The Illinois Community College Board has approved College of DuPage’s welding degree program. The program serves as a prerequisite for the American Welding Society. It extends COD’s long-standing welding certificate.

Welding is one of the country’s fastest growing careers, as the National Association of Manufacturers has announced a need for close to 14 million welders by 2020. About 4.6 percent of American welders are employed in the state of Illinois, making COD a prime location for welding education.

COD welding students have been contacted by dozens of companies looking to hire COD graduates. With the addition of Welding 2000 and above classes, COD’s students will have even more qualifications than those previously hired.

The program specializes in teaching students a wide variety of occupational tools. Each undergraduate will learn specifics for pipeline and prototype welding, structural, aerospace, renewable energy and production.

To receive a degree, students will only need an additional 11 credit hours to that of the 30-credit-hour certificate program. Many of the courses are offered at night in order to provide accessibility to those already employed.

For more information on COD’s welding program, visit www.cod.edu/programs/welding/.