Best Grinding programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Set up, operate, or tend grinding and related tools that remove excess material or burrs from surfaces, sharpen edges or corners, or buff, hone, or polish metal or plastic work.
11 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 140 people a year. The job pays a median of $46,180 in Illinois across about 4,100 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 48.0503In Illinois → | 80 | 57.1% | 5 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
| 2 | CIP 48.0501In Illinois → | 60 | 42.9% | 7 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
Top 11 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 11 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southwestern Illinois College Belleville, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 81 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | $31,692 | 36% | — | — |
| 2 | Illinois Central College East Peoria, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | — | 49% | — | — |
| 3 | Parkland College Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | — | 32% | — | — |
| 4 | Illinois Eastern Community Colleges Olney, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | $30,893 | 63% | — | — |
| 5 | Spoon River College Canton, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | — | 42% | — | — |
| 6 | Heartland Community College Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | — | 54% | — | — |
| 7 | College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | — | 25% | — | — |
| 8 | John Wood Community College Quincy, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | — | 49% | — | — |
| 9 | Illinois Valley Community College Oglesby, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | — | 42% | — | — |
| 10 | McHenry County College Crystal Lake, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | — | 37% | — | — |
| 11 | Sauk Valley Community College Dixon, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | — | 49% | — | — |
All 11 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwestern Illinois College | Belleville | Public | 81 | 2 |
| Illinois Central College | East Peoria | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Parkland College | Champaign | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Illinois Eastern Community Colleges | Olney | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Spoon River College | Canton | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Heartland Community College | Normal | Public | 3 | 1 |
| College of DuPage | Glen Ellyn | Public | 2 | 1 |
| John Wood Community College | Quincy | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Illinois Valley Community College | Oglesby | Public | 1 | 1 |
| McHenry County College | Crystal Lake | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Sauk Valley Community College | Dixon | Public | 1 | 1 |
What grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $46,550. Illinois pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Illinois employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Illinois
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic page.
How to become a Grinding
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Illinois
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 48.0501Machine Tool Technology/Machinist
- 48.0503Machine Shop Technology/Assistant
Common questions
Answers for people weighing grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a Grinding?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Machine Shop Technology/Assistant, which awarded 80 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 57.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Grinding?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 140 people a year in Illinois.
How much do grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in Illinois?+
The median is $46,180 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.8% below the U.S. median of $46,550. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic growing?+
BLS projects a -12.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 5,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
11 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Grinder, Grinder Operator, Grinding Machine Operator, Centerless Grinder Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4033.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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