All that stuff you said. On the prices. Is that just a prediction or is that coming from official sources?
The proposed rule for the Part 107 UAS operator certificate breaks down like this.
You have to apply for the certificate with with an in-person visit to the nearest FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) office (no fees) or with any current CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) who may charge you a fee to verify that you are a US citizen. Then you have to go to an FAA-designated Airman Knowledge Testing Center to take the written test. The test centers are often located at General Aviation airports, but they can be in any office space as they are non-government businesses. The FAA does not charge a fee for the written exam, but the testing center may charge a fee for administering the test. some charge up to $200 for a Private Pilot written exam, but since the test for the UAS certificate will be shorter, they may charge less.
The proposed rule doesn't explain the process how the application that the FSDO or CFI validates your ID gets to the Testing Center. Do you hand carry it? Is it put into the system?
Then there is the TSA inspection of your application. Currently applicants for a Private Pilot's certificate gets vetted by the TSA with no fee collected unless you are a resident alien, then you pay a nonrefundable $130 processing. But the proposed Part 107 rule hints that the applicant will be paying this fee. [Though I am a CFI, I am not current, so the fee structure may have changed in the intervening years].
One thing that is most ridiculous about the proposed process is that in order to take the written test at an FAA-designated Airman Knowledge Testing Center, the testing personnel have to verify your ID.. This is after you went to the FSDO or paid a CFI to verify your ID. I pointed out the farce this implies in my comment to the NPRM. The testing personnel are too stupid to verify your ID for TSA purposes, but they still have to verify your ID to take the written exam? And these are the same testing centers who administer written tests for the TSA and Homeland Security. I also asked in my comments to the NPRM that an FAA-issued pilot certificate should be sufficient ID for the TSA and the testing center because these individuals have already been vetted by the TSA. I also asked that the testing center be able to issue a temporary certificate since here is no practical (flight) exam. But I found later that the exam is graded after you leave the testing center. You won't know if you passed or not for several days.
So, your test preparation, whether you buy a book or take a class, then pay a CFI to verify your ID, then pay the testing center to administer the test, you could easily spend $400- $500. Two years later you only have to pay for the written currency re-test.