Florence-Darlington Technical College Welding and Machining (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Precision Metal Working
- Public college
- Florence, SC
- About 97 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Florence-Darlington Technical College welding and machining graduates earn about what welding and machining graduates earn nationally, $34,948 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $7,230 in federal loans, close to the national median of $8,447. Several South Carolina programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The South Carolina and national columns are the medians across all welding and machining certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Florence-Darlington Technical College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $7,982 less than the South Carolina median. Several South Carolina programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every South Carolina welding and machining program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the South Carolina medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 8% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $77 a month, or 2.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (47 of 49) were working in South Carolina one year after graduating. Prices in the Florence area are about 13% below the national average, so a $34,948 salary here buys what about $40,275 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to welding and machining, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
$49,980Median pay in South Carolina. 7,380 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Machinists
$57,970Median pay in South Carolina. 3,790 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 26,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
$44,420Median pay in South Carolina. 4,100 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators
$51,800Median pay in South Carolina. 2,460 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Florence-Darlington Technical College
Welding and Machining is the only certificate program at Florence-Darlington Technical College that reports first-year earnings.
Other welding and machining certificate programs near Florence
Common questions
The median graduate earns $34,948 one year after graduating and $37,586 five years after. The median across welding and machining certificate programs in South Carolina is $34,928.
The median federal loan balance is $7,230, which ranks 2nd lowest of 7 welding and machining certificate programs in South Carolina. That works out to about $77 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 21% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 22%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20–39%.
Most do. 96% (47 of 49) were working in South Carolina one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of South Carolina comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the welding and machining program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024