Oakton Community College is situated on a 147-acre forested area in Des Plaines, approximately 12 miles from Schaumburg. The school has an enrollment of around 46,000 credit and non-credit students between the Des Plaines branch and its satellite campus in Skokie. More than half of the college's students are minorities, according to its website.
The school offers 80 associate degrees and certificates and consists of the divisions of mathematics and technologies, science and health careers, social sciences and business, and languages, humanities and the arts. Online and video-based courses are available in many majors. Students can receive course credit for participating in volunteer or community service projects through the college's service learning program. The school has more than 50 student organizations on campus.
Oakton Community College
1600 East Golf Road
Des Plaines, IL 60016
847-635-1600
oakton.edu
Located in Glen Ellyn, the College of DuPage is 19 miles from Schaumburg. With around 31,000 students, the college is the third largest, single-campus community college in the United States as of August 2010, reports the college's website.
The school offers 90 certificate programs, 59 occupational associate degrees and 45 pre-transfer associate degrees for students who intend to finish their studies at a four-year college or university. Among the degrees granted are accounting, computer information systems, diagnostic medical imaging, early childhood education and electro-mechanical technology. Online and independent, self-study courses are available, as well as an accelerated degree program for adults age 21 and older. For-credit internships and paid cooperative work placements are available in many majors. The school also offers travel courses, which allow students to earn course credit for participating in overnight or day trips that involve a particular theme and culminate in a project based on the experience. The school features 66 student organizations.
College of DuPage
425 Fawell Blvd.
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
630-942-2800
home.cod.edu
Elgin Community College is in the city of Elgin, about 16 miles from Schaumburg. The school has an enrollment of nearly 17,000 students, around 30 percent of whom study at the college on a full-time basis, according to the college's website.
The school has degree and certificate programs in 32 areas, including culinary arts, automotive repair, heating and cooling, paralegal studies and computer-aided design. The school features a weekend college for working adults. Also featured is a learning community program, in which students are placed in teams with their peers to study, provide support and complete for-credit projects with one another. The college is home to 12 intercollegiate sports teams for men and women.
Elgin Community College
1700 Spartan Drive
Elgin, IL 60123
847-697-1000
elgin.edu