedules
course details
This course is an examination of information technologies and information systems used in business. It focuses on information systems, database management systems, networking, ethics and security, computer hardware, and software applications and development. It applies these concepts and methods through hands-on projects developing computer-based solutions to business problems. (C-ID ITIS 120).
course details
This is a computer-based graphics course that introduces students to graphical design and problem-solving using freehand sketching and the solid modeling application, SolidWorks. Topics include sketching and modeling using extrudes, sweeps, revolves, and lofts. Additional topics include assemblies’ development and detail drawing output as relevant to fields such as: Manufacturing, Engineering, Production Assembly, etc. Graphics standards including American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Y14.5 and international standards application will be introduced and practiced.
course details
This course covers the theory and applications of trigonometry. The topics include definitions of circular and right triangle trigonometric functions, graphs, identities, equations, solutions of right and oblique triangles, vectors, polar coordinates, and complex numbers.
Prerequisite: Intermediate Algebra or equivalent
Select one:
General Education: Area 1A
about Area 1A
English Composition
Baccalaureate-level academic writing — expository and argumentative. The foundation for every other course you'll write in.
Term 2
Class Schedules
course details
In this computer-based graphics course, students who have already completed the learning objectives of DFT-2: Engineering Graphics I, will be introduced to more advanced uses of the solid modeling application, SolidWorks. These uses include Simulation of parts using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) methodology, Sheet Metal, Weldments, and the concepts of Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing). Students will model parts and will test them using simulation and engineering analysis. Topics within simulation include static, frequency, thermal, vibration and drop test analysis methods. The use of simulation to generate engineering reports will be introduced and reports will be generated. Sheet Metal and Weldments with demonstrations and assignments will incorporate the use within industries such as: Manufacturing, Engineering, Drafting, and Production Assembly.
Prerequisite: DFT 2
course details
This course introduces students to basic drafting concepts using both freehand sketching and AutoCAD, an industry-standard computer-aided drafting (CAD) application. It is intended for drafting majors, engineering majors, interior design majors and pre-architectural students. Topics include line and geometric shape development, freehand sketching, basic AutoCAD commands, text commands, file management, orthographic and pictorial projection, dimensioning, sectioning, auxiliaries, and architectural drawings using sketching and a two-dimensional (2D) drafting application. Document reproduction, printing and plotting will be introduced and practiced.
General Education: Area 2
about Area 2
Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning
College-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning — the toolkit behind science, business, and informed citizenship.
General Education: Area 3
about Area 3
Arts and Humanities
How people and cultures, across time, respond to themselves and the world through artistic and cultural creative production. Visual and performing arts, art history, foreign languages, literature, philosophy, religion.
General Education: Area 5
about Area 5
Physical and Biological Sciences
The physical universe, its life forms, and its natural phenomena — astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, oceanography, physics — taught alongside the scientific method that makes them work.
Term 3
Class Schedules
course details
This is a computer-based drafting course that introduces the student to architectural drafting applications. Building on basic drafting concepts learned previously, this course will introduce residential design concepts including floor plans, foundation plans and details, elevations, framing and section plans, mechanical, electrical and plumbing plans and engineering site plans. Students will also be introduced to three-dimensional (3D) architectural modeling. Students will prepare a plan set including coversheet, site plan, floor plan, electrical plan, elevations, building section and construction details using AutoCAD.
course details
In this computer-based course, students will be introduced to Revit, a three-dimensional (3D) modeling for architecture and Building Information Modeling (BIM). Topics will cover architectural modeling and design with BIM tools for parametric design and documentation. The focus of the course is on residential architecture and covers the initiation of a design, the development of a design and production of a presentation and sheet set for a design.
Select one:
General Education: Area 4
about Area 4
Social and Behavioral Sciences
The systematic study of people as members of society — cultural anthropology, cultural geography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology — and the methods these disciplines use to ask their questions.
General Education: Area 6
about Area 6
Ethnic Studies
The histories, experiences, and contributions of the four autonomous disciplines: Black / African American / Africana studies, Native American studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, and Asian American studies.
Term 4
Class Schedules
course details
This course is a continuation of the computer-based Building Information Modeling (BIM) course. Students who have already completed the learning objectives of DFT-45 Building Information Modeling will be introduced to advanced techniques and concepts of BIM within the software, Revit. Topics will include design options, phasing of design, work sets, site, area analysis, creating in-place and advanced families, massing, and rendering. Students will complete a large scale project with activities spanning the entire course including project phases, project management, material costing and extensive modeling in 3D.
Prerequisite: DFT 45
General Education: Area 1B
about Area 1B
Oral Communication and Critical Thinking
Baccalaureate-level oral communication and/or critical thinking — speaking with structure to a live audience, analyzing arguments, identifying assumptions.
Elective (any course numbered 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.
Career Connections
2-Year Degree Paths
Entry points students may pursue after associate-level study, technical preparation, or licensure pathways.
No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset point cleanly to an immediate 2-year outcome for this program.
4-Year Degree Paths
Roles that more often open up after transfer and a bachelor's degree.
Example roles: 4
- Mechanical Drafters
- Electrical and Electronics Drafters
- Drafters, All Other
Graduate School Paths
Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.
No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the graduate-school pathway for this program.
Local Job Market
Mechanical DraftersSOC 17-30132 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- EMCOR Group Inc 1
- Manpower Temporary Services 1
Where the postings are
- Bryte, Yolo County 1
- Lemmon Valley, Washoe County 1
Sample current postings
Electrical and Electronics DraftersSOC 17-3012no nearby openings indexed
No nearby openings matched any of: electrical and electronics drafter, electronics drafter. Browse this occupation on Adzuna for postings outside the mapped keyword set.
Drafters, All OtherSOC 17-301934 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- PG&E Corporation 4
- PG&E Corporation Careers 3
- Actalent 1
- ENTRUST Solutions Group 1
- Gpac 1
Where the postings are
- Bryte, Yolo County 3
- West Sacramento, Yolo County 3
- Rancho Cordova, Sacramento County 2
- Reno, Washoe County 2
- Elk Grove, Sacramento County 1
Sample current postings
Architectural and Civil DraftersSOC 17-30111 nearby opening
Top employers in sample
- SAFEbuilt 1
Where the postings are
- Elk Grove, Sacramento County 1
Sample current postings
Posting counts come from Adzuna's index of US job boards, covering the last up to 90 days within up to 100 miles of ZIP 95965. Coverage and salary visibility vary by employer. Empty searches expand the radius and posting window before the section gives up.
Source Notes
Course sequencing is generated from the Acadia Program Mapper cache. Career groupings use local CIP-to-SOC mappings and BLS occupation data when available. Confirm education plans with Counseling and Advising.
Live wage data was not available from the BLS helper for the mapped occupations, so some pay fields may be blank.
Last generated 2026-07-05T16:55+00:00