How to Pick the Best Welder Trade School near Lansdowne Pennsylvania
Selecting the right welding trade school near Lansdowne PA is an important first step to beginning your new career as a professional welder. But since there are a lot of schools to choose from, how do you know which ones to consider? And more significantly, once you have fine tuned your alternatives, how do you pick the best one? A number of prospective students start by checking out the schools that are nearest to their homes. 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 important considerations when examining welding trade schools, but they are not the only ones. Other considerations include such things as accreditation, reputation and job placement rates. So before starting your search for a trade school to become a welder, it’s wise to develop a list of qualifications that your chosen school must have. But before we explore our due diligence checklist, let’s talk a little bit about how to become a welder.
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Welder Degree and Certificate Training
There are several options available to obtain training as a welder in a trade or technical school. You can obtain a diploma, a certificate or an Associate Degree. Bachelor Degrees are offered in Welding Engineering or Welding Technology, but are more advanced programs than most journeyman welders will need. Some programs are also offered in conjunction with an apprenticeship program. Below are short summaries of the most prevalent welding programs offered in the Lansdowne PA area.
- Certificate and Diploma Programs are normally offered by technical and trade schools and require about 1 year to finish. They are more hands-on training in scope, fashioned largely to teach welding skills. They can furnish a good foundation for a new journeyman or apprentice welder, or supplemental skills for working welders.
- Associate Degree Programs will take two years to complete and are most often offered by community colleges. An Associate Degree in Welding Technology furnishes a more well-rounded education than the certificate or diploma while still providing the foundation that prepares students to enter the workforce.
Some states and municipalities do have licensing prerequisites for welders, so be sure to check for your location of potential employment. As required, the welder school you pick should prep you for any licensing examinations that you will need to pass in addition to supplying the appropriate training to become a professional welder.
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Welder Certification Choices
There are a number of organizations that provide welding certifications, which test the skill level and knowledge of those applying. Numerous Lansdowne PA employers not only require a certificate or degree from an accredited welding program, but also certification from a highly regarded organization like the American Welding Society (AWS). A wide range of certifications are available based upon the type of work that the welder performs. Some of the things that certification can acknowledge are the welder’s ability to
- Work in compliance with specific codes
- Work with certain metal thicknesses
- Work with various types of welds
- Work according to contract specifications
As previously stated, various states, cities or local municipalities have licensing requirements for welders. Of those mandating licensing, some also require certification for different kinds of work. Certification is also a way to prove to employers that you are an extremely skilled and knowledgeable welder. So similarly as with licensing, look into the requirements for your location and verify that the welding technical school you choose preps you for certification as needed.
Topics to Ask Welder Tech Programs
As soon as you have chosen the credential you would like to attain, a certificate, diploma or degree, you can begin to evaluate schools. As you probably know, there are many welder trade and vocational schools in the Lansdowne PA area. That’s why it’s essential to decide in advance what qualifications your chosen school must have. We have already discussed 2 significant ones that most people look at first, which are location and the cost of tuition. As mentioned, although they are very important qualifications, they are not the only ones that must be considered. After all, the program you pick is going to provide the training that will be the foundation of your new profession as a welder. So below are some additional factors you may need to consider before picking a welding vocational school.
Accreditation. It’s very important that the welder technical school you decide on is accredited by either a regional or a national organization. There are two standard types of accreditation. The school may earn Institutional Accreditation based on all of their programs. Programmatic Accreditation is based on a specific program the school has, for example Welding Technology. So make sure that the program you pick is accredited, not just the school itself. Additionally, the accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, such as the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). In addition to helping ensure that you get a quality education, the accreditation can also assist in securing financial aid or student loans, which are often unavailable in Lansdowne PA for non-accredited schools. Finally, for those states or municipalities that mandate licensing, they may require that the welding training program be accredited also.
Apprenticeship and Job Assistance Programs. A large number of welder certificate or degree programs are offered combined with an apprenticeship program. Some other schools will assist in placing you in an apprenticeship or a job upon graduation. Ask if the schools you are reviewing assist in placing students in apprenticeships or have a job assistance program. These schools should have relationships with local unions and various metal working businesses to which they can place their students. Older schools may have a larger network of graduates that they can utilize for placements. These programs can assist students in finding employment and develop associations within the Lansdowne PA welding community.
Completion and Job Placement Rates. The completion rate is the percentage of students that begin an academic program and complete it. It’s important that the welding program you pick has a higher completion rate. A lower rate might signify that the students who joined the program were dissatisfied with the training, the teachers, or the facilities, and quit. The job placement rate is also a good indicator of the caliber of training. A high job placement rate will not only affirm that the school has an excellent reputation within the field, but additionally that it has the network of Lansdowne PA contacts to assist students obtain apprenticeships or employment after graduation.
