Pipe Welding Training in Texas: Where to Learn 5G and 6G Pipe

Pipe is the part of welding that most Texas programs mention and fewer actually build around. Of the 37 schools on the Texas welding schools list, 30 say they teach pipe welding. That tells you pipe is on the menu. It does not tell you how much time you will spend on it, or whether you will leave with a pipe test behind you.

This guide sorts Texas programs by how seriously they treat pipe: a named pipe certificate, a pipe skills award, or a pipe bend test built into the program. If pipe work is your goal, those are the schools to shortlist.

Why Pipe Training Is Different From Plate

On plate, you can often turn the work so you weld flat or horizontal. On pipe, the joint stays put and you move around it. That is what the test positions describe:

• 5G means the pipe is horizontal and fixed, so you weld up (or down) around it.
• 6G means the pipe is fixed at an angle, so one test covers flat, vertical and overhead welding in a single joint.

The 6G test is the standard all-position pipe test, and it is the hardest of the group to pass. Several Texas schools name it directly. Stick welding (SMAW) is the usual starting process for pipe, and many programs pair it with TIG (GTAW) for the root pass. If you want to see how those processes compare, read the guide to welding processes.

A school that lists pipe but no pipe award or test may still give you real pipe time. Ask to see the lab and the pipe test coupons before you enroll.

Texas Programs Built Around Pipe

These schools publish a pipe-specific award or a pipe test. Lengths are what each school lists.

Houston and the Gulf Coast: The Most Pipe Choices

The Houston area has the deepest bench of pipe training in the state. Start with the Houston welding schools page if you live in the metro.

Houston Community College offers the clearest pipe credential in the city: a Combination Pipe Welding Certificate of 36 credit hours, inside a 60-credit-hour AAS. The college says its awards follow AWS and SENSE guidelines for entry-level and advanced welder certifications. It suits you if you want a named pipe certificate close to home.

Alvin Community College is the pick if a pipe test matters more than a certificate title. The college says students can earn NCCER credentials and an AWS ASME IX 6G certification while working through its 19-credit-hour CERT1, 45-credit-hour CERT2 and 60-credit-hour AAS. It also offers evening classes.

College of the Mainland in Texas City sets a bend test at each level: a 3G V-groove plate test for the entry certificate, a 5G 2-inch pipe test for the advanced certificate, and a 6G 2-inch pipe test for the AAS. That ladder is useful because you can see exactly where pipe starts.

Tulsa Welding School-Houston runs a 9.5-month Welding Specialist with Pipefitting diploma. It conferred 1,087 welding awards in 2024–25, far more than any other Texas school on this list, and it runs morning, afternoon and evening classes. It suits you if you want to finish in under a year and add pipefitting to welding.

Other Houston-area schools that list pipe include San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Lee College in Baytown, Lone Star College in Cypress, Brazosport College in Lake Jackson and Universal Technical Institute in Houston. Lee College also offers a Welding Inspection certificate if you plan to move from pipe into inspection later.

North and East Texas: Pipe Certificates With Room to Grow

Paris Junior College has the largest dedicated pipe certificate here at 42 semester credit hours, alongside a 17-hour Structural Steel Welding Certificate and a 60-hour AAS. If you want to spend most of your training on pipe, this is the most pipe-heavy certificate on the list.

Panola College in Carthage breaks pipe into short skills awards: Advanced Pipe Welding at 11 credit hours and Multi-Process Pipe Welding at 12. The department lists AWS D1.1 certifications and combination pipe certifications under ASME Section IX. Pick Panola if you already weld and want to add pipe in one or two semesters.

Trinity Valley Community College in Athens offers a Pipe Welding Certificate next to a TIG certificate and a 4-semester AAS. Tyler Junior College says its program prepares students for entry-level code welding.

Around Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas College lets you choose Pipe Welding and Fitting as the focus of its 60-credit-hour Welding Applications AAS, and Lincoln College of Technology in Grand Prairie runs a Welding and Fabrication Technology with Pipe diploma. M T Training Center in DeSoto covers pipe in a 1,210-clock-hour Combination Welding program. See the Dallas welding schools page for the full metro list.

San Antonio, the Valley and West Texas

St Philip’s College in San Antonio offers a 26-credit-hour Structural/Pipe Layout Level 1 Certificate, and the program has been an AWS Accredited Testing Facility since November 30, 2010. That means you can train and test at the same college.

Texas State Technical College runs an Advanced Pipe Certificate of about 16 months, in person or hybrid, with day and night options. It conferred 588 welding awards in 2024–25, the most of any public college on this list.

In the Rio Grande Valley, MCI in McAllen has the shortest pipe option in the state: a Stick and Pipe Welding program of 7 to 8 weeks. It suits someone who can already weld and needs pipe time fast. South Texas College in McAllen says graduates can take an AWS welding performance qualification test. The Southern Careers Institute campuses in Harlingen, Pharr and San Antonio all cover pipe and include NCCER Core, Level 1 and Level 2 exams in tuition.

In El Paso, Western Technical College lists the most specific pipe tests: 6G on 4-inch schedule 40 pipe in both SMAW and SMAW/GTAW combination, among up to six AWS certifications graduates can take. Southwest University at El Paso became an AWS Accredited Testing Facility in early 2023.

How to Tell if a Pipe Program Is Real

Because nearly every program lists pipe, use these checks when you compare:

1. Is there a pipe award? A named certificate or skills award (Houston Community College, Paris Junior College, Panola College, Trinity Valley, TSTC) means pipe has its own courses.
2. Is there a pipe test? A 5G or 6G bend test (College of the Mainland, Alvin, Western Technical College) means you will be graded on pipe, not just shown it.
3. Can you test on site? St Philip’s College and Southwest University at El Paso are AWS Accredited Testing Facilities.
4. Which code? Panola names ASME Section IX for pipe and AWS D1.1 for structural work. Pipe work usually follows ASME or API codes, so a school that names them is thinking about pipe jobs.

For how welder certifications work in general, read the welding certification guide.

What Pipe Welders Earn in Texas

BLS counts pipe welders with all welders, cutters, solderers and brazers. In Texas that group earned a median of $53,340 a year, or $25.64 an hour, in May 2025, and the top tenth earned $80,240 or more. Texas had 52,000 of these jobs.

Where you work matters more than the job title. The Odessa median was $63,470, Midland was $61,410 and Beaumont-Port Arthur was $59,190. Houston, with 15,850 welding jobs, had a median of $57,940. For every metro, see how much welders make in Texas.

Pipe skills also lead to other roles. Texas welding supervisors earned a median of $70,140, and welding inspectors $46,210. Read the pipe welder career guide for what the job involves, and compare programs by price in what welding school costs in Texas.

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