Quality Control Technology

Overview

Quality control technology programs prepare people to help engineers and others manage systems that measure and control for quality.

Quality control technology programs prepare people do quality control and help engineers. Students learn standards that apply to various fields. For example, they learn about manufacturing standards. They also learn to inspect and test output, and write reports.

Quality control technology programs include topics such as:

Quality control systems management principles
Testing procedures
Inspection procedures
Related instrumentation and equipment operation and maintenance
Report writing

Schools

Many community colleges and technical schools offer certificate and associate degree programs in quality control technology. A certificate program usually takes a year of full-time study. An associate degree program at a community college usually takes two years of full-time study to complete.

Few colleges and universities offer bachelor’s degrees in quality control technology. A bachelor's degree usually takes about four years of full-time study.

See schools that offer this program.

Related Educational Programs

Related Careers

Careers Directly Related to this Program of Study

Quality Control Inspectors

Other Careers Related to this Program of Study

Program Admission

You can prepare for this program by taking courses in high school that prepare you for college. This typically includes four years of English, three years of math, three years of social studies, and two years of science. Some colleges also require two years of a second language.

Below is a list of high school courses that will help prepare you for this program of study:

Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science and Programming
English Composition
Physics
Trigonometry

Typical Course Work

Program Courses

An associate degree program in this field typically includes courses in the following subjects:

Acceptance Sampling
Computer Fundamentals for Technology
Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD)
Design of Experiments
English Composition
General Chemistry
General Physics
Introduction to Metallurgy and Materials Science
Manufacturing Processes
Metrology
Pre-Calculus
Probability and Statistics
Statistical Process Control
Team Building and Continuous Process Improvement
Total Quality Management

A bachelor's degree program often assumes that you have taken pre-calculus while in high school. It typically includes the other courses listed above, plus the following:

Applied Calculus
Introduction to Psychology
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Organizational Behavior
Quality Auditing
Reliability Engineering

Things to Know

Many jobs in this field require a lot of writing and clear communication. Taking writing and speaking courses will develop your communication skills.

When an industry decides to use quality control methods, management usually brings in industrial engineers. The engineers study the business and design a quality control program. Technicians help make the program work.