How to Select the Best Welder Trade School near Elkins Park Pennsylvania
Finding the right welder vocational school near Elkins Park PA is an important first step to beginning your new occupation as a professional welder. But since there are numerous schools to select from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more notably, once you have narrowed down your alternatives, how do you select the best one? Many prospective students begin by checking out the schools that are closest to their residences. When they have identified those that are within commuting distance, they are drawn toward the least costly one. Yes, location and the cost of tuition are crucial concerns when evaluating welding vocational schools, but they are not the only ones. Other concerns include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before beginning your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s prudent to create a list of qualifications that your selected school must have. But before we explore our due diligence checklist, let’s cover a little bit about how to become a welder.
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Welding Degree and Certificate Programs
There are multiple options to obtain training as a welder in a trade or vocational school. You can earn a a certificate, a diploma or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are available in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced programs than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also made available along with an apprenticeship program. Below are short summaries of the most prevalent welding programs available in the Elkins Park PA area.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are generally offered by trade and technical schools and take about a year to finish. They are more hands-on training in scope, created primarily to teach welding skills. They can provide a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or specialized skills for experienced welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take 2 years to complete and are usually offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology offers a more well-rounded education than the certificate or diploma while still supplying the foundation that readies students to enter the workforce.
A number of states and municipalities do have licensing prerequisites for welders, so don’t forget to check for your location of future employment. If needed, the welder school you pick should prepare you for any licensing exams that you will need to pass in addition to providing the proper training to become a professional welder.
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Welding Certification Choices
There are various organizations that offer welding certifications, which assess the knowledge and skill level of those applying. Numerous Elkins Park PA employers not only demand a degree or certificate from an accredited welding school, but also certification from a respected agency such as the American Welding Society (AWS). Different certifications are available based upon the kind of work that the welder performs. A few of the things that certification can attest to are the welder’s ability to
- Operate in compliance with specific codes
- Work with specified metal thicknesses
- Work with specific types of welds
- Perform based on contract specifications
As formerly stated, some cities, states or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those calling for licensing, many additionally require certification for various types of work. Certification is also a way to demonstrate to employers that you are an extremely skilled and experienced welder. So just as with licensing, look into the requirements for your location and make sure that the welder trade school you decide on readies you for certification as needed.
Points to Ask Welder Tech Programs
When you have decided on the credential you would like to obtain, a degree, certificate or diploma, you can begin to assess schools. As you can imagine, there are a large number of welder trade and technical schools in the Elkins Park PA area. That’s why it’s necessary to establish in advance what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have already discussed 2 important ones that many people look at first, which are location and tuition cost. As mentioned, although they are essential qualifications, they are not the only ones that must be considered. After all, the school you select is going to furnish the education that will be the foundation of your new career as a welder. So below are some additional factors you might want to consider before selecting a welding trade school.
Accreditation. It’s very important that the welding tech school you choose is accredited by either a national or a regional organization. There are two basic types of accreditation. The school may attain Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on an individual program the school offers, for instance Welding Technology. So confirm that the program you select is accredited, not just the school alone. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting agency, like the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Besides helping make sure that you obtain a quality education, the accreditation may also assist in securing financial assistance or student loans, which are often not offered in Elkins Park PA for schools that are not accredited. Also, for those states or municipalities that require licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited also.
Apprenticeship and Job Assistance Programs. Many welding certificate or degree programs are provided in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Some other schools will help place you in a job or an apprenticeship upon graduation. Find out if the schools you are looking at assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job placement program. The schools must have partnerships with local unions and various metal working businesses to which they can refer their students. Older schools may have a more substantial network of graduates that they can rely upon for referrals. These programs can assist students in finding employment and develop relationships within the Elkins Park PA welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that start an academic program and finish it. It’s important that the welding program you pick has a high completion rate. A low rate might indicate that the students who enrolled in the program were dissatisfied with the training, the instructors, or the facilities, and dropped out. The job placement rate is also a good indicator of the quality of training. A higher job placement rate will not only verify that the school has a good reputation within the trade, but additionally that it has the network of Elkins Park PA contacts to assist students obtain employment or apprenticeships upon graduation.
