Plumbing school in Illinois: costs and how to get it free

Is there free plumbing school in Illinois?

Yes, if you qualify. WIOA (public workforce funding) can pay for any program on this page, in full or in part, depending on local limits.²³⁴
Ask an American Job Center whether you qualify, or call 1-877-872-5627.⁵ Before funding training, the center goes through an assessment and a career plan with you.⁴
Or pay yourself. Usable prices are not reported for these programs.
Or earn while you learn. Apprentices are paid for their work on the job.⁶ 2 of the 8 programs here are apprenticeships, and none of them lists a price.

Who qualifies, and other ways to pay: paid apprenticeships, financial aid and the GI Bill

Plumbing school in Chicago, Austin, Champaign and other Illinois cities

Choosing an area filters the list below.

All 8 plumbing programs in Illinois approved for WIOA funding

8 programs

Plumbing certificate or diplomaIn personHigh school diploma or equivalent
CORE/Plumbing
Associated Builders and Contractors
Elk Grove Village
High school diploma or equivalent
Associated Builders and Contractors, Elk Grove Village · Plumbing certificate or diploma · In person · High school diploma or equivalent
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
Program website, CORE/Plumbing at Associated Builders and Contractors
More details about CORE/Plumbing at Associated Builders and Contractors
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
36 weeks, 40 hours a week
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported
Plumbing apprenticeshipHybridNo diploma needed
Plumber
Interplay Learning Inc.
Austin, TX
No diploma needed
Interplay Learning Inc., Austin, TX · Plumbing apprenticeship · Hybrid · No diploma needed
Classes are outside Illinois; Illinois approved the program for its funding.
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
School website, Plumber at Interplay Learning Inc.
More details about Plumber at Interplay Learning Inc.
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
Not reported
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported
Plumbing apprenticeshipIn personNo diploma needed
Plumber Pipefitter Welder HVAC Service Technician
Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 149
Savoy
No diploma needed
Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 149, Savoy · Plumbing apprenticeship · In person · No diploma needed
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
Program website, Plumber Pipefitter Welder HVAC Service Technician at Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 149
More details about Plumber Pipefitter Welder HVAC Service Technician at Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 149
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
240 weeks, 40 hours a week
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported
Plumbing certificate or diplomaIn personNo diploma needed
Plumbing
Associated Builders and Contractors
Elk Grove Village
No diploma needed
Associated Builders and Contractors, Elk Grove Village · Plumbing certificate or diploma · In person · No diploma needed
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
Program website, Plumbing at Associated Builders and Contractors
More details about Plumbing at Associated Builders and Contractors
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
40 weeks, 40 hours a week
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported
Short course or single levelIn personHigh school diploma or equivalent
Plumbing Level 2
Associated Builders and Contractors
Elk Grove Village
High school diploma or equivalent
Associated Builders and Contractors, Elk Grove Village · Short course or single level · In person · High school diploma or equivalent
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
Program website, Plumbing Level 2 at Associated Builders and Contractors
More details about Plumbing Level 2 at Associated Builders and Contractors
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
36 weeks, 40 hours a week
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported
Short course or single levelIn personHigh school diploma or equivalent
Plumbing Level 3
Associated Builders and Contractors
Elk Grove Village
High school diploma or equivalent
Associated Builders and Contractors, Elk Grove Village · Short course or single level · In person · High school diploma or equivalent
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
Program website, Plumbing Level 3 at Associated Builders and Contractors
More details about Plumbing Level 3 at Associated Builders and Contractors
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
36 weeks, 40 hours a week
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported
Short course or single levelIn personHigh school diploma or equivalent
Plumbing Level 4
Associated Builders and Contractors
Elk Grove Village
High school diploma or equivalent
Associated Builders and Contractors, Elk Grove Village · Short course or single level · In person · High school diploma or equivalent
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
Program website, Plumbing Level 4 at Associated Builders and Contractors
More details about Plumbing Level 4 at Associated Builders and Contractors
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
36 weeks, 40 hours a week
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported
Plumbing certificate or diplomaIn personEducation and courses
Plumbing and Fire Protection
Dawson Technical Institute
Chicago
Education and courses
Dawson Technical Institute, Chicago · Plumbing certificate or diploma · In person · Education and courses
Earned a year, estimatedNot reported
Price if you pay yourselfNot reported
Program website, Plumbing and Fire Protection at Dawson Technical Institute
More details about Plumbing and Fire Protection at Dawson Technical Institute
Finished
Not reported
Working at 6 months
Not reported
Earned in a quarter
Not reported
Length
16 weeks, 40 hours a week
Cost of supplies
Not reported
Students counted
Not reported
a year, estimated
Not reported
price
Not reported

