Welding Technology

Let the Sparks Fly on Your Welding Career

Are you looking for a career that’s exciting, challenging, and a lot of fun? You’ll find all that plus endless job opportunities in welding.

Welding is an excellent career choice for individuals seeking a hands-on, skilled trade with a wide range of opportunities. It offers job stability, as welders are in high demand across diverse industries such as construction, shipbuilding, aerospace, energy, and automotive. This career also offers good earning potential, especially for those who gain advanced certifications or specialize in high-demand fields.

At �鶹ԭ��, we offer a range of short- and long-term welding programs. No matter which program you choose, you’ll learn from highly experienced welding professionals in one of North Carolina’s few American Welding Society-accredited facilities.

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The Program Options

1.5 Years 43 Credit Hours

The welding diploma program offers in-depth knowledge of welding science, technology, and applications, preparing you for a successful career in the welding and metalworking industries. The program combines classroom instruction with hands-on training in essential skills such as welding inspection, metallurgy, and industry-standard welding techniques, ensuring graduates are job-ready and highly skilled.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

None

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1 Year 18 Credit Hours

This program is a great choice if you’re just starting out in your welding career. You’ll gain foundational skills that will prepare you for entry-level work and more advanced levels of welding study.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

None

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1 Year 18 Credit Hours

This course is designed to enhance skills with the shielded metal arc (stick) welding process. Emphasis is placed on advancing manipulative skills with SMAW electrodes on varying joint geometry. Upon completion, students should be able to perform groove welds on carbon steel with prescribed electrodes in the flat, horizontal, vertical, and overhead positions.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

WLD-115

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1 Year 18 Credit Hours

This course is designed to enhance skills with the gas metal arc (MIG) welding process. Emphasis is placed on advancing skills with the GMAW process making groove welds on carbon steel plate and pipe in various positions. Upon completion, students should be able to perform groove welds with prescribed electrodes on various joint geometry.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

WLD-121

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1 Year 18 Credit Hours

This course is designed to enhance skills with the gas tungsten arc (TIG) welding process. Topics include setup, joint preparation, and electrode selection with emphasis on manipulative skills in all welding positions on plate and pipe. Upon completion, students should be able to perform GTAW welds with prescribed electrodes and filler materials on various joint geometry.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

WLD-131

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This course provides instruction on the principles and practices of welding. Emphasis is on the blueprint reading, metallurgy, welding inspection, and destructive and non-destructive testing. Course content will be specific to a particular welding process such as SMAW (stick), GMAW (MIG), and GTAW (TIG). Upon completion, students will have the knowledge base to sit for various industry-specific certifications.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

Must have taken Intro to Welding Processes

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

Must have taken Intro to Welding Processes

This course provides hands-on welding practice in a structured lab environment. Students can complete a total of 24 lab hours over a one-month period. For someone who needs practice on their skill for job testing or certification. This class offers no instruction.
Participants will gain experience in multiple welding processes, including:
· Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
· Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
· Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
· Oxy-Acetylene Cutting (OAC)
· Plasma Cutting

Students must have verifiable prior welding experience to enroll.
Lab work will include welding on:
· Plate
· Pipe
· Various joint configurations
All lab sessions must be scheduled in advance with the welding instructor.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

Verifiable prior welding experience

1 Year 18 Credit Hours

Get started with welding through this pathway that covers essential techniques such as SMAW (Stick), GMAW (MIG), and GTAW (TIG). Learn cutting processes and welding symbols to prepare for a rewarding career in welding and metal fabrication.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

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1 Year 14 Credit Hours

Focus on fundamental welding skills with courses in cutting processes, SMAW (Stick), and GMAW (MIG). This pathway provides the core skills needed for entry-level welding positions.

Mode

Online/in-person

Prerequisites

Unweighted GPA of 2.8

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Approximate cumulative years of experience among the �鶹ԭ�� welding faculty

Welding bays stocked with industry-standard equipment; located at the OCH and LLP campuses

We teach four types of welding at �鶹ԭ�� (SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, FCAW).

Get Ready to Get Hired

What makes �鶹ԭ��’s welding program different? For one, our instructors have actually worked as welding professionals. They’ve gained hands-on, real-world experience that they pass on to our students. At many competing programs, instructors are welding inspectors, meaning they can tell their students what they did incorrectly, but they can’t actually show their students how to perform a skill. That’s not the case at �鶹ԭ��.

In addition to our outstanding faculty, �鶹ԭ�� has also met the rigorous standards to become one of only six American Welding Society-certified facilities in North Carolina. We’re also a member of Skills USA; through this organization, our students have the chance to compete against other welding students and connect with potential employers.

Welding students posing with thumbs up for the camera, their helmets lifted to reveal smiling faces, standing in a workshop setting.

Photo of Cheyenne, a �鶹ԭ�� welding student.

Affordable Education, Lifelong Freedom

The welding program is a great environment. Everyone is very inclusive. I am excited about becoming a welder. I’m going to be able to move out sooner because I won’t have to worry about paying off student debt. I won’t be struggling to start off in my life; I’ll be able to travel, get a house, and be financially independent.
Cheyenne Thomas , Welding student and resident of Waxhaw