Which South Carolina welding and machining program has the lowest debt?

Horry-Georgetown Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,875, with first-year pay of $33,002.

How much do welding and machining graduates earn in South Carolina?

The median across 9 South Carolina welding and machining certificate programs is $34,928 in the first year after graduating and $45,568 five years after.

How many welding and machining certificate programs are in South Carolina?

9 South Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median South Carolina welding and machining certificate program pays its graduates $34,928 in their first year, $1,355 less than the national median. York Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($50,309), and Horry-Georgetown Technical College the lowest median debt ($5,875).

Median first-year pay$34,928National $36,283

Median pay after 5 years$45,568National $45,062

Median federal debt$10,279National $8,447

Debt-to-earnings22%National 22%

All 9 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	York Technical CollegeRock Hill · public	$50,309	$50,052	$11,250	22%
2	Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia · public	$47,556	Not reported	$10,500	22%
3	Spartanburg Community CollegeSpartanburg · public	$38,147	$38,887	Not reported	Not reported
4	Florence-Darlington Technical CollegeFlorence · public	$34,948	$37,586	$7,230	21%
5	Piedmont Technical CollegeGreenwood · public	$34,928	$45,568	$11,625	33%
6	ArclabsPiedmont · private for-profit	$34,843	Not reported	$9,500	27%
7	Greenville Technical CollegeGreenville · public	$34,761	$48,205	$10,279	30%
8	Horry-Georgetown Technical CollegeConway · public	$33,002	Not reported	$5,875	18%
9	Central Carolina Technical CollegeSumter · public	$32,196	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Spartanburg Community College and Central Carolina Technical College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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 the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

York Technical College$50,309
Midlands Technical College$47,556
Spartanburg Community College$38,147
Florence-Darlington Technical College$34,948
Piedmont Technical College$34,928

Lowest median debt

Horry-Georgetown Technical College$5,875
Florence-Darlington Technical College$7,230
Arclabs$9,500
Greenville Technical College$10,279
Midlands Technical College$10,500

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

$49,980

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $38,720Top 10%: $64,510

Machinists

$57,970

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $38,270Top 10%: $75,650

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

$44,420

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $34,000Top 10%: $62,410

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators

$51,800

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $38,350Top 10%: $67,980

Common questions

York Technical College in Rock Hill reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,309. Its median federal debt is $11,250.

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 South Carolina 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