How to pay for plumbing school in Illinois

WIOA funding can pay for plumbing school in Illinois

Every program on this page is approved for WIOA funding: public workforce funding under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. It can pay for training for eligible adults, people who lost their job and young people.²People on public assistance, with a low income or lacking basic skills come first, and veterans have priority.³Your state or local area may limit how much WIOA pays and for how long. If a program costs more, a Pell Grant, a scholarship or severance pay can cover the rest.⁴

Ask at an American Job Center

Eligibility rules apply, and services vary from state to state. Your local American Job Center can tell you whether you qualify. The Department of Labor's page links to the center finder, or call 1-877-US-2JOBS (1-877-872-5627).⁵

Paid plumbing apprenticeships

An apprenticeship is a job: you're paid to learn, with a raise as your skills grow, and most include classroom teaching. You apply to the employer or the program sponsor. Ask what you'll pay for the classroom part and what you'll earn on the job.⁶

Financial aid and grants for plumbing school

Most students can get federal student aid for college, career school or trade school. A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, usually doesn't have to be repaid. Ask the school whether its program qualifies.⁷⁸

GI Bill for plumbing school

Veterans, service members and qualified dependents can use GI Bill benefits for non-college training programs.⁹

The program list does not show which programs accept these. Ask the school.

Does WIOA pay for job training? Who qualifies and how to apply

Plumbing apprenticeships in Illinois

Most plumbers train in a four- or five-year apprenticeship. Each year usually brings about 2,000 hours of paid work on the job plus classes in safety, local plumbing codes and blueprint reading. Unions, trade associations and businesses run the programs; some people start as helpers or with a pre-apprenticeship course. To work on your own, states and cities often ask for two to five years of experience and a passed exam.¹

You apply to the employer or the program sponsor, not through a school.⁶ The Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Finder lists openings by place and job. This page lists 2 plumbing apprenticeships approved for WIOA funding in Illinois, none of them with a price listed. Ask what you'll pay for the classes and what you'll earn on the job.

Show only the 2 plumbing apprenticeships

What is an apprenticeship, and can WIOA pay for one?

Where the Illinois plumbing program numbers come from

Which Illinois plumbing programs are on this list?

These are the plumbing programs Illinois approved for WIOA funding (public workforce funding under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), as reported to the US Department of Labor for program year 2024 (July 2024 to June 2025). Each state keeps its approved programs on an eligible training provider list (ETPL).¹⁰ The list here covers programs approved as of June 30, 2025. Schools that never applied for approval are missing, so this is a part of what Illinois offers.

How Illinois plumbing program prices are reported

The price is tuition and required fees for someone paying without workforce funding, as the school reported it. "Trained with WIOA funding" on a program counts the people whose training there WIOA paid toward through a training account in program year 2024; the file never gives counts under 3, so a program without the line may still take WIOA students. It does not say how much of the price WIOA covered. Prices under $100 are treated as not reported, because the file holds many blanks entered as $0. Check the current price with the school.

What the graduate results of these programs measure

The figures at the top of this page are the middle program among those that report results: half did better, half did worse. Results describe students who left each program in recent years: the share who finished, the share working in the second quarter after leaving, and the middle earnings of those working in that quarter. States report earnings for that one quarter because they take them from the wage reports employers file every three months. The yearly figure here is that quarter times four, rounded to the nearest $100: an estimate, and an early one, since it is measured about half a year after training. The quarter as reported is under "More details" on each program. Results are withheld for small programs, and they describe past students, so they are no guarantee.

Why do some plumbing programs say "Not reported"?

Where a school or the state left a field empty, or the Department of Labor withheld it, the page says "Not reported". Nothing here is estimated to fill a gap.

Why the kind of school is left off each program

The file also records whether a school is public, private or nonprofit, but those entries are wrong too often to print next to a school's name, so this page leaves them out.

How reliable are the Illinois figures?

The US Department of Labor's own results site lists Illinois among the states with "known data quality concerns".¹¹ We leave out the share who finished for Illinois: only a few programs report it, and those at a typical 11%. We leave out prices for Illinois: the state files a code in place of each price, so no price can be shown.

Other training in Illinois

Sources for the facts about plumbing school in Illinois

Show the 11 sourcesHide the sources

Plumbing school in Illinois

How much does plumbing school cost in Illinois?