WELDING SCHOOLS IN MISSOURI — Federal Data, September 2026
Welding Schools in Missouri, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
4 accredited institutions in Missouri 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 4 ranked programs in Missouri, the median graduate needs 2.7 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $9,500, against median earnings of $38,910 one year after completion.
That is faster 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 Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, at 1.7 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Missouri institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about welding schools in Missouri
The Ranking
4 welding schools in Missouri, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ozarks Technical Community CollegeSpringfield, MO | Public | Certificate | 1.7 | $4,737 | $32,817 | 33% |
| 2 | Ranken Technical CollegeSaint Louis, MO | nonprofit | Certificate | 2.5 | $9,500 | $45,004 | 53% |
| 3 | State Technical College of MissouriLinn, MO | Public | Associate | 2.9 | $11,474 | $47,325 | 84% |
| 4 | Midwest Technical Institute-MissouriSpringfield, MO | for-profit | Certificate | 3.6 | $9,500 | $31,630 | 80% |
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 Missouri, one by one
Ozarks Technical Community College
Springfield, MO
Ozarks Technical Community College is a public institution in Springfield. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $4,737 and report median earnings of $32,817 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 1.7 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 1.0 months faster than the Missouri state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 33% completion rate.
Ranken Technical College
Saint Louis, MO
Ranken Technical College is a private nonprofit institution in Saint Louis. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $45,004 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.5 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and right on the Missouri state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 53% completion rate.
State Technical College of Missouri
Linn, MO
State Technical College of Missouri is a public institution in Linn. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,474 and report median earnings of $47,325 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.9 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and right on the Missouri state median of 2.7. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 84% completion rate.
Midwest Technical Institute-Missouri
Springfield, MO
Midwest Technical Institute-Missouri 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 0.9 months slower than the Missouri state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 80% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
With only 4 institutions publishable here, this page is a short list by construction. It is not a directory of every school in Missouri: 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 Missouri
Comparing a different trade in Missouri
For MISSOURI School Operators
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