Welding – Associate Degree Program (AAS) and Certificate
Study Welding Technology at Missoula College
Earn your associate degree or certificate in welding from Missoula College at the University of Montana and prepare for welding jobs in diverse industries from construction to aerospace.
You can choose from a one-year welding certificate or complete our two-year associate degree in welding. Both welding programs include training with structural steel welding, drafting, design and metallurgy. You will gain an understanding of how heating and cooling cycles affect the properties of metals and how to account for temperature fluctuations in any automated welding system.
Hands-on learning is a major part of both the welding degree and welding certificate programs at the University of Montana. You’ll complete welding tasks and receive immediate feedback, helping you to continually improve your skills and build your confidence to complete any welding job.
Average hourly rate for welding jobs in Montana. Experienced welding technology workers can earn up to $35+ per hour.
welding technology students have the opportunity to become certified to American Welding Society Standards.
Other degree options for industrial technology at UM
Commercial Driver’s License Training (CDL)
Building Information Modeling and Computer Aided Drafting and Design (BIM-CADD)
Sustainable Construction Technology
What can you do with a degree in welding technology?
Welding technology workers are needed in many different industries such as aerospace, automotive, construction and infrastructure and transportation. More than half of all American products manufactured require welding training.
The University of Montana’s welding degree and hands-on welding training provide assurance to employers you are among the best in the country. Since you conceptualize, design and fabricate original projects, your individual vision and welding skills are highlighted.
Your welding technology courses and hands-on welding experience provide you with a solid foundation to pursue welding jobs in any industry.
What is welding technology?
Welding is a fabrication process that fuses together two or more parts by means of heat, pressure — or both — to create a connection as the parts cool. Welding is most often used with metals and thermoplastics, but can also be used on wood and other substrates.
Welding professionals apply extensive knowledge of joining processes, materials, welding equipment and welding code standards to assist engineering personnel in the manufacturing of products. Welding jobs often also play a role in product engineering and research and development.
Jobs in welding technology
Your associate degree in welding technology from Missoula College in Montana will help you secure welding jobs such as:
- Assemblers and fabricators
- Boilermakers
- Jeweler, precious stone and metal workers
- Machinists, tool and die makers
- Sheet metal workers
- Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters
- Metal and plastics welders
Welding technology salaries
Your associate degree in welding and your welding certificate can open the door to earning power.
- $79,500 average welding salary for pipefitters
- $64,500 for gas fitters
- $56,500 for ship welders
- $54,000 for boilermakers
- $48,600 for sheet metal workers
Video: Welding at Missoula College
Check out our welding lab, meet one of our students and see for yourself what hands-on training at Missoula College is all about.
Alumni Success Story
A recent Missoula College welding graduate secured a welding job with a fabrication company in Denver, Colorado, that makes nuclear and biohazard containment devices among many other critical components. He has worked in design and process development for the company and plans to pursue an engineering degree which will propel his career even further.
Many of our students have won the well-respected James F. Lincoln Foundation (JFLF) Arc Welding Contest.
Experiential learning in the welding degree and welding certificate programs
Prepare to operate and troubleshoot a variety of welding power sources and related equipment in a welding technology degree that trains credentialed, skilled and competent welders.
Our program provides hands-on training in six different welding processes:
- Oxyacetylene (OAW)
- Shielded metal arc (SMAW)
- Gas metal arc (GMAW)
- Flux core arc (FCAW)
- Submerged arc (SAW)
- Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW)
Our welding lab allows you to perform fabrication and repair welding on virtually any size and configuration of welded assembly. You’ll also develop problem-solving techniques essential to welding and steel fabrication, while building teamwork and collaboration skills necessary to succeed at welding jobs.
As a second-year welding student, you will take a welding automation class that includes operation of CNC equipment and a robotic welder.
Internships in the welding technology program lead to welding jobs
Our comprehensive welding internships connect you directly to employers. Armed with your welding certificate or associate’s degree, you will be ready to begin work as welder/fabricators at one of the many local businesses that sponsor our internships.
A significant percentage of graduates have progressed to drafting and quality control jobs. Some pursue bachelor’s degrees, most often enrolling in engineering related majors.
Our welding technology program director is a Certified Weld Inspector who can grant welding certifications to students. All of our faculty possess specific knowledge of individual employer requirements which ensures you will leave with marketable welding technology skills.
Career development in the welding technology degree program
Our welding technology programs help you develop a broad range of skills relevant to current manufacturing and metalworking methods. With in-demand knowledge, you can offer valuable and creative solutions to problems that employers face on a day-to-day basis.
When you complete your associate in welding degree or welding certificate, you will be certified for applicable welding techniques. Employers seek certified graduates because they not only realize cost savings for code compliant new hires, but they also know you received proper welding training.
The NorthWestern Energy Welding Scholarship is available for students in the Missoula College Welding Technology Program who have graduated high school within the Northwestern Energy service area (counties within Western Montana). We also proudly support active military and veterans through scholarships and the GI bill.
To assist you further, we offer a wide range of student support services such as career mentoring and job placement assistance.