D.Wright,
I can't comment on welding class completion, but as an instructor for Pipefitters Local 208 ( Denver, Colo.) we have had a very difficult time getting quality/quanity applicants for our five year apprenticeship program.
Students attend classes two nights a week 3.5 hrs/class and we have about 175 apprentices enrolled. Of the 52 apprentices that started last year their numbers are down to 19. With an aging journeymen workforce we see tuff times ahead trying to keep our numbers up. I teach math/and science and the basic skills that a new applicant should have leaving high school are fair to poor at best it is a truely frustrating situation with no clear answers. If you have any good thoughts please feel free to share.

A.J. Gest Local 208
Instructor, U.A. Training Program

I am a Welding Instructor for the Dept. of Corrections in California with 24 yrs. in the trade, 13 as a CWI. The kind of students I deal with, as you can imagine, don't want to be there. They vary from the ones who
want to make the best of their situation and take advantage of the program and work tails off and as a result, get to be damn good welders. Others have very little interest and are content to be in a comfortable place during the day. The ones that apply themselves have an advantage that is unique from many welding programs and that is, time. All of us that know this trade realizes how important
practice is to perfecting skills as a welder. Many welders do not have
time or opportunity to practice a new application and perfect it with no restrictions of time or cost in a shop with state of the art equipment
and a well stocked supply of consumables. I stress to my students that they have an opportunity that many people spend big bucks on the streets and still are'nt exposed to as much as you have here. Given the nature of this field, I can train a guy who has little time to do in the basics of GMAW to the point that he can get a workmanship certification
to AWS B2.1 and get an entry level job at a Fab. shop. The ones that have the time have excelled in, for example, CS pipe, GT root w/ 7018
out, SS pipe & tubing, GT. It has been my experience that some of the best welders I've seen have learned in prison. Granted, many employers are reluctant to hire an ex-con but the ones that I've hussled a job for know that my name is with them, and that respect has not been betrayed. All they need is a chance.

From: D. Trotter
Voc. Welding Instructor

I get most of the bottom of the academic grade point adverage. The special education instuctors love us. Our center is set up as open entry open exit. So a new student could start monday morning. So i don't look for a completion formula nor is one desirable at this stage. I give knowlege and performace tests at the end of a weld process. Each weld a student passes is visually inspected then distructive tested and inspected again to AWS D1.1 The students get done what they can in the time that they have. I work with 15 sending schools so arival and departure times vary. General lecture format is out because of that so i rely alot on guided work sheets and videos to get the bulk of general welding information to the students. Individualized instruction is the norm. Group lecture is rare. Grades are based on quality of work. A completed weld task per day is required for an "A" all long with several other indicators. I have learned to work with all students and learning that has been my biggest growth in the last 15 of the 26 i have taught welding. Good luck :O )

D. Wright,
Would you say that a large majority of High School Students are aware of the opportunities and earning potential of a Journeyman Welder? There were very few training facilities where I come from. What advantages are there to the apprentices out there now who will be in high demand when the older welders retire? What can a Journeyman Welder earn in the current market? Is that worth the health risks?

I have taught welding at the Career Institute of Technology for the past 18 years....the high school students that I am getting are not only smarter, and more motivated, they are completeing more cert. tests than ever before..the best class that I have ever had and...............we are full to capacity currently.....

I have about 300 students, high school and adult. Welding 1 students are kind of questionable but after they jump through that hoop its great. We keep our expectations high and run our program like a business. We push kids hard and congratulate and brag on those that make it.
Its tough when you have kids that cant read a tape entering your course at the start but thats life! Once we get them turned on they go fast!!