Up-to-date Equipment and Facilities. After you have decreased your choice of welder schools to two or three possibilities, you should think out visiting the campuses to evaluate their facilities. Confirm that both the facilities and the equipment 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 currently in an apprenticeship program, ask the master welder you are working under for guidance. If not, ask a local Lansdowne PA welding professional if they can give you a few suggestions.
School Location. Although we already briefly talked about the relevance of location, there are a few additional points that we should address. You should bear in mind that unless you can move, the welder school you choose must be within driving distance of your Lansdowne PA home. If you do choose to attend an out-of-state school, apart from relocation costs there could be higher tuition fees for out-of-state residents. This is especially true for welder certificate programs offered by community colleges. Also, if the school provides an apprenticeship or job placement program, often their placements are within the school’s local community. So the location of the school should be in an area or state where you ultimately will desire to work.
Small Classes. One-on-one training is essential for a manual trade such as welding. It’s possible to get lost in larger classes and not get much personalized instruction. Find out what the typical class size is for the welding schools you are looking at. Ask if you can sit in on a few classes so that you can witness how much individual attention the students are getting. While there, talk with several of the students and get their feedback. Also, chat with a couple of the instructors and find out what their welding experience has been and what certifications and credentials they have earned.
Flexible Class Scheduling. Lots of folks learn a new trade while still employed at their current job. Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are considering are convenient enough to satisfy your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Lansdowne PA, confirm that the schools you are assessing provide those options. If you can only enroll on a part-time basis, verify that the school you pick offers part-time enrollment. Also, ask what the protocol is to make up classes should you miss any due to work, illness or family emergencies.
Online Welding Schools
Welding is very much a manual kind of profession, and for that reason not very compatible with online training. Even so, there are a small number of online welding courses offered by specific community colleges and technical schools in the greater Lansdowne PA area that can count toward a degree or certificate program. These classes primarily cover such topics as safety, reading blueprints, and metallurgy. They can help give a novice a foundation to start their education and training. However, the most critical point is that you can’t learn how to weld or handle welding materials until you actually do it. Naturally that can’t be accomplished online. These skills need to be learned in an on-campus environment or in an apprenticeship. Online or distance learning is better suited for experienced welders that would like to advance their knowledge or possibly obtain a more advanced degree. So if you should find an online welding degree or certificate program, be extremely cautious and make sure that the majority of the training is done on campus or in a workshop type of environment.
Compare Online Welding Colleges Near Me Lansdowne PA
Selecting the best welder school will probably be the most critical decision you will make to start your new trade. You originally stopped by our website because you had an interest in Compare Online Welding Colleges Near Me and wanted more information on the topic Compare Part Time Welding Colleges Near Me. However, as we have discussed in this article, there are many factors that you will need to examine and compare among the programs you are looking at. It’s a necessity that any welding training program that you are examining includes a good deal of hands-on training. Classes need to be smaller in size and each student must have their own welding machine to train with. Classroom instruction should offer a real-world frame of reference, and the curriculum should be current and in-line with industry standards. Programs vary in duration and the kind of credential provided, so you will need to ascertain what length of program and credential will best serve your needs. Each program offers unique possibilities for certification also. Perhaps The ideal way to research your final list of schools is to go to each campus and talk with the teachers and students. Invest some time to sit in on a few classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the school you select is the ideal one for you. With the right training, hard work and commitment, the end outcome will be a new trade as a professional welder in Lansdowne PA.
Other Pennsylvania Welder Locations
Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Lansdowne is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States located 6 miles (10 km) southwest of the City Center of Philadelphia. It was named for the Marquess of Lansdowne. As of the 2010 census the borough had a population of 10,620.[3]
Lansdowne grew quickly in the early part of the twentieth century when a railroad stop was established near the intersection of Lansdowne Avenue and Baltimore Pike. The borough is primarily residential with a commercial center near the original railroad stop. The borough also contained some light industrial buildings which have been in decline in recent decades.
Lansdowne is located in eastern Delaware County at 39°56′29″N 75°16′31″W / 39.94139°N 75.27528°W / 39.94139; -75.27528 (39.941345, -75.275343).[4] It is bordered to the southeast by Yeadon, to the southwest by Clifton Heights, and to the north, east, west, and south by Upper Darby Township. Drexel Hill, a part of Upper Darby Township, borders Lansdowne to the northwest, and the borough of East Lansdowne is just 0.1 miles (0.16 km) east of the Lansdowne border.
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