I had some GI Bill money left and don't need any more schooling for my career as of yet. So, what to do 1 night a week? Welding, baby! 
I've always wanted to learn, the Javelin has like eleventy hundred holes from the vinyl top, and I have the money. It's about time I started to learn something useful! I'm excited!
nice... thats one thing i'd love to take at school... learn "properly"... in the mean time my welds will stick things together... just not pretty
Get your certifications. Probably not worth anything for your paycheck, it just feels good to accomplish it.
If it's like my class was, you'll burn through a lot more rod than the cost of your tuition. Great value.
I learned myself to weld. I don't do great, but I'm getting better. The next project is a ZAV Bumper for the F150. Diamond plate. 
HAVE FUN!
I wanted to attend one of those courses, but the problem is they take place at night and I work 2nd. shift. 
Have fun, dude!
Pipeliner?
A couple schools I been to we got our steel outta the scrap bin, spent way too much time cutting and grinding somebody else's welded up mess. Bring your own steel if ya have to and spend as much time actually welding as you can. Machine or fab shop will likely give you cutoffs they can't use if you mention you're a student. Build a weld positioner at home and practice there if you can.
Good luck and have fun
JoeyM wrote: If it's like my class was, you'll burn through a lot more rod than the cost of your tuition. Great value.
+1
I took a $450 welding class the local Vo-Tech a few years ago. It turned out to be 54 hours of hands-on welding. The amount of steel and aluminum I ruined was staggering. Worth every penny.
I am taking the machine shop class this fall if it isn't canceled due to low participation so I can play with a big-boy milling machine :).
My class, I ended up running beads over old nasty coupons. It was stick, stick, and more stick in the 1G position. It wasn't until the last couple days that I went 3G.
I hope you find a class that just skims over stick, mig, and tig. Once you get the basics down, you can just practice your way to perfection. Or take specific classes to further hone your skill.
Holy crap do I have some stuff to buy! 
Luckily all the welding rod, gas, and metal is free. 
Its off to fix the first thing I ever welded this afternoon. Man that was a nasty job. Glad I've learned.
Sweeeeeeeeet. I know own an auto-darkening welding helmet. Scored a used jacket, new goggles, and some various pliers at the local used tool store (that rocks hardcore BTW). Grabbed the helmet, gloves, and tip cleaners at Lowe's. Now all I need is my own home welder!
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