Cost of taking your welding tests

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I was at my local college tonight taking my last lesson of my 10 week night schoool welding course when I noticed a posting on the blackboard for the students in the welding course held there. These students are on a normal 8month course and can graduate as a welder fitter they can also take the test for a range of flat and fillet welds in GMAW, SMAW, FCAW and MCAW. What suprised me was that they had to pay 125$ per test. I would have assumed that if you enter a welding course for 8 months your tuition fees should at least cover a few basic test plates and if you need more then yes upto you to pay. Is this the norm with other schools as well or did you have the ability to take a few tests as part of the course and then pay for the extra later on when you needed them.Harold MulderMiller 211 AutosetHTP 201 Invertig with water coolerHardinge Cataract Quick Change Lathe
Reply:Originally Posted by haroldmulderI was at my local college tonight taking my last lesson of my 10 week night schoool welding course when I noticed a posting on the blackboard for the students in the welding course held there. These students are on a normal 8month course and can graduate as a welder fitter they can also take the test for a range of flat and fillet welds in GMAW, SMAW, FCAW and MCAW. What suprised me was that they had to pay 125$ per test. I would have assumed that if you enter a welding course for 8 months your tuition fees should at least cover a few basic test plates and if you need more then yes upto you to pay. Is this the norm with other schools as well or did you have the ability to take a few tests as part of the course and then pay for the extra later on when you needed them.
Reply:We have to pay for the certs. The school doesn't actually conduct the test. They have someone else do that, though the tests are often done at the school facility. It makes sure things are on the up and up and fair. They do have test apparatus that they use to evaluate student welds however. The student has to pass 2 consecutive tests in order to move on to the next section. They don't get a cert for this, it's only for evaluation purposes..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Our xray test in Anchorage for D1.1 is going to cost $275.
Reply:Im in school and will be testing in a few weeks on 6" sch80 tig/stick.  Going to cost about $250 out of pocket, and thats already at a student rate.Have we all gone mad?
Reply:my course did not offer actual testing under cwb or tssa to be part of the course. Given that the school was a certified cwb and tssa testing facility, they offered "in-house" test bends, which were just test bends done by the student under the governing body's protocols for actual testing. perk of it was that all results were kept on file, so a potential employer could call them for reference and such.
Reply:wow!.. i can't believe you guys had to pay for your test.. i've been a pipe-welder for 18 years (been in the bus. for about 24 yrs.) and never seen anyone pay for a weld test.. in school, or on a job.. i know what it costs the company (about 375 bucks for a 2" x-ray.. i've seen it cost as much as 900 or more).. but i personally have never paid for a weld test.. that's absurd.. the school is probably charging only half the cost... what a rip...if you're not livin on the edge, you're takin up too much room..
Reply:In the schools that I teach, every required test is included in tuition.Especially, if a test is required for a class.CWI, CWE, CST for Miller, Lincoln, Thermadyne, Hypertherm & ESABMillermatic 350PLincoln Invertec 205 AC/DCVictor combo torchESAB PCM 1125
Reply:My certs are included in the price of tuition.I'd say it depends primarily on whether the instructor is certified to "officially" test, inspect, and certify your welds.My guess would be the instructor doesn't have that capability and they have to pay someone else to supervise and test the welds.?>?My original $4500;Has paid for 32 weeks of schoolCertifications in all positions structural SMAW, AWS D1.1And all positions on pipe uphill:1g, 2g, 5g about to finish.6G Working on shortly.
Reply:during my welding degree, we setup welds and were inspected to D1.1 we would do guided bend tests etc. But to actually be issued a cert cost wasn't part of the tuition or general curriculum there was a student rate that was somewhere in the range of $100-200. the school was a certified testing facility and would charge more for outsiders to come and take a test.very few people picked up certs though, they are very useless as they don't really transfer jobs that well.On the job now, we don't ever make a welder pay for a cert test, that seems kinda strange.  I've never personally payed for a cert test myself, and the ones i have all came from jobs and are never transferable.  So getting a cert from school wasn't a huge deal to me.