Up-to-date Equipment and Facilities. Once you have limited your choice of welder schools to two or three options, you should consider going to the campuses to evaluate their facilities. Confirm that both the equipment and the facilities that you will be instructed on are modern. In particular, the training equipment should be similar to what you will be using on the job. If you are not sure what to look for, and are already in an apprenticeship program, ask the master welder you are working under for guidance. Otherwise, ask a local Elkins Park PA welding professional if they can give you some suggestions.
School Location. Although we already briefly talked about the significance of location, there are a few additional points that we need to cover. You should remember that unless you are able to relocate, the welder school you pick needs to be within commuting distance of your Elkins Park PA home. If you do decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, apart from moving costs there may be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially the case for welder certificate programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school provides a job placement or apprenticeship program, most likely their placements are within the school’s regional community. So the location of the school needs to be in an area or state where you ultimately will desire to work.
Smaller Classes. Personalized training is important for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to get lost in larger classes and not get much one-on-one training. Find out what the average class size is for the welding schools you are considering. Inquire if you can attend a few classes so that you can observe just how much personal attention the students are getting. While there, talk with some of the students and get their evaluations. Also, talk with some of the teachers and find out what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.
Flexible Class Schedules. Lots of folks learn a new trade while still working at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are reviewing are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you can only go to classes in the evenings or on weekends near Elkins Park PA, make certain that the schools you are assessing provide those options. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, verify that the school you select offers part-time enrollment. Also, check to see what the protocol is to make up classes if you you miss any due to work, sickness or family responsibilities.
Online Welding Classes
Welding is very much a hands-on type of profession, and therefore not very suitable for training online. Even so, there are a few online welding classes offered by specific community colleges and vocational schools in the greater Elkins Park PA area that may count toward a degree or certificate program. These courses mainly cover such subjects as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help provide a beginner a foundation to begin their education and training. Nevertheless, the most important point is that you can’t learn how to weld or work with welding materials until you actually do it. Obviously that can’t be done online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is more appropriate for seasoned welders that desire to advance their expertise or possibly earn a more advanced degree. So if you should come across an online welding degree or certificate program, be extremely careful and make certain that the larger part of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of setting.
Best Accelerated Welder Schools Near Me Elkins Park PA
Selecting the best welder training program will undoubtedly be the most critical decision you will make to launch your new trade. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Best Accelerated Welder Schools Near Me and wanted more information on the topic Compare Local Welder Schools Near Me. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are a number of things that you will need to examine and compare among the schools you are reviewing. It’s a prerequisite that any welder school that you are assessing includes a lot of hands-on training. Classes need to be smaller in size and each student must have their personal welding machine to train with. Classroom education should provide a real-world context, and the curriculum should be current and conform with industry standards. Training programs vary in duration and the type of credential offered, so you will need to ascertain what length of program and credential will best serve your needs. Every training program offers different possibilities for certification as well. Perhaps The ideal means to research your short list of schools is to visit each campus and talk with the teachers and students. Take the time to monitor a few classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the training program you choose is the right one for you. With the right training, hard work and commitment, the end outcome will be a new trade as a professional welder in Elkins Park PA.
Other Pennsylvania Welder Locations
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the suburbs, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly 6 miles (9.7 km) from downtown. An affluent community, it is the home of Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, derelict Gilded Age mansion.
Elkins Park is served by SEPTA Regional Rail trains on the Warminster Line, West Trenton Line and Lansdale/Doylestown Line at the Elkins Park station. The Jenkintown and Melrose Park stations are also found near the neighborhood of Elkins Park, and are served by the same regional rail lines. SEPTA bus routes 28, 55, 70 and 77 also provide service to Elkins Park.
Toward the western end of Elkins Park is Pennsylvania Route 611 (Old York Road). In Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Route 73 runs along Township Line Road, mostly marking the border between Cheltenham and Abington townships.
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