RetrainMap / Training costs by state / South Dakota / Welding
Free · the federal list, by published cost · South Dakota
Welding programs in South Dakota on the federal training list, by published cost
14 programs in South Dakota’s Training Provider Results index carry one of the occupation codes for Welding (51-4121, 51-4122). Published costs run from $996 to $22,551; 0 programs report no cost and sit at the end. Sorted by the cost each provider reported — “cheapest” here means the lowest published figure on the federal list on the snapshot date, not a verdict on quality, and never a price you are promised. Snapshot taken 2026-09-02.
| # | Published cost basis | Program (provider’s page) · credential · code | Provider · city | Length | Exited | Completed | Employed Q2 after exit | Median earnings, Q2 (one quarter) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $996 | Welding | Certificate | Campus | Southeast Technical College | 16 wk · 17 hrs | 37 | 78% | 62% | $11,040 |
| 2 | $1,995 | Welding Basics - Certificate | Regional Technical Education Center, Inc. (RTEC) | 6 wk · 8 hrs | 82 | 74% | 13% | $4,567 |
| 3 | $1,995 | Welding Skills Upgrade - Certification | Regional Technical Education Center, Inc. (RTEC) | 6 wk · 8 hrs | 93 | 87% | 6% | $5,094 |
| 4 | $2,100 | Advanced Welder Training | Campus | Regional Technical Education Center Inc. | 6 wk · 8 hrs | 126 | 91% | 35% | $10,243 |
| 5 | $4,260 | Welding - UpSkill In-Person | Lake Area Technical College | 36 wk · 24 hrs | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | $7,500 | Structural Welding Technologies | Certificate | In-person | Great Plains Welding Academy | 12 wk · 20 hrs | 32 | 100% | 21% | $7,632 |
| 7 | $11,653 | Welding | Diploma | Campus | Mitchell Technical College | 34 wk · 18 hrs | 14 | 71% | — | — |
| 8 | $12,013 | Welding Technology | Diploma | Campus | Lake Area Technical College | 34 wk · 27 hrs | 155 | 81% | 8% | $10,922 |
| 9 | $12,078 | Welding | Diploma | In-person | Southeast Technical College | 32 wk · 16 hrs | 71 | 77% | 35% | $7,643 |
| 10 | $14,063 | Welding and Fabrication | Diploma | Hybrid (36 credit hours) | Western Dakota Technical College | 32 wk · 24 hrs | 53 | 66% | 9% | $9,707 |
| 11 | $21,400 | Welding // Machining & Manufacturing | AAS | Campus | Mitchell Technical College | 81 wk · 21 hrs | 41 | 41% | 14% | $12,948 |
| 12 | $21,492 | Welding // Progressive Technology | AAS | Campus | Mitchell Technical College | 81 wk · 21 hrs | 69 | 52% | 6% | $8,606 |
| 13 | $21,856 | Welding Technology | AAS | Campus | Lake Area Technical College | 68 wk · 27 hrs | 83 | 93% | 20% | $15,503 |
| 14 | $22,551 | Welding & Fabrication | AAS | Hybrid (63 credit hours) | Western Dakota Technical College | 64 wk · 24 hrs | 75 | 53% | 11% | $10,800 |
Source and date: U.S. Department of Labor, Training Provider Results — the open program index behind trainingproviderresults.gov, snapshot taken 2026-09-02 (244 programs for South Dakota in the index that day); the site states the data cover programs approved as of June 30, 2025 and outcomes for July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2025. Cost is Out-of-Pocket Cost for a Non-WIOA Participant: Tuition and Requested Fees (DE111) where the provider reported it, otherwise Average number of dollars the training program received from each WIOA participant Individual Training Account (ITA) during the time period (DE138/DE135) — the basis is printed under each figure; books and supplies are added only when reported separately. “Completed” = Percent of All Students who completed the program (DE122/DE121); “Employed Q2” = Percent of All Students Exiters who were employed in the 2nd Quarter after Exit (DE123/DE129); “Median earnings” = Median Earnings in the 2nd Quarter after Exit of All Students that are Employed in the 2nd Quarter after Exit (DE125) — one calendar quarter, not a year. A dash means the federal file prints −1: Values displayed as "-1" indicate data that have been suppressed to protect confidentiality. Your local job center decides eligibility — this shows what is on the list and what it cost and produced, not whether you will be approved.
The list is free. The ranking by what each program produced is $39.
This page sorts welding programs in South Dakota by the cost their providers published. The Retraining ROI report takes one target occupation and one state, ranks every listed program by the employment its completers reported, and — if you give your current pay — prints a payback estimate per program with its basis. Built on order from the same federal record; free sample on that page.
The $39 ROI report Free funding finder The $19 Directions plan
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