Program entity
SOWELA Technical Community College
Lake Charles, Louisiana · Public institution
- Address 3820 Senator J. Bennett Johnston Ave, Lake Charles, LA 70615
- Phone (337) 421-6565
- Website www.sowela.edu/
- Tuition (in-state) $4,305
- Tuition (out-of-state) $4,305
- Welding (CIP 48.0508) completions 93 (latest reported year)
- AWS ATF co-located No (No AWS ATF facility found in this city+state in the AWS ATF Domestic Site Listing PDF (6.25.2025, 200 domestic facilities) -- not a gap, a computed negative match.)
Program details
What this program covers
SOWELA's welding program, part of the School of Transportation & Applied Technology, offers a Technical Diploma - Welding (45 credit hours), a Certificate of Technical Studies - SMAW Pipe Welder (27 credit hours), and a Career and Technical Certificate - Welders Helper (15 credit hours), totaling 61 semester credit hours and 1,155 clock hours for the full sequence. Curriculum covers oxy-fuel cutting, carbon arc cutting, SMAW, GTAW, FCAW, GMAW, pipe welding, plasma arc cutting, blueprint reading, and weld symbols/joints. Students prepare to take the AWS Entry Level Welder Test upon completion.
- Processes taught SMAW; GTAW; FCAW; GMAW; pipe welding
- Credential types Technical Diploma; Certificate of Technical Studies; Career and Technical Certificate
- Program length 61 semester credit hours / 1,155 clock hours total
- Certifications prepped AWS Entry Level Welder Test
Sources & provenance
- Identity IPEDS Directory (HD component) via Urban Institute Education Data API (2023) , retrieved 2026-08-04
- Completions IPEDS Completions (C2023_A, NCES bulk file) (2023 (2022-23 academic year)) , retrieved 2026-08-04
- Tuition College Scorecard institution-level bulk CSV (Most Recent Cohorts) (most-recent-cohort (exact AY not labeled in bulk file; file release timestamp 2026-06-10)) , retrieved 2026-08-04
- Atf AWS ATF Domestic Site Listing PDF (aws-p-001-delivery.sitecorecontenthub.cloud/api/public/content/AWS-ATF-Domestic-Site-Listing), dated 6.25.2025, GET-fetched and parsed with pdftotext; 200 facility records extracted (city+state); co-location = program's city+state matches an ATF facility's city+state (2025 (6.25.2025 listing)) , retrieved 2026-08-04
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