Welding Technology Program Map

Award type:

AS Degree
Certificate of Achievement

The Welding Technology program is designed to prepare students to become certified welders under standards set by the American Welding Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Petroleum Institute. Certification examinations may be taken after completion of the courses. To be successful in this program, students need basic competence in mathematics, must possess good eyesight at least with corrective lenses, sufficient physical stamina to be able to stand and bend for long periods, and not to be bothered by extended exposure to the outdoors. Students who are still enrolled in high school and who are considering a career as an industrial welder are encouraged to take courses in mathematics, industrial education, and welding. Courses in physical sciences and physics would enhance a student's knowledge and broaden one's experiences. The objective of this program is to teach students to read and follow blueprints and plans, lay out jobs to be done, cut and bend materials, operate an oxy-acetylene torch, shielded metal arc, flux core arc, and do mig and tig welding, and certify in the above processes. For certified welders employment opportunities are virtually unlimited. High-paying jobs are open in both heavy and light industry throughout California as well as the nation and the world. As far as can be seen in the future, the job market for certified welders will be excellent. After completion of the program, students will be prepared to take the Welder Certification test. Students who complete the program can also receive a Certificate in Welding Technology Level I, a Certificate in Welding Technology Level II, a Certificate in Welding Technology Level III, and a Certificate of Achievement and may elect to earn an Associate's degree in Welding Technology. Admission to the Program: The prerequisites to the Welding Technology program are completion of WLD 20 and WLD 21. The program is currently impacted. Contact the Department to start the process and paperwork that is required for this program. Please visit the Welding Technology Departments home page: http://www.butte.edu/departments/careertech/welding/weldingapplication.html. Estimated expenses average about $5,200 - $6,200 for the entire program. This includes tools, books, tuition, and welding qualification documentation (if you pass the welding certification test). Financial aid is available to qualified students.

Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP

Community of interest: ITAG Industrial Technologies & Agriculture
Award: AS Degree
Program code: 01325.00AS
Department: Welding Tech
CIP code: 48.0508: Welding Technology/Welder.
TOP code: 0956.50 - Welding Technology*

Map Class Schedule

Program Schedule Report Meet with a counselor

Welding Technology

AS Degree

The Associate of Science is typically awarded for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Like every Butte College associate degree, it has two parts: a general-education curriculum that gives you a broad base of knowledge, and an academic program where you specialize.

About General Education. GE is an integrated program of learning designed to foster intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, critical thinking, creative reasoning, oral and written communication, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. By graduation, you'll have developed the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, apply quantitative reasoning, understand how the major academic disciplines ask their questions, comprehend diverse cultures and historical periods, and assess ethical problems — alongside the depth you build in your major.

See the 2025-26 Catalog for official program details

Semester-by-Semester Map

Term 1

Class Schedules

15–20 units

Select one:

Required

3 units

Choose one of 2 choices

BCIS 18
Introduction to Business Technology
3 units
course details
This course is an examination of information and communication technologies used in today's businesses and the impact these technologies are having on today's workplaces. The course will include examination and application of a wide range of information and communication technology tools used to support and enhance business functions and processes. Focus will be placed on solving a variety of business problems, improving organizational productivity, and achieving the goals of business.
+−
CSCI 2
Business and Computer Information Systems
3 units
course details
This course is an examination of information technologies and information systems used in business. It focuses on information systems, database management systems, networking, ethics and security, computer hardware, and software applications and development. It applies these concepts and methods through hands-on projects developing computer-based solutions to business problems. (C-ID ITIS 120).
+−

General Education: Area 1A

English Composition

Baccalaureate-level academic writing — expository and argumentative. The foundation for every other course you'll write in.

General Education: Area 2

Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning

College-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning — the toolkit behind science, business, and informed citizenship.

General Education: Area 5

Physical and Biological Sciences

The physical universe, its life forms, and its natural phenomena — astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, oceanography, physics — taught alongside the scientific method that makes them work.

General Education: Area 6

Ethnic Studies

The histories, experiences, and contributions of the four autonomous disciplines: Black / African American / Africana studies, Native American studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, and Asian American studies.

Term 2

Class Schedules

15–16 units

AB 54

Supervision and Management in Agriculture

3 units

This course introduces students to the knowledge and skills relevant to the supervisor in agricultural business. Topics include the regulatory requirements relevant to labor management in agriculture and effective communication with native and non-native English speakers. The course will include case studies on labor management, human relations, public relations, production control techniques and job analysis.

BUS 25

Introduction to Entrepreneurship

3 units

This course covers the practical considerations, challenges and rewards associated with starting and operating a small business. The course explores how to identify small business opportunities; the factors influencing entrepreneurial success; and financing, marketing, managing, record-keeping and computer applications to support small business operations. Each student will identify a business opportunity, then create a detailed business plan.

General Education: Area 1B

Oral Communication and Critical Thinking

Baccalaureate-level oral communication and/or critical thinking — speaking with structure to a live audience, analyzing arguments, identifying assumptions.

General Education: Area 3

Arts and Humanities

How people and cultures, across time, respond to themselves and the world through artistic and cultural creative production. Visual and performing arts, art history, foreign languages, literature, philosophy, religion.

General Education: Area 4

Social and Behavioral Sciences

The systematic study of people as members of society — cultural anthropology, cultural geography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology — and the methods these disciplines use to ask their questions.

Term 3

Class Schedules

18 units

WLD 22

Oxyacetylene Welding and Flame Cutting

2 units

This course includes the techniques used for oxyacetylene welding (OAW) in all positions (flat, vertical, horizontal and overhead) and uses a variety of freehand and automatic burning equipment on different metals.