Undergraduate certificate · Irving, Texas

Is Precision Metal Working at Tulsa Welding School-Dallas Campus worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 3.4 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $43,124; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $50,878; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $9,500; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $26k (likely $26k – $35k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $14k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in TX; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3.4 years (likely 3.2–4.1); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $67k (likely $45k – $88k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $255k (likely $190k – $339k); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: 28% / 6.0%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20