Madison Area Technical College Welding and Machining (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Precision Metal Working
- Public college
- Madison, WI
- About 124 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Madison Area Technical College welding and machining graduates earn about what welding and machining graduates earn nationally, $37,860 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $9,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $8,447. Several Wisconsin programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all welding and machining certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Madison Area Technical College graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Wisconsin median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin welding and machining program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 38% 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 $101 a month, or 3.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
94% of graduates (33 of 35) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the Madison area are about 3% below the national average, so a $37,860 salary here buys what about $38,916 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
$58,410Median pay in Wisconsin. 15,320 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$59,110Median pay in Wisconsin. 12,700 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$49,270Median pay in Wisconsin. 7,960 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$52,690Median pay in Wisconsin. 8,330 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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 Madison Area Technical College
Welding and Machining ranks 3rd of 7 certificate programs at Madison Area Technical College by first-year earnings. The top three are Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($57,005), Health and Medical Administration ($43,237), and Welding and Machining ($37,860).
Other welding and machining certificate programs near Madison
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,860 one year after graduating and $52,292 five years after. The median across welding and machining certificate programs in Wisconsin is $41,852.
The median federal loan balance is $9,500, which ranks 10th lowest of 12 welding and machining certificate programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $101 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 25% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 22%. Compare the cost with other Wisconsin programs before deciding.
Most do. 94% (33 of 35) were working in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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