Step 1
Train
Step-by-step instruction written by subject matter experts who have run the machines. Interactive exercises, video, and workbooks — built around real parts rather than slides.
Certification
Train. Prove. Certify.
A machinist proves out a program before it cuts metal. We assess a student the same way — against stated objectives, on real work, before anyone calls them qualified.
What a student leaves with
- A Total Machinist certificate, earned on performance
- A Skills Learning Objective report listing what they can actually do
- Practical projects completed, machined and inspected
- Preparation for third-party certification, where a program requires it
Three steps, and none of them are optional
The same sequence runs through all thirty-two courses. It is why a certificate from us means something to the person doing the hiring.
Step 2
Prove
Comprehensive testing against every stated objective, and hands-on practical projects taken from print to finished, inspected part. Knowing a process and being able to hold a tolerance are different things. We assess both.
Step 3
Certify
Certificates are earned at an 80% average, not awarded for attendance. Content aligns to the skill standards the industry already works to.
Our final customer
Although our primary customer is schools, our final customers are manufacturers and machine shops that employ under a thousand people. Demand for talented people has never been higher, and these employers are the backbone of American manufacturing — they employ more machinists than anyone else. These are the thousands of companies that sit on our customers’ advisory boards and are in our communities.
Today, manufacturing is growing fast. At the same time our skilled workforce is retiring. To keep pace, companies are competing for the best talent. Demand is so high that high school students are hired directly from cooperative education programs (co-op).
To qualify for a competitive salary and career path, students must show up prepared to the interview and ready to go on day one. They must prove their depth of knowledge, experience and skills. That is why every building block includes assessments and hands-on projects to prove competency, and why every building block has Skills Learning Objective assessment and hands-on project credentials that an employer can examine and discuss with the candidate.
It is a competitive industry that offers good pay and career paths. Those shops hire on evidence rather than enthusiasm.
What that gives an instructor and a program
Instructors and their use of our system are the winning combination. Together they guarantee the productivity that allows every student to accomplish their individual potential and achievement — and the evidence of it is already assembled.
A graduate arrives at the interview with a complete presentation: the certificate, the Skills Learning Objective report that lists what they can actually do, and the parts they programmed, machined and inspected. That is the program’s work, made visible to the employer who is hiring from it.
Why employers trust the paperwork
Most online certificates prove someone sat through a course and answered questions about it. That is not the same as being useful on a floor.
Every course states its learning objectives up front — identify basic OSHA requirements, demonstrate proper use of compressed air, recognise the dangers of reaching into a running machine — and assesses against each one. The Skills Learning Objective report a student leaves with is a line-by-line record of those objectives, not a grade.
Alongside it sits the practical work. Students run projects end to end: read the print, write the program, choose tooling and work holding, set the machine, cut the part, and inspect what comes off. The certificate covers both halves — what a student knows, and what they have actually produced.
That is the document a hiring manager can use. It answers the question they are really asking, which is not “did they pass” but “what can they do on Monday”.
Preparing for a third-party certification
Where a program certifies through an outside body, Total Machinist includes practice testing across measurement, materials and safety; job planning, benchwork and layout; milling and turning, both operations and programming; drill press, manual machining and precision grinding.
Also available
Certification beyond the Total Machinist pathway, for programs that need it.
Verisurf Metrology Certification
Inspection and reverse engineering, with interactive online learning, testing and instructor-led options alongside workbooks and support.
Mapped to your standards
Programs map our objectives against their own curriculum and accreditation requirements. Ask for the Skills Learning Objectives Overview and we will send it.
Decades of doing it this way
See whether it fits your program
Half an hour with someone who knows the content, and the Skills Learning Objectives Overview to map against your curriculum. No obligation either way.