There are welding schools in Tennessee, a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Being the 36th largest by area and the 16th most populous of the 50 states, it serves as a center of attraction for both skilled and unskilled workers.
Among the top in-demand skills in the state of Tennessee is that of a professional welder.
With an average salary of $19.60 per hour and verse specialties one can concentrate on, pursuing a career in this field becomes tempting.
The welding industry can provide you with lots of opportunities in a variety of fields, such as automotive, construction, aerospace, and manufacturing.
With over 488,000 projected job openings by the year 2028, its employment prospects become certain.
- American Welding Society says the U.S. could need more than 400,000 new welders by 2024.
- Employment of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is projected to grow 5% from 2020-2030.
- According to U.S. News & World Report, plumbers rank #2 and electricians rank #3 in a list of Best Construction Jobs, which considers salary, flexibility, and growth opportunities, among other factors.
If you are looking for a new career with a flexible schedule within a diverse industry, you may want to consider becoming a welder, however, the profession of a welder has its pros and cons, therefore understanding the challenges and benefits of becoming a welder can guide you in making an informed decision.
Knowing which schools offer training in welding could as well help you in making appropriate decisions and planning.
In this article, we will help you list the top welding schools in Tennessee and the pros and cons of becoming a professional welder.
This will help you eventually decide if becoming a welder is right for you.
The List of Welding Schools in Tennessee
- Lincoln Tech
- Chattanooga State Community College School
- Northeast State Community College
- Pellissippi State Community College
- Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Crump
- Porterville College
- Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas (CCCUA)
- Northwood Tech
- Baton Rouge Community College
- South Plains College
# Lincoln Tech
Lincoln Tech is an auto career training institute founded in 1919 and sited in the city of Nashville, the heart of Tennessee.
Their landmark campus has an amazing history of graduating successful technicians in the auto, diesel, and collision repair industries.
Formerly called Nashville Auto-Diesel College(NADC), the campus has also added welding training to help graduates enhance their career possibilities in top industries and in top countries of the world.
Its on-campus career fairs draw some of the best-known companies to its campus to meet, interview, and recruit graduates, making them attract students from different locations of the world.
Lincoln Tech offers a diversity of programs from:
- Automotive Technology, where you have to choose between Automotive Technology, Survive management, or its high-performance training options.
- Collision Repairs and Refinishing Technology, where you will have to complete some online coursework from home, enabling you to spend more time on hands-on auto repairs.
- Diesel and Truck Technology, here about 92% of Nashville campus graduates get hired in the field when they graduate1.
- Heavy Equipment Maintenance Technology.
- Welding and Metal Fabrication Technology – The State of Tennessee projects 8% job growth for Welders by 2028
Lincoln Tech’s historic Nashville, TN campus covers 17 acres and has everything you need to launch an exciting, rewarding new career field in welding.
# Chattanooga State Community College School
The next school on our list of welding schools in Tennessee is Chattanooga State Community College school.
From its opening in downtown Chattanooga in September 1965, the institution has been focused on supplying the technical workforce of the region, particularly in engineering technology and computer science.
They offer a range of different programs including a combination of basic welding techniques and other technical aspects of welding.
At Chattanooga State Community College School, students learn basic oxy-acetylene cutting and welding; shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) gas metal arc welding (GMAW); flux-cored arc welding (FCAW), and gas tungsten arc gas welding (GTAW).
More so, students at Chattanooga state community college school are meant to complete coursework in mathematics and blueprint reading for welding.
They also offer full-time day courses and evening courses at the main campus, Kimball campus, and Dayton welding lab.
Chattanooga State Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award the Associate Degree.
If you are looking for a welding school in Tennessee, you should probably consider choosing them.
# Northeast State Community College
Northeast State Community College is a comprehensive two-year community college under the governance of the Tennessee board Regents of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee.
As a comprehensive community college, Northeast State provides university parallel programs designed for students desiring to transfer to another college or university, or career.
They offer a combination of wielding technical certificate programs and that made them land on our list of welding schools in Tennessee, designed to help students for eventual employment as welders in an industrial setting.
They provide instruction in areas such as blueprint reading, Oxy-fuel cutting, brazing and welding, stick-arc Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (MIG), Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (TIG), plasma arc cutting, and carbon arc cutting.
Northeast State Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award the associate degree.
