Precision Metal Working is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #30 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 18 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Precision Metal Working Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 675 associate degrees in precision metal working to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Precision Metal Working School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of precision metal working for getting your associate degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on precision metal working students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of precision metal working students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for precision metal working to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized precision metal working related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for precision metal working students working on their associate degree.
The precision metal working school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Precision Metal Working Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.
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Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in precision metal working has to look into Hennepin Technical College. Hennepin Technical College is a small public college located in the large suburb of Brooklyn Park.
Precision Metal Working associate degree recipients from Hennepin Technical College earn a boost of about $12,692 over the typical earnings of precision metal working graduates.
It is hard to beat Lake Area Technical Institute if you want to pursue an associate degree in precision metal working. Located in the remote town of Watertown, LATI is a public school with a small student population.
Soon after graduating, precision metal working associate recipients typically make an average of $43,436 in their early careers.
It's difficult to beat Southeast Community College Area if you want to pursue an associate degree in precision metal working. Southeast Community College is a moderately-sized public college located in the city of Lincoln.
Soon after graduating, precision metal working associate recipients generally earn around $49,114 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the remote town of Wahpeton, North Dakota State College of Science is a public college with a small student population.
Those precision metal working students who get their associate degree from North Dakota State College of Science earn $4,510 more than the standard precision metal working student.
Dunwoody College of Technology is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Minneapolis.
Associate recipients from the precision metal working program at Dunwoody College of Technology earn $8,051 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Your choice of precision metal working for getting your associate degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
