Trade Colleges Directory is a small, independent project run by Max, a software engineer who built and maintains the data pipeline behind the site. Max holds a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering and a Master of Arts in Linguistics, with 20 years of professional software development experience. Earlier career work included technical writing and interpreting in industrial settings, and several years in international procurement of industrial equipment and materials — direct, on-the-ground exposure to the skilled-trade sectors this site covers.
Articles are researched and written from primary government and labor-market data we ingest, clean, and analyze in-house: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, O*NET occupational profiles, the Department of Education's College Scorecard, and U.S. Census PSEO earnings data.
Where a specific figure is cited inline, the relevant dataset is linked in context, and we update content as new IPEDS and BLS releases land each year. If you spot an error, write to us and we'll fix it.
On August 27 the Bureau of Labor Statistics published a relative AI exposure rating for all 831 occupations it projects. Construction and extraction came in 98% Low or Moderate with zero occupations in the highest category. Not a single bachelor's-degree occupation was rated Low.
North American companies ordered 36,766 robots in 2025, and every one of them needs a human technician. Training paths, real BLS pay data, and how to get in.
Layout printers, rebar-tying robots, and weld cobots are on real jobsites now. Verified 2026 field data on what they do, plus a five-move playbook for trades workers.
A cost-benefit guide for bachelor's degree holders weighing a move into the skilled trades — what underemployment data actually says about your degree, what trades pay, what retraining costs, the Pell grant trap, and the new Workforce Pell exception that took effect July 2026.
We pulled the federal admissions data on every U.S. institution that tops out below a bachelor's degree. Nearly 90% are open admission. Among the selective minority, only 31% require a GPA — but 55% require an aptitude test. Here's what trade school admissions actually screens for, and the one place a weak transcript still costs you.
Week of July 27, 2026 — Pennsylvania approved 2 of 40 submitted Workforce Pell programs, Virginia 6 of about 600, and the state application windows that decide fall eligibility close this month. Plus OSHA's 14-standard comment reopening and the end of the CTE Methods of Administration program.
The full electrician career map: entry requirements, the apprenticeship, and the five branches after journeyman — what each pays and which are actually growing.
Two Wage and Hour Division opinion letters issued July 22 set out when a field service worker's paid day begins — and when the drive to the first job site becomes hours worked.
How much dental hygienists make in 2026: the $98,100 median ($47.16/hour), pay by state and work setting, why part-time schedules shape benefits, the job outlook (7% growth, 15,300 openings a year), and how the pay compares with dental assistants, LPNs, and RNs.
Dental hygienist vs dental assistant, with the numbers: a ~1-year certificate versus a 3-year CODA-accredited degree, optional certification versus mandatory licensure, and $47,300 versus $94,260 median pay — plus why assisting credits rarely transfer into hygiene school.
A shop-floor guide to becoming a CNC machinist — the operator vs. setup vs. programmer pay ladder, community college machine tool programs vs. registered apprenticeships, NIMS Machining Level I and II credentials, print reading and GD&T, and what the first-year paycheck really looks like.
A step-by-step path from zero experience to licensed RDH — prerequisites, choosing a CODA-accredited associate program, clinical training, the NBDHE, your regional clinical exam, state licensure, and how to keep climbing once you're in the operatory.
A step-by-step guide to becoming an auto mechanic — the lube-tech entry ladder, community college vs manufacturer programs like Toyota T-TEN, the full ASE A1–A8 Master Technician path, real tool costs, flat-rate pay explained, and what the EV shift means for the trade.
A data-backed guide for parents re-entering work after years of caregiving — why the trades judge skills over résumé gaps, which trades fit school-hours schedules, honest talk about the childcare barrier, and the apprenticeship programs built to support returning parents.
A practical guide to switching into the skilled trades without quitting your job — comparing evening and weekend trade school, registered apprenticeships where the job is the training, and hybrid programs, with honest weekly-hour budgets and BLS-sourced payoff data.
An honest, BLS-sourced guide to skilled trades where the math stays at tape-measure level — flooring, painting, roofing, cosmetology, CDL driving — plus a frank look at which trades genuinely demand algebra and how training programs teach the math you do need.
A BLS-sourced guide to the skilled trades that hire without a diploma — construction labor, roofing, flooring, painting — plus how Job Corps lets you earn a GED and a trade credential at the same time, and why the GED still raises your ceiling.
HVAC school brochures print the median salary and the sunlit lab photo. Here's the rest of it: the bill past the tuition line, the EPA 608 license, what first-year pay actually looks like, and the paid apprenticeship route the brochure never compares itself against.
How Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits actually work at trade schools: the tuition cap for non-degree programs, housing allowance rules, why apprenticeships stack wages on top of benefits, what Yellow Ribbon does (and doesn't) cover, and how to read VA caution flags before you enroll.
Almost every state licenses electricians through the same ladder — apprentice, journeyman, master — but the hours, exams, and issuing agencies differ in ways that change how long your training takes. Here's every state's electrician licensing picture in one table, plus what to do in the states that license locally instead.