EMT (Basic)
- Costs up to
- $5,554
- Median pay
- $44,470/yr
Training costs about 1 month of median gross pay.
Pay: BLS OEWS 29-2042
What it really costs to become.
Not the tuition. The whole number: materials, exam and license fees, the months you are not earning, set against what the job actually pays. 13 careers, costed from public records, with the sources listed on each one.
Free and low-cost routes are listed alongside the paid ones, not under them. How this site makes money.
Where these figures come from
Wages come from the federal wage survey. Fees come from the state board that charges them. Tuition comes from the school's own published price. Each career page lists what it used, and the month it was last checked, so you can go and disagree with us.
- Sources cited
- 79
- Careers on federal wage data
- 12
- Zero-tuition paths listed
- 9
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: median and entry pay
- State licensing boards Required hours, exam and license fees, reciprocity
- DOL / CareerOneStop Apprenticeship and WIOA-funded training
- Schools' published tuition Price sheets, quoted with their effective dates
A school's page shows you one number. There are four.
Tuition is the one they print, because it is the smallest. The rest arrive after you have signed.
Tuition
The advertised figure, and usually the honest one. It is also rarely more than half of what you will actually pay.
Kit, materials and books
Your own clippers, your own hood and jacket, your own shears. Often mandatory, often bought from the school, almost never in the headline price.
Exam and license fees
Paid to the state, not the school, which is exactly why the school leaves them out. Add the retake fee if you are honest about the pass rate.
The months you are not earning
The largest cost in most of these programs, and the only one no invoice will ever show you.
The careers costed so far
All-in range, time to finish, and median pay. Open one for the full breakdown, the cheaper routes, and the sources.
13 careers
Cosmetologist All-in cost $6,216 $25,716 Time 7–18 mo Median pay $35,790/yr EMT (Basic) All-in cost $554 $5,554 Time 1–4 mo Median pay $44,470/yr Real Estate Agent All-in cost $350 $1,300 Time 1–12 mo Median pay $52,830/yr Truck Driver (CDL) All-in cost $1,650 $10,650 Time 1–2 mo Median pay $58,640/yr Welder All-in cost $2,241 $25,950 Time 4–12 mo Median pay $53,750/yr Esthetician All-in cost $4,550 $14,245 Time 3–9 mo Median pay $45,330/yr HVAC Technician All-in cost $4,527 $25,785 Time 3–14 mo Median pay $61,010/yr Phlebotomy Technician All-in cost $667 $3,155 Time 1–4 mo Median pay $45,230/yr Private Pilot All-in cost $10,950 $22,000 Time 3–12 mo Barber All-in cost $16,190 $19,640 Time 6–24 mo Median pay $38,210/yr Electrician All-in cost $425 $16,856 Time 12–60 mo Median pay $63,190/yr Personal Trainer All-in cost $599 $1,799 Time 1–6 mo Median pay $47,160/yr CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) All-in cost $665 $2,765 Time 1–3 mo Median pay $42,260/yr
The two numbers no brochure prints side by side.
What the training costs, and what the work pays. Both figures are public. Putting them next to each other is the whole job, and it is how you find out that the ratio is not remotely the same from one career to the next.
Electrician
- Costs up to
- $16,856
- Median pay
- $63,190/yr
Training costs about 3 months of median gross pay.
Pay: BLS OEWS 47-2111
Cosmetologist
- Costs up to
- $25,716
- Median pay
- $35,790/yr
Training costs about 9 months of median gross pay.
Pay: BLS OEWS 39-5012
That last line is gross pay against top-of-range cost. It is not a payback period: it ignores tax, rent, and the months you are training instead of working. The career pages do that arithmetic properly.
Get the number before you sign anything.
It takes about a minute, it is free, and no school paid to be on this page.
