College of DuPage (COD) Acceptance Rate, GPA, and Admission Requirements

COD's 3+1 programs let a student take three years of coursework at COD (with some classes taught directly by partner-university faculty on COD's own campus) before transferring for a discounted final year - a structurally different, often cheaper option than the conventional 2+2 model of two years at COD followed by two years at the four-year school. A student should ask Transfer Services specifically which model applies to their target major and university, since the two structures have different on-campus experiences and cost-reduction mechanics.

Illinois Tech's guaranteed admission agreement with COD lets eligible students take Illinois Tech "gateway" courses at a 10%-of-tuition discounted rate while still enrolled at COD, plus a guaranteed $25,000 transfer scholarship upon admission - but qualifying requires meeting specific GPA thresholds (3.0 cumulative, 2.8 technical GPA in math/science/major coursework) and enrolling in the COD Pathway at least one year before transfer with regular advisor check-ins. A student should enroll in the COD Pathway and start the advisor relationship a full year ahead of their planned transfer, not in their final semester, since the program's benefits are tied to that lead time.

COD's ADN program explicitly flags that obtaining personal health insurance is required to participate in the program (though not technically an application requirement) and ties this to outside open-enrollment deadlines (e.g., a Jan. 15 cutoff for coverage starting Feb. 1) that have nothing to do with COD's own application timeline - missing the external insurance enrollment window can take months to resolve and may block program start regardless of academic admission. A nursing-bound student should research and purchase qualifying health insurance well before acceptance, not after.

While Honors section enrollment is normally GPA-gated, College of DuPage explicitly allows a professor to issue an e-permit override for a student the professor believes can handle Honors-level work, even if that student doesn't meet the GPA cutoff - but the student must appeal to the professor directly rather than going through an institutional process. A borderline student genuinely interested in a specific Honors course should reach out to that course's instructor directly rather than assuming GPA alone determines eligibility.