WELDING SCHOOLS IN TENNESSEE — Federal Data, September 2026
Welding Schools in Tennessee, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
3 accredited institutions in Tennessee report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 3 ranked programs in Tennessee, the median graduate needs 3.0 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $9,429, against median earnings of $37,249 one year after completion.
That is exactly in line with the national median of 3.0 months for this field, measured across the 208 institutions in our national welding schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Chattanooga State Community College in Chattanooga, at 1.4 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Tennessee institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about welding schools in Tennessee
The Ranking
3 welding schools in Tennessee, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chattanooga State Community CollegeChattanooga, TN | Public | Certificate | 1.4 | $4,611 | $39,664 | 26% |
| 2 | Nashville Auto-Diesel CollegeNashville, TN | for-profit | Certificate | 3.0 | $9,429 | $37,249 | 68% |
| 3 | Miller-Motte College-ChattanoogaChattanooga, TN | for-profit | Certificate | 5.2 | $13,000 | $30,105 | 60% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in Tennessee, one by one
Chattanooga State Community College
Chattanooga, TN
Chattanooga State Community College is a public institution in Chattanooga. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $4,611 and report median earnings of $39,664 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 1.4 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 1.6 months faster than the Tennessee state median of 3.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 26% completion rate.
Nashville Auto-Diesel College
Nashville, TN
Nashville Auto-Diesel College is a private for-profit institution in Nashville. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,429 and report median earnings of $37,249 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.0 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and right on the Tennessee state median of 3.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 68% completion rate.
Miller-Motte College-Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN
Miller-Motte College-Chattanooga is a private for-profit institution in Chattanooga. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $13,000 and report median earnings of $30,105 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.2 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 2.2 months slower than the Tennessee state median of 3.0. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 60% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
With only 3 institutions publishable here, this page is a short list by construction. It is not a directory of every school in Tennessee: many programs, especially at institutions that do not take federal student aid, never appear in this data at all.
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other Programs in Tennessee
Comparing a different trade in Tennessee
For TENNESSEE School Operators
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