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Welding Scholarships and Careers
Welding scholarships help make a lucrative career as a welder possible!
Thank you, Loren, for sharing this valuable information with my readers!
(Parents, please also join us over at my private Facebook group for parents only, Scholarship Help and College Talk for Parents, found HERE.)
Welding Scholarships & Careers
Do you enjoy hands-on work and have strong attention to detail? Did you know that a career in welding can be very lucrative, and welders are in high demand?
What if I told you there are a number of welding scholarships that make becoming a welder extremely affordable?
If the thought of becoming a welder has crossed your mind, I encourage you to consider it more seriously!
The idea and security of a four-year college degree equaling financial and professional success is diminishing. I’m Loren Kelly and I am a Career Coach for Students. I help young people find a career they are truly passionate about that will bring long-term fulfillment and financial stability.
It is my pleasure to partner with Monica Matthews of how2winscholarships to share more about welding scholarships and how to become a welder!
A Career as a Welder, A Quick Overview
A career as a welder is more than just connecting two pieces of metal in a shop. Today’s fabricators can work in a number of different settings from a manufacturing plant to agricultural operations to gas and oil operations. Many welders travel to different job sites and get to do a variety of work in their professional careers! There are opportunities to become self-employed as an entrepreneur, join a trade union, or work for a variety of companies in manufacturing and construction.
According to ONET, the national average salary for a welder is $43,000. And this does not account for overtime! That’s right, many welders have the opportunity to work overtime and substantially increase their annual earnings. What about job opportunities? The demand for welders has been on the rise in recent years as a population of professional welders is predominantly older and many are retiring.
There has never been a better time to consider a career as a welder!
Becoming a Welder, Education & Training
Becoming a welder takes training. Because of the highly technical nature of the job, a vocational certificate (typically one year at most institutions) or a two-year associate degree is required for most positions. The good news is that technical school and welding programs can be very affordable!
Many community colleges and public vocational schools offer training for welders at a nominal fee. For example, in California, one training to become a welder will spend $46 per credit at a community college making the entire training program less than $1,000! And, with welding scholarships, you could pay your tuition and have money to cover very nice personal protective equipment required when becoming a welder!
Welding Scholarships
Because welders are in demand, several organizations are offering great welding scholarships to aspiring students! Don’t miss out on these great opportunities if you are considering becoming a welder.
1. American Welding Society Scholarships – Applications are open now for the American Welding Society Scholarship! This program awards up to 25 different $1,000 scholarships per region. I happen to know one of the Regional Presidents and several of these $1,000 welding scholarships go unawarded each year due to a lack of applicants. The good news doesn’t stop there!
Open to High School Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors! APPLY NOW HERE
The AWS also offers national welding scholarships! Check the website for the current deadline.
2. Sparkforce Scholarships – The Fabricators & Manufacturers Association also has robust welding scholarships! In fact, any training or degree program that leads to a career in manufacturing makes a student eligible for an award. One of the best parts about this scholarship program is one application submitted by a student will enter him or her up to three different scholarship programs as eligibility matches!
The Sparkforce scholarship application opens January 1 and closes March 31st. They also have a spring application that is typically open July-September.
Don’t apply for any of these welding scholarships until you have learned how to apply SMART. This is what is taught in the How to Win College Scholarships ebooks for parents and their students. Click here now to claim your copy.
3. SME Education Foundation Scholarships – Because skilled tradespeople in manufacturing and fabrication are in high demand, SME has created a scholarship program for high school students entering manufacturing-related career fields, including welding! The Foundation has awarded 18 million to over 5,000 future industry leaders since 2005 and awards nearly a million dollars in scholarships each year.
That means 73 percent of students applying to the program were financially rewarded; your odds are great!
Again, becoming a welder can be quite inexpensive to begin with. If you win a scholarship or two, you could actually make money to cover additional expenses while attending college or vocational school!
Here are a few more resources for welding scholarships, added by Monica:
Welding Near You Support Scholarship
GE Aerospace-Reagan Workforce Readiness Scholarship
About the Author, Loren Kelly
I am a Community College Instructor and Career Coach, and I am serious about helping young people pursue their future with confidence and clarity! Choosing a career path can be daunting, especially with limited experience and perspective. Engaging in career coaching gives students a clear and confident vision for their future and increases success rates of post-secondary education and training.
If your child is struggling to determine a career path, let’s chat! Book a free consultation today at lorenkellycoaching.com!
Monica Matthews is the author of How to Win College Scholarships. She helped her own son win over $100,000 in college scholarships and now shares her expertise with other parents and their students. She truly has “been there, done that” in regard to helping parents and students navigate the scholarship process.
Her method of helping students in finding college scholarships, writing unique and compelling scholarship essays, creating amazing scholarship application packets, and more have taught desperate parents to help their own students win thousands of scholarship dollars. She teaches them how to apply S.M.A.R.T. with outstanding results.
Monica’s scholarship tips have been featured on many prominent websites, and she has been dubbed the “Go-To” expert on college scholarships.