You may consider checking them through their official web address in the northeast state, if you are within Tennessee, and want to build a career in the welding profession.
# Pellissippi State Community College
Pellissippi State Community College (Pellissippi State) is a public community college based in Knox and Blount counties in Tennessee and a successor of the former State Technical Institute at Knoxville founded in 1974.
It is operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college’s main campus is located in west Knox County.
They have about four satellite campuses in the surrounding area. They offer a range of programs like Welding Technology which is designed to train individuals to weld using Gas Metal Arc (MIG), Gas Tungsten Arc (TIG), Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Flux Core Welding (FCAW) on plate and pipe.
The Welding program is aligned with the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) and American Welding Society (AWS) guidelines.
Graduates from this program will be prepared to test for national industry certifications in codes and standards such as AWS, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the American Petroleum Institute (API).
Welding technicians also acquire a general education background, including mathematics and science, while studying welding processes.
Upon completion of the welding program at Pellissippi State Community College, the graduate must have developed skills, knowledge, and abilities to:
- Reach their full potential in the welding field.
- Use the correct procedure in setting up equipment and skills used in welding.
- Use Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Gas Metal Arc Welding, and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding machines in both pipe and plate welding.
- Explain the physical characteristics of different metals.
- Develop the cognitive and physical skills necessary to pass certification tests.
- Apply welding knowledge to effectively utilize problem-solving skills as it relates to the operation of equipment in the industry.
- Demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze, and synthesize relevant data from multiple information sources in order to develop acceptable conclusions.
Will it be a dream come through to build a career in welding? then Pellissippi State Community College could as well help bring such dreams into reality. Why don’t you check them out today?
# Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Crump
On our list of welding schools in Tennessee, the next is Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Crump.
This College is one of 46 institutions in the Tennessee Board of Regents system, the seventh-largest system of higher education in the state.
The Tennessee College of Applied technology-Crump is fully accredited by Council on Occupational Education. They offer certificates and diplomas in the following programs:
- Collision Repair Technology
- Business Systems Technology
- Computer Information Systems (CIS)
- Computer Information Technician (CIT)
- Computerized Graphics Design
- Drafting & CAD Technology
- Electronics Technology
- Health Information Technology
- Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, & Refrigeration
- Industrial Electricity
- Industrial Maintenance
- Machine Tool Technology
- Practical Nursing
- Technology Foundations
- Welding Technology
Why don’t you check them out today, and see how they can assist you in bringing your dreams of becoming a professional welder to reality.
# Porterville College
Porterville College is a community college located in the United States, originally established in 1927.
It’s a small institution with an enrollment of about 1,383 undergraduate students.
The acceptance rate of this college is 100% and they offer a range of programs, certificates, and degrees.
Degrees programs include Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Arts for Transfer, and Associate of Science for Transfer.
Certificates include the Jobs Skill Certificate and Certificate of Achievement.
They offer online courses for non-traditional students and working adults who are unable to attend a full-time campus program.
Their welding courses are flexible as well if you wish to combine them with your tight work schedule.
Graduate students of Porterville College earn as high as a starting salary of $20,000. Visit them today, and you won’t regret what you did.
# Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas (CCCUA)
Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas(CCUA) is a public community college serving southwest Arkansas.
It has its main campus located in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in De Queen, Arkansas.
The Cossatot-Vocational-Technical School was established in 1975, with the aim of serving as a location for serving basic vocational education.
In 1991, the institution was renamed Cossatot Technical College through legislative actions.
Ten years later in 2001, Cossatot Technical College joined the University of Arkansas System, becoming Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas.
Since then, the college has expanded to offer Technical Certificates in seven programs, Certificates of Proficiency in thirteen programs, and five Associate’s Degree programs.
CCUA is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and its programs have been approved by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
Several of its individual programs have been approved by national accrediting organizations as well.
At CCUA, students are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and ethics to improve their quality of life and the world around them.
They combine individualized training and decades of instructor experience to create a realistic, on-the-job environment, along with a curriculum packed with the most sought-after skills in the industry.
You can give them a try if quality welding training is what you want.
# Northwood Tech
Northwood Tech is a top-ranked college serving the northwest region of Wisconsin, with multiple convenient locations and offerings, including career-focused degree and certificate programs, customized training for businesses, and a wide array of personal and career enrichment courses.
The Northwood Tech College welding program teaches safety during all aspects of welding and cutting.
