Unless you want to go for certification, just skip formal classes, get a multiprocess machine so you can learn mig and stick, read, and practice…… a lot. That’s what I did. Countless hours running beads on a pad with different electrodes, flat, uphill, downhill, different joints, thick metal, thin metal, etc. Trips to the scrap metal yard can provide cheap material to learn on. I’d never earn a living, but it’s a fun hobby.