TIG Welding Training Courses: How Long They Take, What They Cost and Where to Train

TIG welding is the process welding schools often save for later and certify on its own. That is good news if you want to learn it: many community colleges sell TIG as a short, stand-alone certificate, so you can train for it in a few months without signing up for a full degree. The questions that matter are how long the course runs, what it costs, which metals and positions it covers, and whether it ends in a real weld test.

What a TIG Welding Training Course Covers

A TIG welding training course teaches gas tungsten arc welding, which schools and catalogs call GTAW. OSHA describes GTAW as a process with a non-consumable tungsten electrode and an externally supplied inert gas shield that gives a superior finish. You hold the torch in one hand and feed filler rod with the other, which is why the process takes practice.

A full GTAW certificate usually covers:

• Setup and safety. Machine settings, tungsten preparation, shielding gas and fume control. OSHA ranks TIG lowest in fume among the four main arc processes, but you still weld under ventilation.
• Metals. Mild steel, stainless steel and aluminum. American River College’s certificate outcomes name all three.
• Positions. Flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead, the four positions El Camino College lists for its GTAW certificate.
• Plate and pipe. Some certificates stop at plate. Others add a separate pipe course.
• A qualification test. The better courses end with a weld test to a code such as AWS D1.1 or API 1104.

If you are still deciding between processes, the guide to stick, MIG, TIG and flux-cored welding explains where TIG fits.

How Long TIG Welding Training Takes

Plan on two terms, or about four to eight months, for a college GTAW credential. The credit load is small enough to fit around a job.

Dallas College’s certificate shows how the time is spent. Semester one pairs Introduction to GTAW with oxy-fuel welding and cutting. Semester two is Advanced GTAW plus a Welding Qualifications capstone, where you weld test coupons to a code.

A TIG certificate is shorter than a full welding program because it covers one process. For the full timeline of a multi-process certificate or degree, see how long welding school takes.

What TIG Welding Training Costs

At a community college, a credit TIG credential costs one to two thousand dollars in tuition at Dallas College, plus supplies. Dallas College publishes estimated program tuition for in-county residents:

• GTAW Occupational Skills Award: $1,188, about 4 months.
• GTAW Certificate (credit): $1,584, about 8 months.
• CE Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Certificate (workforce training): $7,680, about 8 months.

The credit certificate costs far less than the workforce version for the same eight months, so check which version you are enrolling in.

For California colleges, the federal figure is annual tuition and fees for a full-time student. In 2024-25, the five California colleges below charged $1,144 to $1,446 for the year. A certificate of 9 to 18 units is a fraction of a full-time year, so your bill depends on how many units you take each term.

Budget separately for gear. Books and supplies ran $550 to $2,136 a year at these six colleges in 2024-25. The guide to welding books, tools and supplies costs breaks down what students buy.

Six Colleges With a Dedicated TIG Certificate

Each college below offers a credential named for GTAW, not just a TIG course inside a general program.

Tuition and fees and books and supplies are institution-wide figures for 2024-25. Welding awards are certificates and degrees conferred in welding in 2024-25, not graduates. Source: NCES College Navigator. Blank cells have no published certificate length.

Best for TIG on pipe: American River College. Its certificate has separate plate and pipe GTAW courses, and AWS accredits the program as a test facility for the Certified Welder program.

Best for a fast TIG credential in North Texas: Dallas College. Its GTAW Occupational Skills Award takes about four months, and the full certificate ends in a qualification capstone to AWS D1.1 or API 1104. It runs at the Eastfield and Mountain View campuses only. See welding schools in Dallas.

Best for testing where you train in Los Angeles: LATTC. Its welding program is a Certified Welding Test Center, so you can take certification exams on site. Compare other Los Angeles welding schools.

Best for adding a city structural license: Mt. SAC. Its welding program is a licensed testing facility for the Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety. The Los Angeles structural welding certification guide explains that license.

Best for a short South Bay certificate: El Camino College in Torrance. The GTAW certificate is 14 units over two terms, and the program prepares students for AWS D1.1 and D17.1 certification. See welding schools in Torrance.

For more choices across the state, see California welding schools.

Is TIG Welding Hard to Learn?

TIG takes more coordination than stick or MIG, but it is very learnable in a structured course. You coordinate both hands, and often a foot pedal, while keeping a short, steady arc. Many programs teach TIG and the harder metals, such as aluminum and stainless, after stick and MIG.

That is why a dedicated course helps. A certificate gives you a semester or two of booth time on one process, an instructor who checks every bead, and a test at the end. Dallas College’s certificate starts with Introduction to GTAW alongside oxy-fuel welding and cutting, and only then moves to Advanced GTAW.

Which Certification Tests TIG Training Leads to

A TIG course prepares you for a welder qualification test, and the test decides which jobs you qualify for. The colleges above name these codes:

• AWS D1.1, Structural Welding Code-Steel. The test Dallas College and El Camino College name for their programs.
• API 1104, pipeline welding. Dallas College’s GTAW capstone follows AWS D1.1 or API 1104.
• AWS D17.1. El Camino College says its program prepares you for D17.1 certification.
• AWS D1.3, light gage steel. Mt. SAC certifies welders in light gage steel under D1.3 for the Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety.

AWS certifications record the process, material, position and code you tested in. A TIG test on stainless pipe qualifies you for different work than a TIG test on steel plate, so pick a course whose final test matches the jobs you want. The guide to AWS welding certification covers the Certified Welder program in detail.

Can You Get Certified Without Welding School?

Yes. AWS says its Certified Welder program has no prerequisite courses or certifications, because the test is strictly performance based. You schedule a test at an AWS Accredited Test Facility, weld the coupon, and an AWS Certified Welding Inspector inspects it. If you fail, you can retest at any time.

The catch is getting good enough to pass. Most people need supervised booth time on the exact joint and position the test uses. A short GTAW certificate gives you that time. At colleges that are also test facilities, such as American River College and LATTC, you can train and test in the same shop.

How to Choose a TIG Welding Course

Before you enroll, check these:

• The final test. Ask which code and position the course ends with, and whether you can test on campus.
• Plate or pipe. If you want pipe work, choose a course with a pipe GTAW class.
• Metals. Make sure aluminum and stainless are on the syllabus, not just steel.
• Credit or workforce. At Dallas College the credit certificate costs $1,584 and the workforce version $7,680 for the same eight months.
• Campus. Some GTAW certificates run only at certain campuses.

If you want more than one process, compare TIG certificates with full welding certificate programs, which cover stick, MIG, flux-cored and TIG in one credential.

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