Why go to trade school during the evenings or on weekends? You may have daytime obligations, like a job or kids(or a job and kids), that keep you from attending traditional weekday classes. Maybe you’re simply a night-owl and would just prefer classes to be in the evening. Whatever your reasoning, attending trade school at night is a good option.

Trade School at Night vs During the Day

The major difference when going to trade school at night vs attending daytime classes may be the time it takes to complete your program. When going to school during the daytime, it’s common to attend 8 hours of classes each day. With an evening schedule, 4 hours of classwork each night is average. So simple math tells us it could take twice as long to complete a program when the classes are taken on an evening schedule.

Example Day/Evening/Weekend Schedules

Examples of common day, evening, and weekend classroom schedules.

Day Schedule

  • Mon-Fri 8 hours per day

Evening/Night Schedule

  • Mon-Fri 4 hours per day

All Weekend Schedules

  • Sat-Sun 10 hrs. per day

The Cost of Day vs Night Classes

The cost of going to school during the day vs at night will probably be about the same, and financial aid is available for evening and nighttime classes too.

When attending certificate or diploma programs for skills like HVAC or welding, completion is generally determined by total hours of training. Whether these hours happen during the day in 8 hour blocks or at night in 4 hour blocks the cost should generally be the same.

Trade School on the Weekend

When it comes to weekend-only skilled trade programs, options may be a little harder to find. It’s more likely that your local school will offer programs where you’ll have classes during the week AND on weekends.

Though weekend-only class schedule options are rare, they can be found in some fields such as commercial truck driving.

Schools With Evening/Night/Weekend Programs

This is a list of some of our partner trade schools and technical colleges that offer evening and weekend class options. Evening classes are available in many locations, search for a school near you.

This is a partial list of partner trade schools. To see the full and current list of trade schools we work with visit our trade school finder page on Career School Now.

Are you looking for a trade school with evening and weekend schedule options near you? Find a trade school near you now.

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