U.S. trade school revenue climbs to $19.1 billion

A quiet winner has emerged amid America’s skilled trades boom: Trade schools. 

What’s happening: U.S. trade schools generated $19.1 billion in revenue in 2025, up 11.4 percent year-over-year, education-focused marketing and research firm Validated Insights noted in a new report, based on federal data. 

• Zoom in: Universal Technical Institute (UTI) and Lincoln Tech — two of the nation’s largest for-profit operators, which offer HVAC training among their programs — in fiscal 2025 saw revenue climb 14 and 20 percent year-over-year, respectively, it added. 

Why it matters: Each of those figures beat estimates, with trade schools originally projected to see six percent annual revenue growth, according to Validated Insights, while UTI and Lincoln Tech, in particular, were initially forecast to see between seven and nine percent revenue growth. 

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The big picture: Major U.S. companies, including BlackRock, Google, and Lowe’s, are simultaneously betting on the trades, collectively pledging more than $600 million over the past three months alone to help bolster the skilled trades workforce through a slew of training initiatives, as Homepros previously reported.