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Trade-School ROI in Virginia
A Virginia-specific cut of our national dataset: which trades pay back the most per tuition dollar, what schools cost, and where you can get paid to train instead of paying — all from official U.S. federal data. Free to cite with attribution to Explore Top Colleges. National report & full CSV →
Paid apprenticeship programs in Virginia
1,933
earn while you train
Trade-school net price range
$5,490–$31,032
/yr, depending on trade
Trades tracked in Virginia
19
state × trade rows
Best-value trades in Virginia
Ranked by median graduate earnings (10 yrs after entry) per $1,000 of annual net price — a school-level value measure. Methodology.
| Trade | Value ($/$1k tuition) | Median net price/yr | Median earnings | Paid apprenticeships |
|---|
| Welding | $6,563 | $5,490 | $36,031 | 51 |
| Machining & CNC | $6,563 | $5,490 | $36,031 | 87 |
| Electrician | $6,406 | $5,490 | $35,167 | 577 |
| Electrical Lineman | $6,406 | $5,490 | $35,167 | 37 |
| EMT & Paramedic | $6,323 | $6,009 | $37,996 | 3 |
Get paid to train instead — in Virginia
- 577 registered electrician apprenticeship programs — vs a median $5,490/yr to attend electrician school in Virginia.
- 555 registered cosmetology apprenticeship programs — vs a median $16,693/yr to attend cosmetology school in Virginia.
- 272 registered hvac apprenticeship programs — vs a median $6,279/yr to attend hvac school in Virginia.
- 153 registered barbering apprenticeship programs — vs a median $16,693/yr to attend barbering school in Virginia.
See all Virginia trade schools & apprenticeships →
Compiled by Ikan Media Inc. from public federal data (U.S. Dept of Education College Scorecard, U.S. DOL apprenticeship.gov, CareerOneStop). Independent site, not affiliated with any government agency. Free to cite with attribution. Data as of 2026-07-21.
Full national dataset ·
methodology.