Which Minnesota welding and machining program has the lowest debt?

South Central College reports the lowest median federal debt, $3,666, with first-year pay of $41,527.

How much do welding and machining graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 13 Minnesota welding and machining certificate programs is $49,342 in the first year after graduating and $58,679 five years after.

How many welding and machining certificate programs are in Minnesota?

13 Minnesota programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

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

13 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Certificate in Precision Metal Working

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Minnesota welding and machining certificate program pays its graduates $49,342 in their first year, $13,059 more than the national median. Hennepin Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($52,456), and South Central College the lowest median debt ($3,666).

Median first-year pay$49,342National $36,283

Median pay after 5 years$58,679National $45,062

Median federal debt$9,415National $8,447

Debt-to-earnings18%National 22%

All 13 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	Hennepin Technical CollegeBrooklyn Park · public	$52,456	$59,492	$9,329	18%
2	Alexandria Technical & Community CollegeAlexandria · public	$51,141	$60,991	$9,500	19%
3	Saint Paul CollegeSaint Paul · public	$50,842	$60,060	$9,928	20%
4	Dakota County Technical CollegeRosemount · public	$50,464	$52,690	$5,500	11%
5	St Cloud Technical and Community CollegeSaint Cloud · public	$49,636	$64,258	$9,500	19%
6	Anoka Technical CollegeAnoka · public	$49,632	$56,646	$8,692	18%
7	Minnesota State College SoutheastWinona · public	$49,342	$52,462	$12,500	25%
8	Dunwoody College of TechnologyMinneapolis · private nonprofit	$44,559	$58,679	$6,333	14%
9	Ridgewater CollegeWillmar · public	$44,421	$58,734	$9,750	22%
10	Lake Superior CollegeDuluth · public	$43,610	$59,897	$13,350	31%
11	Minnesota West Community and Technical CollegeGranite Falls · public	$42,830	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
12	South Central CollegeNorth Mankato · public	$41,527	$52,960	$3,666	9%
13	Central Lakes College-BrainerdBrainerd · public	$40,671	$59,736	$5,500	14%

Minnesota West Community and Technical College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Hennepin Technical College$52,456
Alexandria Technical & Community College$51,141
Saint Paul College$50,842
Dakota County Technical College$50,464
St Cloud Technical and Community College$49,636

Lowest median debt

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

$60,280

Median pay in Minnesota. 9,270 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $45,690Top 10%: $75,710

Machinists

$61,140

Median pay in Minnesota. 12,500 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $46,550Top 10%: $80,380

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

$49,770

Median pay in Minnesota. 6,130 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $34,670Top 10%: $64,700

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators

$56,780

Median pay in Minnesota. 4,290 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $43,890Top 10%: $76,340

Common questions

Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park reports the highest median first-year pay, $52,456. Its median federal debt is $9,329.

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 Minnesota 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