I thought Penn Foster offered a correspondence course in plumbing. You still need the apprenticeship for licensure.
Ashworth College offers it online too - $899. About 15 years ago, I took a basic plumbing course as part of my Residential Construction & Design program in Community College. I also took framing, drafting, electrical etc. - all on a fully-equipped campus with workshops. I'm all for online education in many areas, but I don't ever want to do online study for trade-related subjects, unless there's also a practical component I can do on-ground, under qualified, competent supervision. As Sanantone says - you need the apprenticeship for licensure. As I see it, (for trades) online + practical = (potentially) very good. Online - practical = useless.
It should also be noted that, in the U.S. at least, there are stupidly large swatches of our country that require no license at all for many skilled trades. When I lived in PA a license was only required if you were a plumbing or electrical contractor which was defined by the city as being one whose business involved taking on jobs and then contracting the service out. That was also only at the city level of a small city with a small footprint. There was no law that would have prevented me from starting Neuhaus Electric and Plumbing Services and hiring out my own labor. Whether an established tradesman would hire you with a correspondence course alone is a matter left to the individual, of course. But if you had the balls to paint your name on the side of the truck with no experience at all, you were perfectly legal. It also taught me a lesson about vetting tradesmen in a pre-Angie's list world when I realized that my plumber, the man who was doing work within my walls, was completely self-taught and never attended a trade school or went through an apprenticeship.
There are a lot of people who can use a measuring tape, a pipe cutter and a propane torch to solder a good joint in a copper pipe. PVC is even easier but copper is the real deal. If you pull out the sheet rock so that the pipes and wiring are fully exposed you can get a very nice lesson on how to repair/replace 75% of the plumbing in a house. However, some applications are best left to the pros
I like this kind of apprenticeship. The guys ARE WORKING 40+ HOURS per week alongside a master plumber. The DL courses are just filling in the fine points. This model has worked well for a lot of blue collar occupations. I do, however, think that *just* online learning would be a waste of time. We'll see though- my son will be in 8th grade and doing an online plumbing course as part of his homeschool. I think it has labs, but there isn't anyone in our home who can help him apply his learning in a meaningful way. It's not really to get him interested in BEING a plumber, rather just to learn a few basics.
I remember 50-odd years ago, a local plumber had "Choose your plumber as carefully as you would your physician." printed on his business cards. Right! Both charge about the same! I've noticed that plumbers do very well financially. If I had it all to do over again, I'd learn to build houses and fix cars. That would PAY! In my off hours, I'd study ancient languages, French Literature and all kinds of music. In my other off hours, I'd drive my vintage Alfa Romeo 6C ....
In some ways plumbing is like veterinary science. Most vets are small animal vets and they spend most of their time with cats and dogs. Some will see a lizard or bird on occasion. Some vets are large animal vets and they spend their time with cattle, horses, and other sorts of farm animals. Then there are vets who do more exotic stuff and you often find them working in zoos or aquariums. Most plumbers spend their time working on general housing jobs like kitchens or bathrooms. Others work on a larger scale and work on jobsites like hospitals, skyscrapers, etc. And then there are more exotic types of jobs like ocean liners, warships, submarines and even some aspects of nuclear reactors. Clearly some specialized training is required for the more exotic jobs but there are lots of opportunities for people who are willing.
I went to boot camp with a guy who served for six years as a Utilitiesman, a Navy plumber (though in the fleet they were referred to as "Turd Chasers"). He joined thinking he'd get out and become a local plumber, help you redo your kitchen etc. What he found was that his experience was mostly focused on industrial and commercial (as well as other niche) applications. The local residential companies were willing to hire him as an apprentice but he ultimately got a job with Amtrak making twice the pay to do plumbing work on trains. Funny because I don't think most people consider that career path. Not only does he make a fine wage but he can travel the rails with his family for free.
