No driving school issues a driver license. The credential comes from the state, and only the state can grant, restrict, suspend, or revoke it. The confusion is understandable, though, because in many places a driving school can administer the road test that leads to one.
Three Separate Roles
It helps to separate the functions that get conflated.
Teaching is what a driving school does. Instruction, practice, and a certificate confirming you completed a program.
Testing is an assessment of whether you meet the standard. Usually conducted by a state examiner, and in many states also by authorized third parties.
Licensing is a government act. The agency verifies eligibility, confirms you passed the required tests, checks your documents and identity, and issues the credential.
Third-Party Testing Is Where the Confusion Starts
Many states authorize approved driving schools to conduct road tests on the agency's behalf. This is a genuine delegation, and passing a third-party test counts.
What the school produces is a certificate or result confirming you passed. You then take that to the licensing agency, which issues the actual license after verifying everything else. The school never hands you a license, and any that claims it will is misrepresenting the process.
Third-party testing exists mainly to reduce state backlogs, and it often means shorter waits, sometimes at a higher fee.
What a School Certificate Actually Does
A driver education certificate proves you completed an approved program. Depending on your state and age it may be a prerequisite for the permit, a prerequisite for the license, a way to shorten a waiting period, or the basis for an insurance discount.
It is evidence submitted to the agency, not a credential in itself.
Be Careful With Claims
Any school suggesting it can issue a license, guarantee one, or bypass state requirements is either being careless with language or should be avoided. Legitimate schools are precise about this because their approval depends on it.
Verify a school's authorization with your state agency, particularly if it offers third-party testing.
Whether third-party testing is available near you, and what it costs, varies considerably. Check your state's licensing process, and see how to choose a driving school.