One job, several ways in — an exam, an apprenticeship, a program — and they do not cost the same. This board puts them side by side, each cost read from the certifying body's own fee schedule.
Some well-paid occupations are gated by an exam or an apprenticeship, not a classroom. Others legally require school, and the marketing rarely tells you which is which. The board below answers it from the licensing rules themselves — then each job shows every route in, what each one verifiably costs, and what graduates of the college route actually earned, from tax records. Where a figure could not be read from a primary source, the page says not verified instead of guessing.
One job, several ways in — an exam, an apprenticeship, a program — and they do not cost the same. This board puts them side by side, each cost read from the certifying body's own fee schedule.
Read from each occupation's actual licence gate, not from marketing. "Cash gate" is the lowest exam fee we verified on a certifying body's own fee schedule — it is the price of the test, not of becoming able to pass it.
| Occupation | Field | College? | The gate | Cash gate | Median wage · national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft mechanic | Mechanical & repair | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $79,870national |
| Automotive service technician | Mechanical & repair | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $96 | $50,620national |
| Carpenter | Skilled trades & construction | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $60,580national |
| Computer network support specialist | Technology | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $76,220national |
| Construction and building inspector | Skilled trades & construction | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $74,690national |
| Crane operator | Transportation | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $290 | $68,080national |
| Dental assistant | Healthcare | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $48,070national |
| Electrician | Skilled trades & construction | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $63,190national |
| Flight attendant | Transportation | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $63,580national |
| Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver | Transportation | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $58,640national |
| HVAC technician | Mechanical & repair | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $61,010national |
| Information security analyst | Technology | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $129,180national |
| IT support specialist | Technology | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $61,860national |
| Machinist | Manufacturing | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $80 | $58,750national |
| Medical assistant | Healthcare | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $125 | $45,690national |
| Medical coder (medical records specialist) | Healthcare | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $425 | $51,140national |
| Nuclear power reactor operator | Manufacturing | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $122,890national |
| Pharmacy technician | Healthcare | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $129 | $45,750national |
| Plumber, pipefitter or steamfitter | Skilled trades & construction | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $63,800national |
| Security guard | Protective services | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $38,020national |
| Solar photovoltaic installer | Skilled trades & construction | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $150 | $53,140national |
| Welder | Manufacturing | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | $70 | $53,750national |
| Wind turbine service technician | Mechanical & repair | NO COLLEGE REQUIRED | test or apprentice in | not verified | $64,120national |
| Emergency medical technician (EMT) | Healthcare | SCHOOL REQUIRED | accredited program, then the exam | school first — per-school costs pending | $44,470national |
| Licensed practical nurse | Healthcare | SCHOOL REQUIRED | accredited program, then the exam | school first — per-school costs pending | $64,400national |
| Massage therapist | Healthcare | SCHOOL REQUIRED | accredited program, then the exam | school first — per-school costs pending | $58,450national |
| Nursing assistant (CNA) | Healthcare | SCHOOL REQUIRED | accredited program, then the exam | school first — per-school costs pending | $42,260national |
| Police and sheriff's patrol officer | Protective services | SCHOOL REQUIRED | accredited program, then the exam | school first — per-school costs pending | $76,210national |
| Veterinary technician | Healthcare | SCHOOL REQUIRED | accredited program, then the exam | school first — per-school costs pending | $47,380national |
| Dental hygienist | Healthcare | DEGREE REQUIRED | accredited degree, then the exams | school first — per-school costs pending | $98,100national |
| Physician assistant | Healthcare | DEGREE REQUIRED | accredited degree, then the exams | school first — per-school costs pending | $135,880national |
| Radiologic technologist | Healthcare | DEGREE REQUIRED | accredited degree, then the exams | school first — per-school costs pending | $80,110national |
| Registered nurse | Healthcare | DEGREE REQUIRED | accredited degree, then the exams | school first — per-school costs pending | $97,550national |
| Respiratory therapist | Healthcare | DEGREE REQUIRED | accredited degree, then the exams | school first — per-school costs pending | $82,280national |
Three kinds of route, three different prices — and only one of them is paid in cash. None is marked as the one to pick; they buy different things.
Lowest cash outlay — often a few hundred dollars. The catch: the exam certifies skill you already have. Somebody still has to teach you, and that usually means an employer willing to train, or an apprenticeship first.
Paid from day one, typically no tuition — you earn while the experience hours accumulate. The price is time: the calendar commitment is the longest of the three, and sponsor slots are competitive.
Tuition, and often debt — but a fixed timetable, financial aid, and for some occupations it is legally the only door. Where the government publishes what past graduates actually earned, that receipt is on the job's page, with its dates.
We do not publish route durations yet — no primary source we read states them cleanly, and a made-up "6 months to certification" is exactly the marketing this site exists against. Durations get added as sources are read, not before.
Licence-gated and credential-gated occupations, where cost confusion runs deepest and the marketing is thickest. More are added as their sources are read.
| Route in | Type | Verified cost |
|---|---|---|
| 18-30 months of documented practical experience (no school required)14 CFR 65.77: 18 months for a single rating (airframe or powerplant) or 30 months concurrently performing both, as an alternative to a Part 147 school. | ON-THE-JOB | not verified |
| FAA-certificated Part 147 aviation maintenance technician school (also lets a student sit the oral/practical tests before meeting the experience requirement)Per-school costs are the weekly expansion's job. Receipt from Scorecard: national median earnings 4 years after a CIP 47.06 certificate = $51,586 (2017-19 completers measured 2022-23; family includes automotive and diesel programs). | COLLEGE | not verified |
| FAA General/Airframe/Powerplant knowledge tests, administered by PSIOral and practical tests with a Designated Mechanic Examiner follow the knowledge tests. | EXAM | not verified |
3 of 3 routes carry no verified cost. Those say not verified above rather than showing a figure we could not read from a primary source.
Three sources, three different vintages, all labelled. Mixing them silently is how every other page on this subject goes wrong.
Every dollar figure on a route was read from the certifying body's own fee schedule or an official source, with the URL and read-date kept. If a body does not publish its price — CompTIA's exam voucher, for instance, is priced only inside its checkout — we say not verified rather than quote a reseller. Third-party "average cost of trade school" figures are the noise this site exists to replace, so none appear here.
College-route earnings are the U.S. Dept of Education's College Scorecard field-of-study medians — actual tax-record earnings, not survey claims. But the cohorts are 2017–19 completers, measured in 2022–23. That label travels with every figure, because passing those numbers off as current-year earnings would be false.
Wages are BLS OEWS, May 2025 — shown as context.
careeronestop.org publishes the same distribution; we cite it, we do not
pretend to own it.
We rank nothing and recommend nothing. No route gets a medal — a paid apprenticeship and a degree program lead to different careers at different speeds, and that trade-off is yours. We put the costs side by side with receipts; the decision stays with you.
Where a fee varies by state — journeyman exams, licence fees — the page says so instead of picking one state's number and calling it typical.