CDL training cost: budgeting school tuition and the fees around it
Enter the tuition a training provider quoted you: the calculator adds the permit, test and license fees of your state, and the retests if you need them.
CDL license fees in California
$100
paid to the state and its exam and fingerprint vendors
| Application and license | $100 |
| Training: 15 behind-the-wheel hours required by the state | about 1 weeks |
| Renewal fee | not on the pages read |
Class A commercial driver's license (CDL). Fees read on official pages, October 20, 2026.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Commercial Class A or B original application (covers CLP, knowledge tests and first skills test) | $100 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the totals are built · fees read on board pages and exam handbooks, October 20, 2026
No state and no federal agency sets the price of CDL school, so the tuition for a Class A course is whatever the training provider charges; this site prints no tuition figure and asks you to enter your own quote in the calculator. What the rules do fix is the content. Since February 7, 2022, a first-time Class A applicant must complete Entry-Level Driver Training, theory and behind-the-wheel, with a provider listed on the federal Training Provider Registry before taking the skills test. The federal rule sets no minimum number of hours; California is the only state priced here that adds one, 15 hours behind the wheel. Around the training, the state charges between $67 in Virginia and $406 in Washington for the learner's permit, the tests and the license, with a median of $132 across 14 states. Your budget is therefore the quote plus those fees, plus any retest, the truck for the test if the school does not supply it, and the medical examination.
What the federal training rule fixes, and what it leaves open
The Entry-Level Driver Training rule, explained on the FMCSA training page and codified in section 380.609 of title 49, decides who may train you and what the course must cover. It does not decide the price. A provider must be listed on the Training Provider Registry, and the course has two parts, theory and behind-the-wheel instruction, each delivered by a registered provider. The theory part ends with an assessment that you must pass with a score of at least 80%. Neither part has a minimum number of hours in federal law, so one provider may sell a short course and another a program of several weeks, both of them compliant. The rule is not retroactive: someone who held a CDL before February 7, 2022 does not need to take the training to keep it.
Because the content is fixed and the length is not, two quotes can differ widely for the same result, a completion record that lets the state schedule your skills test. When you compare offers, compare what each one includes: the number of hours actually spent driving, whether the theory part is in the price or sold separately, and whether the truck used on test day is included.
States that add hours: California
Among the 14 states priced on this site, California alone sets an hour figure of its own. California law requires at least 15 hours of behind-the-wheel training for an original Class A or B license, certified on a California form, in addition to the federal course. At the default pace of 15 hours a week used by the calculator, that minimum fits in about 1 week of driving; a program can run longer, and its length is the provider's choice. California also bundles its fees: the $100 original application covers the learner's permit, the knowledge tests and the first skills test, and stays valid for twelve months, which is the window your training has to fit into. A skills retest there costs $46.
The tuition field in the calculator
The calculator at the top of this page starts with the state fees alone. Its tuition field, labeled as your school or course tuition, is empty by default because no board publishes that amount. Type the total your training provider quoted, and the result shows the state fees and your total with tuition side by side. Set the number of attempts to two if you want to budget for one failed skills test, and change the state to compare. The training line of the result shows California's hour requirement; for every other state it reports that the rules read contain no hour figure, which is accurate rather than an omission.
Your tuition quote plus the state fees
CDL license fees in Texas
$122
| Application and license | $122 |
| Required training | no hour figure in the rules read |
| Renewals in 5 years, every 8 years | none due |
State fees that come before and after training
Training sits between two sets of government charges. Before it, you buy the commercial learner's permit, which you hold for the whole behind-the-wheel part. After it, you pay for the skills test and the license. The table puts the three side by side. A state showing no separate permit fee either folds the permit into another charge, as California does with its application and Pennsylvania with its upgrade fee, or publishes no permit line on the page read. Pennsylvania also charges nothing for the knowledge and skills tests given at its own sites.
| State | Learner permit | Knowledge and skills tests | License and application | All state fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | $3 | $0 | $64 | $67 |
| Florida | no separate fee | $0 | $75 | $75 |
| Tennessee | $14 | $0 | $70 | $84 |
| California | no separate fee | $0 | $100 | $100 |
| Pennsylvania | no separate fee | $0 | $109.50 | $109.50 |
| Texas | $25 | $0 | $97 | $122 |
| Georgia | $10 | $50 | $67 | $127 |
| Connecticut | $20 | $46 | $70 | $136 |
| Massachusetts | $30 | $35 | $75 | $140 |
| Alabama | $36.25 | $45 | $66.25 | $147.50 |
| New Jersey | no separate fee | $125 | $42 | $167 |
| North Carolina | $25.50 | $0 | $179 | $204.50 |
| Indiana | $17 | $200 | $35 | $252 |
| Washington | $40 | $210 | $156 | $406 |
The test column moves the totals most. Indiana's figure is a maximum of $200 that a third-party site may charge for a first skills test, and it excludes the rental of the vehicle. Washington's $175 skills test fee covers two attempts. Virginia's whole bill is $67, a $3 permit and a $64 license, which leaves almost the entire budget to tuition.
Fitting training inside the permit's life
A learner's permit expires, and the training has to be finished and the skills test passed before it does, or you pay for a new one. The windows read on official pages differ. Alabama issues a permit valid 360 days that cannot be renewed. Georgia's permit lasts 365 days, and you must hold it at least 14 days before the skills test. North Carolina's runs 180 days with one renewal. Texas allows one renewal, for $25. After the test, some states also limit how long the result counts: Virginia keeps skills test results valid for six months and Washington for 180 days. Ask a provider how long its course runs before you buy the permit, so the two calendars match.
Costs outside both the tuition and the state fees
Three items fall outside the calculator. The DOT medical examination is priced by the certified medical examiner, not by any state, so no fee schedule includes it. The truck for the skills test costs nothing extra only if the school supplies it; otherwise a rental is a private deal. And a third-party tester may charge for administering the test where the state allows one, at a price the state does not publish. Count each of them in your budget as a line of its own. The CDL license page goes through the steps and the renewal side, and the licensing time page compares how long each license takes.