Trade School Insider

About Trade School Insider

Trade School Insider exists to help people navigate the US trade school system without the confusion.

What We Do

We research programs, analyze Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, and compile the information that matters — so you can choose a trade school with confidence, not guesswork.

Every guide covers the same core questions: How much does the program cost? How long does it take? Is the school accredited? What will you earn after graduating? What do working tradespeople say about it? We answer all of these — with primary sources and real data, not opinion.

Who Runs It

Bikash Roy
Bikash Roy

Founder & Lead Researcher

Researching vocational education and BLS occupational data since 2022. Every article on this site is written or reviewed by Bikash before publishing.

Read the full author bio and methodology →

How We Evaluate Schools

Accreditation: Verified through DAPIP (ope.ed.gov/dapip). Schools without recognized accreditation are excluded.
Program Length: Sourced from admissions pages — total clock hours, credential awarded, and hands-on lab hours.
Certification Pass Rates: AWS (welding), NATE (HVAC), and state electrical licensing exam pass rates where publicly available.
Employer Partnerships: Documented job placement partnerships verified through institutional sources.
Cost vs. National Average: Tuition compared to national averages from NCES and ACCSC data.
No Pay-to-Rank: Schools cannot pay for placement. Affiliate commissions are disclosed and never affect rankings.

How We Keep Content Accurate

  • Salary and job outlook data is refreshed every October after the BLS annual data release.
  • School listings are verified annually — tuition and program details change frequently.
  • Every page shows a "Last updated" date in the article byline.
  • Factual corrections are made within 48 hours of being reported. Significant corrections are noted at the bottom of the article.

Our Relationship with Schools

Some links on this site earn a referral commission if you enroll or request information from a school. These affiliate relationships are disclosed at the top of every page that contains them.

Affiliate relationships do not influence our rankings, editorial recommendations, or which schools we include or exclude. Our editorial process operates independently of commercial relationships.

Read the full affiliate disclosure →

Contact Us

For corrections, research questions, partnership inquiries, or anything else.