Does PSI now have a monopoly on written exams?

Nathan Miller

Nathan Miller

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Nathan
I finally got around to printing out the instructors endorsement from King's School. On the page following the print-off, they have two links for where to take the test - PSI and CATS.

Interestingly, both links take you to PSI.

And to top it off, all PSI owned/operated sites (at least within 50 miles of me) are closed due to the not-so-novel Covid-19. All non-PSI sites charge an additional $63 convenience fee. WTF? If I have no other options, it's no longer a convenience.

I wrote PSI asking when their Crofton, MD site will reopen. And if they have no plans to reopen in the next month, I would like to take the exam at another facility and have the $63 convenience fee waived.

Being that PSI now has a monopoly on knowledge tests, I'm already anticipating their answer.

What gives?
 
If you go to the CATS webpage, it has the PSI logo all over, and a banner to the effect, "This site has moved. Click here for the new site", which redirects you to PSI. So I am guessing that yes, PSI is your only option now. That way they can charge whatever they want!
 
I have no affiliation or relationship to PSI or any other testing agency, but years ago my company was a certified testing site for a certain computer-aided-design software company. We had no competing test sites in two of our office locations (large cities) and only one "competitor" in each of the other two locations (very large cities). There were many strict policies, procedures and requirements designed to prevent cheating and enhance test-takers' experience. We received about 30% of the test fee. After a few months, we realized it was an enormous drain on our resources and quite unprofitable. We eventually reduced the number of test days per year to the minimum just as a service to the local user community; even those who were not our customers. I suspect the lack of competitors to PSI may be a business issue.

FWIW, my experience taking the PPL and IR tests was totally acceptable. Your mileage may vary! :)
 
dfw11411 said:
FWIW, my experience taking the PPL and IR tests was totally acceptable. Your mileage may vary! :)
Click to expand...
IIRC - took my PPL at LaserGrade. Simple. For the life of me, I can't remember the fee... Maybe $150(?) Probably $90 with an AOPA discount (?).

I probably should sweat the $63 convenience fee. At the end of my training - drop in the bucket. Still, that's an hour in my 172.... :eek2:
 
The convenience fee is what the testing center gets. The sites that don't charge it are owned by psi, and do all types of government and corporate testing. The nearest one to me is about an hour flight, and I just couldn't reconcile spending $250 to save $63.
 
Jim K said:
The nearest one to me is about an hour flight, and I just couldn't reconcile spending $250 to save $63.
Click to expand...

Truth.

But for me, the nearest PSI site is only another 15 minutes up the road. Half hour round trip could save me $63. And I don't make $126 an hour. I wish I did :rolleyes:
 
The new test software is horrible. Gone are the on-screen figures, on-screen E6B, and easy ability to skip around.
 
At some point the on-screen figures will return because the goal is to do away with the Knowledge Test Supplement.
 
What happened to JSAMTCC test centers? May be an option for Mil folks
 
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