Real Questions, Real Answers
We recently received an email from a prospective student with three great questions. We loved the fact that he was doing his due diligence, and we think every prospective student should be asking the same questions before choosing a school. So, we decided to share our answers here.
"You have a high pass rate but only 3 students have taken the exam. Why so few?"
Great question, and the answer is simple: we are brand new.
We started enrolling students in January of 2025. We did absolutely zero marketing that entire year. A handful of students found us through the TREC website and enrolled. Meanwhile, we waited for those early students to pass their exams so we could earn credit for helping them succeed.
Over the course of 2025, we only enrolled 23 students. Because each student enrolls at different times throughout the year, only 3 had completed their required courses and field experience in time to qualify for the exam. That is why we only had 3 students take their test over the first 13 months.
You also have to understand that most of our students are adults with full-time jobs, so they all have varying amounts of time to work on their courses. Some have more time than others. The Inspection Academy is not like an in-person course that has a finite amount of time until the courses are completed — start on Monday and end on Friday. Our students work at their own pace, which means the timeline to exam day varies from student to student.
How We Turned a Setback Into a Breakthrough
Our first student to take the exam crushed the national exam but failed the Texas portion by just 1 question. That turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. It set us back several months, but it also catalyzed us to create our adaptive AI review app to help students review in the most efficient and effective manner once they have completed the 6 TREC-required courses.
By combining the two individual elements — our school and our review app — we have created a system that we believe prepares students to pass the test on their first attempt. In fact, we are so confident in the effectiveness of our system that we are offering a full money-back guarantee. If you take your courses through TIA, pass 5 full-length sample exams on our review app, and don't pass on your first attempt, we will refund every dime you spent on tuition.
Why Getting In Now Matters
We are very young in this industry, having launched just last year with a vision to redefine educational excellence. From the beginning, our dedication to innovation and iteration has set us apart. We believe these values will make us a school worth watching as we grow and continue to help students succeed.
Right now, we are comparable in price to the schools that have been around for decades yet only pass 51% of their students on the first attempt — and that is the only test for which we have available data. TREC does not tell us how students fare on their second, third, and sometimes fourth attempts.
As we continue to help more students pass their exams on their first attempt, we will also be increasing the price of our courses. So, the time to get in is while we are still proving ourselves. You would be getting a discount rate on a premium product because you got in early.
"Are your lessons structured as micro-readings?"
The simple answer is: yes.
We personally went through every single section and every single page of the books used to prepare students for the exam and broke it all down by sections. There is simply too much information to be covered in larger chunks. The best way to go through the course and hope to remember enough of the information is to take it bit by bit, then review and reinforce that information a multitude of times in different formats.
How Our Courses Are Structured
The courses are set up with short 3-to-5-minute readings followed by a 3-to-5-minute activity. Activities include:
- Identification of systems and components
- Matching exercises
- Ordering exercises
- Multiple choice questions
- True or false questions
- Scenario-based activities
We tell every prospective student: The Inspection Academy is not the fastest school to get through, and it is definitely not the easiest school to get through.
The Alternative
If fast and easy is what you are looking for, we would recommend doing an in-person course that starts on Monday at 8 AM and is completed on Friday at 5 PM. You will be done with your 40-hour course that fast and easy. In 4 weeks, you can be done with ALL of your courses.
Then it is ALL on you to figure out how to retain ALL of the information they presented to you while sitting in the classroom. There is zero time to reinforce any of the information in a class with that level of time constraints. There is simply too much information to get through to spend time focused on specific topics. You don't pay for reinforcement; you pay for the time they spend in the room with you and the information they can share about a 450-page book in 5 short days.
If you already have a thorough background in residential construction, that path might work. However, if you are starting from a beginner or novice level of understanding, that path is the fastest way to fail your test the first time, and likely more than once.
We get students calling us every week asking to purchase retake courses because after you fail the test 3 times, TREC requires you to take specific courses again. These people are paying between $300 to $1,800 to retake courses after they already paid thousands for the school they chose the first time. That is a damn shame, and it is the primary reason we built TIA.
"Where do I get my ride-along inspections?"
Where you get your field experience depends on where you live.
TREC changed the "practicum" to "field experience." What that means is that it is no longer a required course that schools provide. It is now considered field experience that falls on the student to arrange.
A Brief History
Because half of the schools approved to offer qualifying education in Texas are actually from out of state, they either could not provide the practicum or, if they did, it was sloppy. TREC allows schools to send 4 students with 1 inspector. Imagine how long it takes to move 4 students through the same attic.
When we started The Inspection Academy, we offered the practicum 7 days a week, 1-on-1, and we charged $1,000 for the 5 ride-alongs. Our students could complete their experiences in one week. However, when TREC removed the practicum from being a course, we stopped offering it because our ultimate goal is to help students pass their exam on their first attempt, and we do not believe the field experience contributes to that goal.
Your Options Today
With the change from practicum to field experience, your options have increased:
- School-offered practicum: You can pay for one of the schools that still offer the practicum as a course and join their waitlist. These are the 4-to-1 experiences, but they will help you check the boxes TREC requires.
- Independent licensed inspectors: You can find any licensed Professional Inspector in your area with a minimum of 5 years in the industry or over 200 inspections and ask them to provide ride-along experiences.
- Multi-inspector firms: Some firms provide the field experience for free because they use ride-alongs as a way to onboard new inspectors, then hire them as soon as they pass the exam.
- Houston area: If you are in the Houston area, we have a few inspectors that will take you out for $100 per ride-along.
While the field experience may be beneficial for preparing to perform inspections, it does not contribute to helping students pass their exams. It is really a formality TREC has decided is important. If you need our help arranging it, we will help you as much as we can.
The Bottom Line
The Inspection Academy is definitely not for everyone. Anyone with a solid background in residential construction and all of the systems and components of a house could pursue a different school.
Our school is built for students that do not have a strong background in those topics. We built TIA to help the people who must go from a low level of overall knowledge to passing the exam on their first attempt. Make no mistake, that will take time and effort.
Alternatively, you can take your chances with the other schools. They might promise they can get you ready to pass the exam in 3 weeks, but they often fail to mention that 49% of their promises go unfulfilled.
We built the only home inspection school in the country that actually teaches students, while the other schools drop all the information on students and put the onus on them to figure out how to retain it. That is not teaching.
TIA stands out for its comprehensive curriculum and personalized approach, as demonstrated by our early high student success rates. Our review app is a game-changer, leveraging AI to analyze each student's strengths and weaknesses through full-length sample exams. Unlike other review apps, our platform not only identifies knowledge gaps but also creates a dynamic study plan that evolves as students progress through the program.
Our recommendation: Do not be one of those students calling The Inspection Academy for help after failing the test 3 times.
If you have questions, do not hesitate to reach out. We are more than happy to help you make the best decision, even if it is not The Inspection Academy. Keep doing your research — you are doing the right thing.