How to Select a Welding Degree Program near Williamsport Indiana

Selecting the right welding trade school near Williamsport IN is an important first step to launching your new career as a professional welder. But since there are so many schools to pick from, how do you determine which ones to consider? And more importantly, once you have fine tuned your choices, how do you select the best one? Many prospective students start by looking at the schools that are nearest to their residences. When they have identified those that are within driving distance, they are drawn toward the least expensive one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are necessary considerations when evaluating welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before starting your search for a vocational school to become a welder, it’s wise to establish a list of qualifications that your chosen school must have. But before we examine our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.

Welding Certificate and Degree Training Classes

There are several options to obtain training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can obtain a a certificate, a diploma or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are offered in Welding Technology or Welding Engineering, but are more advanced courses than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered combined with an apprenticeship program. Below are short summaries of the most prevalent welding programs available in the Williamsport IN.

• Diploma and Certificate Programs are generally made available by trade and technical schools and require about 1 year to complete. They are more hands-on training in scope, fashioned largely to teach welding skills. They can provide a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or supplemental skills for experienced welders.
• Associate Degree Programs will take 2 years to finish and are usually offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology provides a more extensive education than the certificate or diploma while still supplying the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.

Some municipalities and states do have licensing requirements for welders, therefore make sure to find out for your location of potential employment. As needed, the welder school you pick should ready you for any licensing examinations that you will need to pass in addition to supplying the appropriate training to become a professional welder.

Welding Certification Alternatives

There are several institutions that offer welding certifications, which assess the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Many Williamsport IN employers not only demand a degree or certificate from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a respected agency like the American Welding Society (AWS). A variety of certifications are offered based upon the type of work that the welder performs. Just some of the things that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to

• Work in compliance with specific codes
• Work with specific metal thicknesses
• Work with specific types of welds
• Work based on contract specifications

As already stated, some cities, states or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those mandating licensing, some also require certification for different types of work. Certification is also a means to demonstrate to employers that you are a highly skilled and knowledgeable welder. So just as with licensing, look into the requirements for your local area and make certain that the welder trade school you decide on preps you for certification as needed.

How to Select a Welding Trade Program

Once you have chosen the credential you would like to attain, a certificate, diploma or degree, you can start to evaluate schools. As you can imagine, there are a large number of welder vocational and trade schools in the Williamsport IN area. That’s why it’s important to establish up front what qualifications your school of choice must have. We have previously covered 2 important ones that many people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are essential qualifiers, they are not the only ones that should be considered. After all, the school you choose is going to provide the education that will be the foundation of your new career as a welder. So below are more factors you may want to consider before picking a welder technical school.

Accreditation. It’s very important that the welding trade school you pick is accredited by either a national or a regional organization. There are 2 standard kinds of accreditation. The school may earn Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school offers, for example Welding Technology. So confirm that the program you select is accredited, not just the school alone. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting organization, like the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). In addition to helping make sure that you obtain a quality education, the accreditation might also assist in securing financial assistance or student loans, which are often not available in Williamsport IN for non-accredited schools. Also, for those states or local governments that mandate licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited also.

Apprenticeship and Job Placement Programs. Many welding degree or diploma programs are offered combined with an apprenticeship program. Other schools will assist in placing you in an apprenticeship or a job after graduation. Ask if the schools you are reviewing assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance program. These schools should have partnerships with local unions and various metal working businesses to which they can refer their students. Older schools may have a more substantial network of graduates that they can utilize for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and establish associations within the Williamsport IN welding community.

Job Placement and Completion Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that start an educational program and finish it. It’s crucial that the welding program you choose has a high completion rate. A reduced rate might signify that the students who joined the program were unhappy with the training, the teachers, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also an indication of the caliber of training. A higher job placement rate will not only confirm that the program has a good reputation within the trade, but also that it has the network of Williamsport IN contacts to assist students secure apprenticeships or employment upon graduation.

Modern Facilities and Equipment. Once you have decreased your selection of welder programs to 2 or 3 options, you should think out visiting the campuses to inspect their facilities. Confirm that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be taught on are up-to-date. In particular, the training equipment should be comparable to what you will be using in the field. If you are uncertain what to look for, and are currently in an apprenticeship program, ask the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local Williamsport IN welding contractor if they can give you a few pointers.

School Location. Although we previously briefly discussed the importance of location, there are a couple of additional points that we should cover. You should bear in mind that unless you have the ability to move, the welding school you select must be within driving distance of your Williamsport IN home. If you do choose to enroll in an out-of-state school, in addition to moving costs there might be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is particularly the case for welder degree programs offered by community colleges. Furthermore, if the school provides a job placement or apprenticeship program, often their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school needs to be in a region or state where you ultimately will wish to work.

Small Classes. Individualized instruction is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to get lost in larger classes and not obtain much one-on-one instruction. Find out what the average class size is for the welding programs you are looking at. Inquire if you can attend a few classes so that you can observe just how much individual attention the students are getting. While there, speak with a few of the students and get their feedback. Similarly, talk to a couple of the teachers and ask what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they hold.

Convenient Class Schedules. Some people learn a new trade while still working at their current job. Check to see that the class schedules for the schools you are reviewing are convenient enough to satisfy your needs. If you can only attend classes at night or on weekends near Williamsport IN, confirm that the schools you are reviewing offer those alternatives. If you can only attend part-time, make sure that the school you decide on offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the protocol is to make up classes should you miss any because of work, sickness or family responsibilities.

Will You Be Attending Welding School Near Williamsport IN?

Perhaps you live in the Williamsport Indiana area, or have decided to enroll in a Welding Program that has a campus near there.  In either case, you may find this bit of history both interesting and informative.

Online Welding Classes

Welding is very much a manual kind of trade, and therefore not very compatible with training online. Even so, there are a small number of online welding classes offered by specific community colleges and trade schools in the greater Williamsport IN area that may count toward a certificate or degree program. These classes primarily cover such topics as reading blueprints, safety,, and metallurgy. They can help give a beginner a foundation to initiate their education and training. Nevertheless, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or handle welding materials unless you actually do it. Clearly that can’t be performed online. These skills have to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for experienced welders that would like to advance their knowledge or possibly attain a more advanced degree. So if you should discover an online welding degree or certificate program, be extremely careful and confirm that the larger part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.

Find the Right Welding Vocational Program Williamsport IN

Selecting the best welding school will probably be the most important decision you will make to launch your new career. As we have addressed in this article, there are a number of things that you will need to assess and compare between the schools you are looking at. It’s a necessity that any welding training program that you are examining includes a lot of hands-on instruction. Classes should be small in size and each student should have their own welding machine to train on. Classroom education needs to provide a real-world context, and the curriculum should be up-to-date and conform with industry standards. Training programs differ in duration and the type of credential offered, so you will have to ascertain what length of program and certificate or degree will best fulfill your needs. Every program offers different possibilities for certification also. Perhaps the best way to research your final list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the students and instructors. Invest some time to monitor a few classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the school you select is the ideal one for you. With the proper training, effort and dedication, the end result will be a new career as a professional welder in Williamsport IN.