Northcentral Technical College (NTC), located in Wausau, Wisconsin, is offering metal fabrication training as part of the Technical and Trades Division.
Greg Cisewski, the associate dean of the Technical and Trades Division, has commented that, The metal fabrication community is telling us we need to have about 100 to 120 graduates per year out of our program to maintain what we’re doing for the next 10 years.
Industry representatives advise the colleges on how the curriculum can best fit the needs of local employers. Over the past three years, NTC has doubled the size of its welding program from three sections of 17 students per year to six sections, based on the advice of employers. Programs at the colleges are designed for students to complete at their own pace, and credits from short-term certificate programs can be transferred into longer-term diploma programs. MSTC offers a seven-credit stainless steel welding certificate for fabricators of stainless steel equipment, which can transfer into the two-semester welding technical diploma for students who wish to continue their education.