Which California welding and machining program has the lowest debt?

Fab School reports the lowest median federal debt, $4,449, with first-year pay of $39,592.

How much do welding and machining graduates earn in California?

The median across 7 California welding and machining certificate programs is $35,194 in the first year after graduating and $42,985 five years after.

How many welding and machining certificate programs are in California?

7 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Welding and Machining (Certificate) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

7 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Certificate in Precision Metal Working

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California welding and machining certificate program pays its graduates $35,194 in their first year, $1,089 less than the national median. Santa Ana College reports the highest first-year pay ($45,864), and Fab School the lowest median debt ($4,449).

Median first-year pay$35,194National $36,283

Median pay after 5 years$42,985National $45,062

Median federal debt$8,023National $8,447

Debt-to-earnings26%National 22%

All 7 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Santa Ana CollegeSanta Ana · public	$45,864	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	Fab SchoolRancho Cucamonga · private for-profit	$39,592	$45,701	$4,449	11%
3	Summit CollegeSan Bernardino · private for-profit	$37,502	$50,401	$7,600	20%
4	Institute of Technology (California)Clovis · private for-profit	$35,194	Not reported	$9,703	28%
5	CET-San JoseSan Jose · private nonprofit	$32,817	$40,269	$8,424	26%
6	Advanced Career InstituteVisalia · private for-profit	$31,401	$35,164	$8,023	26%
7	Merced CollegeMerced · public	$27,541	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Santa Ana College and Merced College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every California welding and machining program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Santa Ana College$45,864
Fab School$39,592
Summit College$37,502
Institute of Technology (California)$35,194
CET-San Jose$32,817

Lowest median debt

Fab School$4,449
Summit College$7,600
Advanced Career Institute$8,023
CET-San Jose$8,424
Institute of Technology (California)$9,703

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$58,060

Median pay in California. 26,060 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $44,520Top 10%: $81,940

Machinists

$57,190

Median pay in California. 18,950 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $37,440Top 10%: $88,280

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

$48,450

Median pay in California. 7,710 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $37,090Top 10%: $68,500

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators

$56,510

Median pay in California. 21,680 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $39,670Top 10%: $76,840

Common questions

Santa Ana College in Santa Ana reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,864.

Welding and Machining (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked263 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the welding and machining certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024