Best Heat Treating Equipment Setter programs in Oregon, ranked by enrollment
Set up, operate, or tend heating equipment, such as heat-treating furnaces, flame-hardening machines, induction machines, soaking pits, or vacuum equipment to temper, harden, anneal, or heat treat metal or plastic.
5 schools in Oregon run programs that feed this job, graduating 91 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,280 in Oregon across about 240 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Oregon that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Oregon that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Oregon (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 Oregon page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 48.0501In Oregon → | 66 | 72.5% | 4 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
| 2 | CIP 48.0503In Oregon → | 25 | 27.5% | 3 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
Top 5 schools in Oregon
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 5 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linn - Benton Community College Albany, OR Public · 1 feeder programs | 36 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | $42,085 | 29% | — | — |
| 2 | Portland Community College Portland, OR Public · 2 feeder programs | 24 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | — | 18% | — | — |
| 3 | Clackamas Community College Oregon City, OR Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Machine Tool Technology/Machinist | — | 23% | — | — |
| 4 | Mt Hood Community College Gresham, OR Public · 2 feeder programs | 12 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | — | 24% | — | — |
| 5 | Chemeketa Community College Salem, OR Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | — | 21% | — | — |
All 5 schools in Oregon
Every school in Oregon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linn - Benton Community College | Albany | Public | 36 | 1 |
| Portland Community College | Portland | Public | 24 | 2 |
| Clackamas Community College | Oregon City | Public | 15 | 1 |
| Mt Hood Community College | Gresham | Public | 12 | 2 |
| Chemeketa Community College | Salem | Public | 4 | 1 |
What heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in Oregon
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $48,750. Oregon pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Oregon employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Oregon
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 Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic page.
How to become a Heat Treating Equipment Setter
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 Oregon
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Heat Treating Equipment 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 heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic programs in Oregon.
What degree do you need to become a Heat Treating Equipment Setter?+
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 Tool Technology/Machinist, which awarded 66 degrees in Oregon in 2024-25, 72.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Heat Treating Equipment Setter?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 91 people a year in Oregon.
How much do heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic earn in Oregon?+
The median is $60,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 23.7% above the U.S. median of $48,750. 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 heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic growing?+
BLS projects a -12.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Oregon?+
5 institutions in Oregon 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 heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Heat Treater, Furnace Operator, Heat Treat Operator, Heat Treat Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4191.
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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