College of DuPage offers a world of educational opportunities in your own backyard. Transfer to a four-year institution with an associate degree, earn a technical certificate, develop in-demand workplace skills, study for your GED, learn the English language or take classes for your own enjoyment. Earn your associate degree online or take online, hybrid or virtual classroom meeting courses to fit your schedule. The possibilities are endless.
Offering six degrees in over 150 areas of study, choose an area of study to fit your needs or prepare for transfer to a four-year institution. Each degree program emphasizes relevant coursework and result-focused teaching by dedicated faculty.
COD is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Many career and technical programs are also approved and accredited by appropriate specialized associations.
Degrees and Certificates to Build On
Academic and Career Pathways
Academic and Career Pathways are groupings of degrees and certificates that lead you on a path toward achieving your career goals. Choosing a pathway can be useful if you already know you want to work in a particular field, but you don't know what you want to major in when you enroll at COD.
Through Academic and Career Pathways, you can work towards a major as you decide what you want to study. You can find an Academic and Career Pathway by clicking the icon within the pathway category.
Build a strategy, lead a team or manage a budget. Set yourself apart with a degree that gives you an in-depth understanding of the business world and the confidence to keep it moving forward. Explore the path to a variety of high-demand careers in information technology. Build a network, design a mobile application or website, develop software or write a computer game. Be at the forefront of the ever-changing IT arena.
Business and Information Technology
The economy is powered by those who make and maintain our manufacturing facilities, homes, vehicles and infrastructures. Make your mark by developing a new source of energy, reinvigorating the manufacturing industry or enhancing the environment. Try your hand at welding or consider heating, cooling and ventilation – businesses and homeowners depend on climate control to support daily operations. This field requires both mental and physical dexterity and appeals to those who take pride in skill and craftsmanship.
Career and Technical
Cook for an event, book a large corporate gathering, plan a menu or run a restaurant kitchen at an international corporation. If you have a passion for food, the Culinary Arts program is both exciting and challenging. Classes are taught in state-of-the-art kitchen facilities. Students will also experience running our six-room boutique hotel. Prepare for a career in restaurants, hotels, resorts, bed and breakfasts, time shares, condos, retirement communities, convention and visitor bureaus, destination marketing organizations or an event planning company. Find success doing what you love.
Culinary and Hospitality
Share your passion for teaching, learning or leading a class with goal-driven, like-minded educators. Gain experience alongside professional teachers who can help you succeed in the classroom and beyond. Prepare yourself for a profession that continuously develops your knowledge and leadership skills. If you want to make a difference as a teacher, principal or in another academic role, education is likely the path for you.
Education
Turn your interest in art, design, music, theater or film into a living. Learn first-hand from industry professionals and create a portfolio that stands out. Unleash your imagination, creativity and expertise in the Cosmetology program. Fashion is everywhere and so are career opportunities for individuals who combine knowledge of the fashion business with their own talents and ambitions. The world needs interior designers to plan, create, improve and beautify the spaces where people live and work, making them accessible, environmentally friendly, comfortable and functional.
Fine and Applied Arts
Few professions match the rewarding field of health care. As technologies advance and generations age, the demand for health care professionals increases. Gain the skills and confidence you need to care for others when they need help the most. Make a real difference in people’s lives while working in patient care, laboratory testing and health care management. Programs range from nursing and respiratory care to dental hygiene and medical imaging. Choose from a variety of high-demand health care careers.
Health Sciences
The study of Humanities frees students to think beyond personal and cultural boundaries and to consider informed actions that have constructive outcomes for the future. Introductory and specialized courses explore the development of humankind's ideas and value systems. Courses provide background for any field of study that requires critical and creative thinking. These skills help you achieve more in the classroom, in the workplace and in life.
Liberal Arts and Communication
It takes dedication, desire and a strong will to enter the firefighter or emergency care personnel fields. Those who secure jobs in this field are deeply committed to their work and knowingly risk their lives to help others. The field is rewarding, as you are working toward the greater good. These modern-day heroes and heroines are the first responders to emergencies and the hands into which the health and safety of communities are placed.
Public Services
Social and Behavioral Scientists apply human behavior to policy and practice, understand and shape the world and use data to provide evidence-based decision making. Are you interested in investigating human interaction around culture, race, inequality, gender, religion, politics, power and the environment? Do you want to empower yourself to advocate for positive changes in individuals, families and communities? Explore this path. Coursework leads students to career and technical education certificates and degrees and meets general education requirements.
Social and Behavioral Sciences
A world without Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) is a world without innovation. Students who are analytical problem solvers with a curious nature may enjoy a career as a mathematician, biologist, chemist, researcher, engineer or computer programmer. Are you interested in charting a path across the Milky Way, rethinking industrial processes, preventing diseases, engineering sustainable communities or keeping countries sound? This rewarding field has many fast-growing jobs in scientific and high-tech subject areas. Step into the future where it’s hard to find an area of life that hasn’t been touched by electronics.
STEM
This transfer path degree plan prepares students to transfer to a baccalaureate institution.
Undecided
Options for Continuing Education
