Data you can trust For schools

How to pay for CDL school

A man reviewing paperwork at a table, with trucks visible through the window

The programs in this directory’s price tables are on a state’s eligible training provider list. That is the list local workforce boards use when they approve WIOA training funds. Being on the list does not mean you will be approved. The board decides, based on its own rules.

WIOA

WIOA is the federal workforce program that can pay training costs for people who qualify. Start at an American Job Center and ask about truck driver training. Bring the school’s name and city from our state pages. If the board funds the program, you are not signing a work contract with one carrier as the price of the tuition. Ask the board what they cover and what they do not, including testing fees and a DOT physical.

Tuition reimbursement and company training

Some carriers repay tuition after you are hired and working. You pay the school first. Other carriers train you and ask you to stay for a set period. Those “free” offers are compared with the national median published tuition of $4,700 in Is free CDL training really free?

GI Bill

Veterans may be able to use VA education benefits at approved programs. The files behind this site do not include a GI Bill approval flag, so we do not mark schools as approved. Check the VA’s WEAMS institution search, and ask the school’s certifying official which program is approved and for how much. Approval of a school is not approval of every course it sells.

What to get in writing

  • The tuition, supplies, and every fee that is extra.
  • Whether the truck for the skills test is included, and what a retest costs.
  • Whether a workforce grant or reimbursement is paid to you or to the school, and what happens if you leave the course.

Use the calculator to add those extras to a published tuition. The extras stay blank until you type them.