The next program you will be exposed to as a student in this college is the science and art of cutting, fabricating, and welding using the latest equipment and technologies.
Most entry-level welders can expect to be employed full-time with full fringe benefits. Their duties can include fabricating parts and assemblies by reading blueprints, codes, specifications, weld symbols, and drawings.
Beginners can assist with material preparation, tack up, fitting, and finally welding when you prove your ability in the workplace.
The work can be physically demanding. Welding requires good manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Other essential employability skills include paying attention to details, working well with others in teams, having good communication skills, a positive attitude, excellent attendance and punctuality, and a good work ethic. Manual, semi-automatic and robotic welding will all continue to enjoy strong demand for the foreseeable future.
More so, As a student of Northwood Tech, You will spend the majority of your time in the lab practicing different welding and cutting processes along with fabricating a number of different projects.
Northwood Tech’s welding labs are equipped with the latest welding technology. You will learn to use a CNC plasma cutter, robotic welder, and weld simulator along with SMAW, GMAW, FCAW and GTAW welding machines.
Northwood Tech is committed to making your experience meaningful and professional with faculty and staff who care about your individual success.
# Baton Rouge Community College
Baton Rouge Community College is a public college established on June 28, 1995. The College settled into its permanent location in 1996.
The Campus consists of six buildings: Governors Building, Louisiana Building, Cypress Building, Bienvenue Student Center, the Magnolia Library and Performing Arts Pavilion, and the Bonne Santé Wellness Center.
The college’s current enrollment is more than 7,000 students. The Baton Rouge Community College offers collegiate and career education for transfer to four-year colleges and universities, community education programs and services, lifelong learning, developmental education, distance learning, and workforce and continuing education programs.
The curricular offerings include courses and programs leading to transfer credits, certificates, and associate degrees.
They also offer welding programs. This program prepares individuals for employment in the field of welding. Instruction is provided in various processes and techniques of welding, flux-cored arc welding, plasma arc welding, blueprint reading, weld symbols, and joints.
After completion of this program, the student will have covered the skills designated by the American Welding Society (AWS) and will be prepared to take the AWS Entry Level Welder test. To receive a diploma as a student in this college, you must
- Have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or better in all credit hours that are to be used towards the degree.
- Earn a “C” or better in all coursework.
- Complete the coursework listed in the student’s catalog of entry.
This program has six exit points where the student may obtain a Certificate of Technical Studies as a Production Line Welder; a Certificate of Technical Studies as a Structural Welder; a Certificate of Technical Studies as a SMAW Pipe Welder; a Certificate of Technical Studies as GTAW Pipe Welder; a Certificate of Technical Studies as FCAW Plate Welder; and a Certificate of Technical Studies as GMAW Plate Welder. To know to learn more about this college, visit their official website mybrcc.
# South Plains College
South Plains College is a comprehensive, two-year community college with innovative educational programs that span the arts and sciences, technical education, continuing education, and workforce development.
The College’s educational program includes academic transfer courses which parallel university programs for students who plan to earn a bachelor’s degree.
SPC also maintains a diverse offering of one and two-year technical programs for students who want to develop specific job skills and then enter the world of work.
Varied degree programs can be found in the fine arts, creative arts, the sciences, social sciences, behavioral sciences, communications, languages, mathematics, engineering, business administration and physical education.
Students who attend SPC complete their freshman and sophomore course work and then transfer to a university to complete the remaining years of a baccalaureate program.
The College’s faculty advisor system helps students plan for successful transfer.
South Plains College also provides short-term training and workforce development programs in a variety of formats that help individuals gain marketable skills for immediate employment or that help them upgrade existing skills to meet emerging job technologies.
Through its Division of Continuing and Distance Education, the college is an active participant in the area’s economic development efforts.
The College Welding Technology program is designed to train the student in the fundamentals of industrial welding processes with an emphasis on layout and design. Specific areas of training include welding processes, welding procedures, blueprint reading, welding metallurgy, plate welding, pipe welding, pipe fitting, plate and pipe layout and fabrication, welding inspection, and weld testing methods.
SPC takes great pride in its teaching faculty and its teaching facilities. Instructors are highly qualified in their respective areas of study.
