Which Texas welding and machining program has the lowest debt?

Lone Star College System reports the lowest median federal debt, $4,562, with first-year pay of $40,863.

How much do welding and machining graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 20 Texas welding and machining certificate programs is $30,396 in the first year after graduating and $42,311 five years after.

How many welding and machining certificate programs are in Texas?

20 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

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

20 programs report first-year pay
11 also report federal debt
Certificate in Precision Metal Working

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas welding and machining certificate program pays its graduates $30,396 in their first year, $5,888 less than the national median. Amarillo College reports the highest first-year pay ($48,263), and Lone Star College System the lowest median debt ($4,562).

Median first-year pay$30,396National $36,283

Median pay after 5 years$42,311National $45,062

Median federal debt$9,500National $8,447

Debt-to-earnings34%National 22%

All 20 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	Amarillo CollegeAmarillo · public	$48,263	$65,178	Not reported	Not reported
2	School of Automotive Machinists & TechnologyHouston · private for-profit	$43,065	$47,651	$16,354	38%
3	San Jacinto Community CollegePasadena · public	$42,512	$42,311	Not reported	Not reported
4	Lone Star College SystemThe Woodlands · public	$40,863	$31,599	$4,562	11%
5	Austin Community College DistrictAustin · public	$39,261	$49,732	$15,818	40%
6	Universal Technical Institute of TexasHouston · private for-profit	$39,141	Not reported	$6,855	18%
7	Texas State Technical CollegeWaco · public	$35,720	$43,861	$8,641	24%
8	Dallas CollegeDallas · public	$35,102	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
9	South Plains CollegeLevelland · public	$31,733	$42,566	Not reported	Not reported
10	M T Training CenterDesoto · private for-profit	$31,420	$36,334	$10,474	33%
11	Western Technical College (Texas)El Paso · private for-profit	$29,371	$41,365	$17,372	59%
12	Paris Junior CollegeParis · public	$28,729	$32,607	Not reported	Not reported
13	Wharton County Junior CollegeWharton · public	$28,408	$44,284	Not reported	Not reported
14	Texarkana CollegeTexarkana · public	$27,807	$45,640	$9,450	34%
15	Houston City CollegeHouston · public	$27,696	$39,000	$10,022	36%
16	Southern Careers Institute-AustinAustin · private for-profit	$25,077	$32,672	$7,125	28%
17	Laredo CollegeLaredo · public	$24,836	$23,792	Not reported	Not reported
18	South Texas CollegeMcAllen · public	$24,265	$42,369	Not reported	Not reported
19	McAllen Careers InstituteMcAllen · private for-profit	$22,029	Not reported	$9,500	43%
20	Southwest Texas CollegeUvalde · public	$16,469	$40,790	Not reported	Not reported

9 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Amarillo College$48,263
School of Automotive Machinists & Technology$43,065
San Jacinto Community College$42,512
Lone Star College System$40,863
Austin Community College District$39,261

Lowest median debt

Lone Star College System$4,562
Universal Technical Institute of Texas$6,855
Southern Careers Institute-Austin$7,125
Texas State Technical College$8,641
Texarkana College$9,450

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

$53,340

Median pay in Texas. 52,000 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $38,380Top 10%: $80,240

Machinists

$59,180

Median pay in Texas. 21,700 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $38,600Top 10%: $83,070

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

$42,720

Median pay in Texas. 13,290 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $34,340Top 10%: $57,370

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators

$48,480

Median pay in Texas. 13,190 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $34,940Top 10%: $69,760

Common questions

Amarillo College in Amarillo reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,263.

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 Texas 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