What does every line item on the CWI price list actually cost in 2026?

How this was collected

We took every published line item from the AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List effective January 1 2026, the document the American Welding Society publishes itself, and recorded each one with the price-list section it came from and the date we checked it. A line item is included only if it appears on that price list; nothing here is estimated, averaged from forum posts, or copied from a seminar seller's page. The figures below use the non-member price, the sticker price a first-time candidate faces, with the AWS member price shown alongside each row.

Newest row in this dataset checked against the source on 2026-07-23.

What the data shows

Across 21 published line items on the AWS price list, 20 carry a price the American Welding Society sets itself. The median non-member line item is $1,145, and the spread runs from $60 to $3,335, a factor of 56. That spread is the whole reason a single "what does the CWI cost" number is misleading: what you pay depends far more on which route you pick than on any one fee.

1 line item is priced by the independent Authorized Training Facility rather than by the American Welding Society. It appears in the table below marked ATF-set and is left out of every figure above, because inventing a number for it would corrupt the ones that are real.

Notable outliers: Application processing fee (paper, not via online portal) ($125), Prometric seat fee, per computer-based part (A or C) ($60), CWI seminar and exam package (D1.1 or API 1104 focus) ($3,335).

Full data table

Limitations

• The price list is the published rate, not a receipt. What a candidate actually pays can differ once an employer discount, a bundled membership, or a retake enters the picture.
• The Part B hands-on practical is priced by the independent Authorized Training Facility that proctors it, so it has no AWS number and is excluded from every figure computed here.
• Prep costs are only counted where AWS itself sells the seminar or course. Third-party prep, code books, travel, and time off work are real costs this table does not carry.
• The list is reissued on an annual effective date. A figure verified before the current effective date should be re-checked against the source rather than trusted.

Update history

• 2026-07-23 - Initial CWI examination (Parts A, B, C) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - Initial CWI exam bundled with Part B training checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - Application processing fee (paper, not via online portal) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - Prometric seat fee, per computer-based part (A or C) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - Code endorsement exam (D1.1, API 1104, ASME piping, etc.) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - MT or PT method endorsement exam (Prometric, plus ATF Part B) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - Qualifier / coordination endorsement exam (WPQ, WPQ2, welding coordination, NDE coordination) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - Part B hands-on practical fee checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - 8-week online CWI seminar (exam not included, includes 3-year membership) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List
• 2026-07-23 - CWI pre-seminar online course (standalone) checked against AWS Certification and Education Programs Price List