An education at a commercial truck driving school can be a great investment to put you on the track of a high-paying and fast-growing career. Their relatively low price tags (compared to other education) and short timeframes make them a good option if you’re looking for a quick career change into a field with consistent salary growth.
Although these programs are comparatively affordable — generally under $8,000 — they still often require a significant payment up-front. So, here are a few options if you can’t afford truck driving school!
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) are government-sponsored programs that provide grants and scholarships for certain technical training schools. You may be able to cover partial or full tuition for your Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) program through these.
You’ll need to contact your specific truck driving school to learn if they offer assistance through these programs.
Employer reimbursement
In the Commercial Truck Driving field, employer reimbursement programs are fairly common. How it works is: once you graduate from your CDL program, your future employer pays for your tuition in exchange for an employment contract. Generally, these contracts require a commitment 1-2 years of employment from you in exchange for the full tuition.
These can be a great way to cover the cost of your CDL program, but you’ll want to make sure you read the contract carefully! In some cases, if you stop working for the employer before the contract expires, you’ll be required to pay back the full amount of your tuition.
If you’re interested in taking advantage of this payment option, check with your school to see which companies they partner with.
Payment plans
Some CDL training schools will offer payment plans, so you can pay the total tuition amount over a few months. If you can’t afford truck driving school, it may be easier to pay these installments rather than the total tuition up-front. However, the monthly payments on these plans can still be quite large and a lot to manage while you’re looking for work after your program.
Veteran benefits — GI Bill
If you are a veteran, or eligible for veteran benefits, you may be able to pay for your CDL education program through the GI Bill®, an education grant available to veterans and military personnel.
If you’re eligible, the GI Bill may be able to cover your full tuition. Apply on the VA website or ask your school for more information about qualification!
“GI Bill®” is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official US government website at www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
Climb loans
At Climb Credit, we offer affordable student loans for programs that we partner with. This is a good option if you don’t want to commit to a specific employer or pay a large amount of money up-front. With us, you’re able to make smaller monthly payments for a few years. If you decide you want to pay your loan balance early, you can do so at any time without a prepayment penalty. We offer fixed-rate loans for multiple CDL programs!
Want to know more? Check out some of our partner schools at the link below, and feel free to contact Climb through the chat box in the corner or email at hello@climbcredit.com to learn how we can help you pay for your truck driving school!
3 thoughts on “Can’t Afford Truck Driving School? How to Pay for Your CDL Course”
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I was interested possibly in starting a trucking career. I was wondering what the down payment and monthly payments of financing a cdl course would be because I couldn’t pay it all up front.
It’s great that you explained how getting into a truck driving school could lead you to a successful career. The other day, my cousin said he wanted to quit his current job and start a new career. My cousin’s interested in becoming a truck driver and having his own company in the future, so I’ll gladly share your tips with him. Thank you for the advice on truck driving school and ways we could afford it.