Florida Certification Course EFDA

Hello, I’m a newer dental assistant and just curious to opinions on how to approach getting my expanded functions license. My job offers to pay under the condition I work there for a year. Issue with that is my owner is a franchise owner, so they’d rather not pay for anything.

My question is would it be wiser to challenge the exam, or to enroll into a program and spend over 2k. My main concern is I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking that I can pass an exam of that difficulty with outside resources not necessarily offered through programs.

On a side note I hope I don’t come off as disrespectful to any dental assistants on this subreddit. It’s most definitely not my intention. Just looking for advice to move-up with my career.