But more importantly, they are associated with SPC because they want to teach. If you want to start a career in welding or you want to advance your career, then South Plains College is a place to start
High Schools with Welding Programs in Tennessee
- Bradley Central High School
- Grundy County High School
- Oak Ridge High School
- Rutledge High School
Other Welding Schools in Tennessee for Certification
- Humphrey’s County Vocational
- Jacobs Creek Job Corps Center
- Senator Frank P Lashlee Career And Technical Center
- Sequoyah Technology Center
- Tennessee College Applied Tech Knoxville
- Tennessee Technology Center – Athens
- Welding 101 LLC
- Tennessee Operations
- Tennessee Valley Institute for Materials
How much does an Average welder earn?
There Is no doubt that the welding profession pays much. The possibility of touring the world with this career makes it very attractive.
An average professional welder earns as much as $38,822 per year.
Though the salary scale may vary with experience, certification, location, and company, you can further increase your earning potential through training, higher-level certifications, and increased work time.
How much does a welding school cost in Tennessee?
On average, welding schools in Tennessee cost as much as $6770.00, though this amount may vary with respect to institutions, programs being offered, and the duration of the program as well.
How long does it take to become a welder in Tennessee?
On average, certificate programs in the welding schools in Tennesee such as Welder Helper, Shielded Metal Arc Welder, Gas Metal Arc Welder, and Gas Tungsten Arc Welder programs range from 84 clock hours to 1296 hours.
The Welder diploma program also lasts the same hour. This could still vary with respect to different welding schools.
What type of welding pays the most?
Typically, Rig welders are among the highest-paid welders in the world. This type of welder work for a longer time and difficult hours as well.
They require the most advanced education and qualifications considering how important their role is.
A mistake from their end could be catastrophic, so companies take time to hire the best to fill in such positions.
Pros of being a welder
Some of the pros of being a welder can include:
Job security
The high demand for professionals in this field, makes the few in the industry quite appreciated.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of welders to grow 3 percent from 2019-to 2029, which is only slightly below the 4% average of all jobs in that span.
The agency cites the aging infrastructure in the country as a factor that will provide jobs for people in this industry over that time, which could help create job security for skilled welders.
It also notes job prospects will vary based on a person’s experience or willingness to relocate.
Easy entry
You can become a welder in the welding industry and get certified even without a former education or experience.
There are several ways to get certified in this field and also different certificate programs available that could help you scale your career as a welder.
One of the ways to get certified is to enroll in any other of the above-listed training institutes. Getting certified is necessary if you demand higher pay, and want to rise through the ranks.
Salary
The average salary for a welder is $38,822 per year. This can vary based on experience, certifications, location, and company.
Considering overtime hours and additional projects that you can do, your salary can increase.
Through training and higher-level certifications, you can advance further in the industry and increase your experience for a higher rate of pay.
Diverse industry
The welding profession is quite a diverse one and exposes one to lots of industries. As a result, a typical welder can work across several locations while cutting across several industries.
With many jobs that require travel, you could receive housing benefits or healthcare packages, along with additional training on the job.
Learning new methods and strategies while doing jobs in other regions and with different work cultures and environments can help you develop your skills, too.
Cons of being a welder
Some cons of being a welder and ways to overcome them include:
Work environment
Due to the use of high heat and machinery, it’s important for a facility to have strong safety protocols.
Welders could be prone to burns from welding heat. Welding could also expose one to eye defects as a result of constant eye contact with bright light, however, the use of protective clothes could protect one from hazardous working conditions, and the use of goggles could as well prevent future eye defects
Physical challenges
Welding work can take longer than expected. Welding in tight or constricted areas for periods of time may be physically challenging.
Once you’ve gained more experience, you might develop new methods to optimize your welding so you can lessen the time your welding takes or plan your projects in a way that helps you avoid uncomfortable workspaces.
The more you work with the equipment and get more familiar with it, it could become easier and more comfortable to use, as welders are also prone to physical wounds from falls of heavy metals, etc.
Conclusion
In summary, Starting a career in welding could be rewarding, however, there are many pros and cons to becoming a welder.
Many welding schools in Tennessee, just as we have listed above exist where you could attend to acquire the skill of becoming a welder, however, you may want to find out the financial requirements, the program structure, and the duration of each school before considering them.
Whether you are a complete novice looking to start a career in this field or a professional that wants to acquire more skills in welding, or you want to earn a certification and get work or advance your degree. Any of the above-listed schools is a great place to start.