Meet with an Academic Advisor if you Know the Program You Want to Study:
If you know which academic program(s) in which you are interested, make an appointment with an Academic Advisor in one of Oakton’s Advising and Counseling Centers. Note, program information will not be provided over the telephone.

Meet with a Career Counselor if You are Undecided:
If you have not made a decision about the career you want to pursue, make an appointment with a Career Counselor in Oakton’s Career Services. Career Services does not offer walk-in career counseling or career counseling via the telephone.

Career Services is located in Room 1125 on the Des Plaines Campus and within the Advising and Counseling Center, Room A105 on the Ray Hartstein Campus. You can make an appointment to see a career counselor at either location:

Starting and Ending Dates:
Oakton cannot provide the dates that the "training" will begin and end. Many factors can impact the number of semesters a student will need to complete a certificate or associate degree. Factors include the semester in which the student begins his or her studies (fall, spring or summer), the number of courses for which a student enrolls per semester, course prerequisites, or placement into developmental English, reading and/or mathematic courses. The exact number of weeks a specific student would take to complete a specific program varies significantly.

Typically, the Fall semester begins the last week in August and ends mid December. The Spring semester begins the second week in January and ends mid May. The Summer term begins the first or second week in June and ends the last week of July.

Placement Tests and Prerequisites can Impact the Number of Credit Hours Required:
While this page has noted the number of credit hours for a certificate or associate degree, we are unable to state the number of developmental courses that may be required.

Students who wish to enroll in a math or composition course or other courses with math or composition prerequisites must take English and math placement tests (or present appropriate ACT/high school or college transcript data) to meet course prerequisites. In addition, full-time students will be required to take English and math placement tests (or present appropriate ACT/high school or college transcript data) to assist in educational planning and advising.

Placing into developmental courses or needing to complete other required course prerequisites may increase the number of credit hours for any given student. Some registration restrictions may occur based on placement test results.

An exit test is given at the end of each developmental English and English for the Non-Native Speaker course. The results of this exit test are used to determine the next English course placement. Advancement through English for developmental and Non-Native Speaker courses is determined by skill level, not by a predetermined sequence.