WELDING SCHOOLS IN ILLINOIS — Federal Data, September 2026
Welding Schools in Illinois, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
6 accredited institutions in Illinois 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 6 ranked programs in Illinois, the median graduate needs 3.5 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $10,046, against median earnings of $31,661 one year after completion.
That is slower than 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 Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, at 2.5 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Illinois institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about welding schools in Illinois
The Ranking
6 welding schools in Illinois, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southwestern Illinois CollegeBelleville, IL | Public | Certificate | 2.5 | $6,500 | $31,692 | 36% |
| 2 | Universal Technical Institute of Illinois IncLisle, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 3.4 | $10,593 | $37,568 | 63% |
| 3 | Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose ParkMelrose Park, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 3.5 | $11,597 | $39,408 | 68% |
| 4 | Midwest Technical Institute-IllinoisSpringfield, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 3.6 | $9,500 | $31,630 | 69% |
| 5 | ETI School of Skilled TradesWillowbrook, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 3.7 | $9,500 | $31,068 | 80% |
| 6 | Stautzenberger College-Rockford Career CollegeRockford, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 5.1 | $13,000 | $30,807 | 66% |
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 Illinois, one by one
Southwestern Illinois College
Belleville, IL
Southwestern Illinois College is a public institution in Belleville. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $6,500 and report median earnings of $31,692 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.5 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 1.0 months faster than the Illinois state median of 3.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 36% completion rate.
Universal Technical Institute of Illinois Inc
Lisle, IL
Universal Technical Institute of Illinois Inc is a private for-profit institution in Lisle. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,593 and report median earnings of $37,568 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.4 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and right on the Illinois state median of 3.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 63% completion rate.
Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose Park
Melrose Park, IL
Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose Park is a private for-profit institution in Melrose Park. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,597 and report median earnings of $39,408 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.5 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and right on the Illinois state median of 3.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 68% completion rate.
Midwest Technical Institute-Illinois
Springfield, IL
Midwest Technical Institute-Illinois is a private for-profit institution in Springfield. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $31,630 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.6 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and right on the Illinois state median of 3.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 69% completion rate.
ETI School of Skilled Trades
Willowbrook, IL
ETI School of Skilled Trades is a private for-profit institution in Willowbrook. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $31,068 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.7 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and right on the Illinois state median of 3.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 80% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
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 Illinois
Comparing a different trade in Illinois
For ILLINOIS School Operators
Want to know how your program ranks against these?
We run this analysis for individual schools against their own federal data and show them where they sit against both the Illinois median and the national one. Where the answer is good, it is the strongest recruitment argument a school owns.
Book Your Free Enrollment AuditBy application only — reserved for trade and vocational school operators enrolling 50+ students a year.