Best degree programs for Foundry Mold and Coremakers, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 2 schools train Foundry Mold and Coremakers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $48,110 median wage, 12,790 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 2 schools train foundry mold and coremakers, graduating 102 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Ironworking/Ironworker. The job pays a median of $48,110 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About foundry mold and coremakers
Make or form wax or sand cores or molds used in the production of metal castings in foundries.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 48.0509 | 102 | 100.0% | 2 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
Top 2 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis, IN Public · 1 feeder programs | 99 | Ironworking/Ironworker | 40% | — | — |
| 2 | Community College of Allegheny County Pittsburgh, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Ironworking/Ironworker | 24% | — | — |
What foundry mold and coremakers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianalimited | $49,860 | 720 | 2.73× | 1 | 99 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $44,750 | 1,230 | 2.47× | 1 | 3 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Clean and smooth molds, cores, and core boxes, and repair surface imperfections.
- Sift and pack sand into mold sections, core boxes, and pattern contours, using hand or pneumatic ramming tools.
- Position patterns inside mold sections, and clamp sections together.
- Position cores into lower sections of molds, and reassemble molds for pouring.
- Sprinkle or spray parting agents onto patterns and mold sections to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
- Form and assemble slab cores around patterns, and position wire in mold sections to reinforce molds, using hand tools and glue.
- Move and position workpieces, such as mold sections, patterns, and bottom boards, using cranes, or signal others to move workpieces.
- Lift upper mold sections from lower sections, and remove molded patterns.
Skills
- Monitoring3.0
- Active Listening2.9
- Critical Thinking2.9
- Speaking2.6
- Active Learning2.4
- Reading Comprehension2.3
- Mathematics2.0
- Learning Strategies2.0
Knowledge areas
- English Language3.4
- Mechanical3.4
- Production and Processing3.3
- Education and Training3.3
- Administration and Management3.2
- Physics3.1
Abilities
- Trunk Strength3.8
- Manual Dexterity3.6
- Static Strength3.5
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.5
- Finger Dexterity3.4
- Multilimb Coordination3.3
Core activities
- Handling and Moving Objects4.4
- Performing General Physical Activities4.3
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings3.8
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials3.8
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events3.7
- Getting Information3.7
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Foundry Mold
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Foundry Mold and Coremakers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 48.0509Ironworking/Ironworker
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Foundry Mold?+
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 Ironworking/Ironworker, which awarded 102 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Foundry Mold?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 102 people a year.
How much do foundry mold and coremakers earn?+
The median is $48,110 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $37,160 at the 10th percentile to $62,640 at the 90th. 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 foundry mold and coremakers growing?+
BLS projects a -25.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
2 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 foundry mold and coremakers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Molder, Coremaker, Core Maker, Core Machine Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4071.
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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