Which Wisconsin welding and machining program has the lowest debt?

Mid-State Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $4,750, with first-year pay of $38,653.

How much do welding and machining graduates earn in Wisconsin?

The median across 14 Wisconsin welding and machining certificate programs is $41,852 in the first year after graduating and $51,930 five years after.

How many welding and machining certificate programs are in Wisconsin?

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

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

14 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 Wisconsin welding and machining certificate program pays its graduates $41,852 in their first year, $5,569 more than the national median. Fox Valley Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($53,507), and Mid-State Technical College the lowest median debt ($4,750).

Median first-year pay$41,852National $36,283

Median pay after 5 years$51,930National $45,062

Median federal debt$7,000National $8,447

Debt-to-earnings15%National 22%

All 14 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	Fox Valley Technical CollegeAppleton · public	$53,507	$58,589	$7,664	14%
2	Chippewa Valley Technical CollegeEau Claire · public	$48,638	$57,152	$8,109	17%
3	Lakeshore Technical CollegeCleveland · public	$48,619	$48,783	Not reported	Not reported
4	Northcentral Technical CollegeWausau · public	$47,718	$50,958	$5,250	11%
5	Blackhawk Technical CollegeJanesville · public	$44,698	$51,844	Not reported	Not reported
6	Waukesha County Technical CollegePewaukee · public	$43,380	$58,874	$9,500	22%
7	Northwood Technical CollegeRice Lake · public	$42,282	$51,373	$5,500	13%
8	Northeast Wisconsin Technical CollegeGreen Bay · public	$41,421	$54,860	$5,500	13%
9	Moraine Park Technical CollegeFond du Lac · public	$41,073	$52,016	$7,000	17%
10	Western Technical College (Wisconsin)La Crosse · public	$40,624	$51,221	$5,500	14%
11	Gateway Technical CollegeKenosha · public	$38,659	$45,723	$9,700	25%
12	Mid-State Technical CollegeWisconsin Rapids · public	$38,653	$48,741	$4,750	12%
13	Madison Area Technical CollegeMadison · public	$37,860	$52,292	$9,500	25%
14	Southwest Wisconsin Technical CollegeFennimore · public	$35,167	$52,227	$5,500	16%

Lakeshore Technical College and Blackhawk Technical College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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 the 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Fox Valley Technical College$53,507
Chippewa Valley Technical College$48,638
Lakeshore Technical College$48,619
Northcentral Technical College$47,718
Blackhawk Technical College$44,698

Lowest median debt

Mid-State Technical College$4,750
Northcentral Technical College$5,250
Northwood Technical College$5,500
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College$5,500
Western Technical College (Wisconsin)$5,500

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

$58,410

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $47,060Top 10%: $70,720

Machinists

$59,110

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $40,600Top 10%: $76,280

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

$49,270

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $38,290Top 10%: $62,580

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators

$52,690

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $40,800Top 10%: $72,290

Common questions

Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton reports the highest median first-year pay, $53,507. Its median federal debt is $7,664.

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 Wisconsin 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