The Fab School has been teaching metal fabrication since 2005. Located in Riverside, California, the Fab School offers a six-month course on several areas of metal fabrication. Classes for 2011 occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with morning sessions or evening sessions. The school also offers month-long and weekend courses to teach individuals trade skills.
The North American Trade School in Baltimore, Maryland, offers Welding & Fabrication certification courses. The program has been in place for 39 years and the school provides financial aid and career placement assistance. The North American Trade School also has welding schools in Dundalk, Silver Spring and Glen Burnie, Maryland.
The New Castle School of Trades of Pulaski, Pennsylvania teaches various types of welding and how to use many kinds of welding equipment. The school has been teaching since 1945 and follows curriculum specifications from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Welding Society. It offers students financial aid and career placement assistance.
Community colleges offer two-year degrees or certificates in metal fabrication and may be more affordable and better accredited than some trade schools. You must apply and be accepted since the programs take a limited number of new students each year. The schools have various names for their metal fabrication programs such as Metal Technologies, Integrated Metals or Welding Technology, so if you don't see Metal Fabrication listed in the catalog, look for an alternative title.
Technical or vocational high schools across the United States offer students the opportunity to learn the basics of a career before graduation. For some employers this training will be a strong enough foundation to hire the student after he graduates or the classes can provide a base for further education in metal fabrication at a trade school or college.