Back in the old days, you had to take amateur radio license exams at a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) district office. I was pretty lucky in this regard. Since I lived in the Detroit area, and it was relatively easy to get to the FCC office in the Federal Building in downtown Detroit, where they gave the tests once per week.
Other guys weren’t so lucky. They had to travel a fair distance to take the test, sometimes paying to stay overnight in a hotel.
That changed in 1984 when Volunteer Examiners (VEs) took over the administration of amateur radio license tests. Now, VE teams administer tests all over the country, and it’s very easy to find a test session near you at a time that’s convenient for you.
When most people go looking for an exam session, they go to the ARRL website or the W5YI website