Respiratory Care

At a Glance

Assisting physicians in the prevention and treatment of respiratory system diseases and disorders

LLCC’s 21-month program puts you on the path to an exciting career as a respiratory therapist, providing diagnostic and therapeutic care to patients of all ages. Bedside, in the emergency room or in an ambulance, respiratory therapy practitioners are vital members of the lifesaving team. With a nearly 100 percent job placement record, most graduates have job offers before completing the 21-month program. LLCC's program is located at HSHS St. John’s Hospital, providing access to direct patient contact, hospital equipment and facilities. Program graduates have the skills to succeed in the workforce in hospitals, medical transport companies, home health, physicians' offices and sleep labs. Sixteen students are admitted each fall semester. The application deadline is the last Monday in July.

Degrees & Certs

LLCC offers the following program to successfully equip you for a career in respiratory care. Learn more about the required courses for the program:

Job Outlook

Cost

For the 2024-2025 academic year (fall 2024, spring 2025 and summer 2025), respiratory care (RCP) classes have a tuition rate of $280 per credit hour for in-district residents. All other classes in the program have a standard in-district rate of $140 per credit hour. Get more information on tuition and fees.

Books sold separately.

Paying for college

Learn more about cost of attendance.

There are ways to get help paying for college. Learn more about paying for college.

Support available

PATH (with electrocardiogram lines). Pipeline for the Advancement of the Healthcare Workforce

The Pipeline for the Advancement of the Healthcare Workforce (PATH) program provides financial and other supports for occupations within the health care field. Learn more about PATH, including support services, programs and eligibility.

Start/Info Session

Sixteen students are admitted each fall semester. If this is a career in which you are interested, be sure to:

  1. View an information session and fulfill this requirement for admission. The following subjects will be discussed: choosing a career in health care, admission requirements, program requirements and clinical requirements. You may view the RCP information session on-demand (at your convenience). It is pre-recorded and available anytime and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
  2. To help ensure that students are successful, our program has special admission requirements. To prepare for applying to the program, please follow the RCP application steps.

To prepare graduates with demonstrated competence in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains of respiratory care practice as performed by registered respiratory therapists (RRTs).

The Lincoln Land Community College Respiratory Care Program #200481, AAS degree at St. John's campus is accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation for Respiratory Care (www.coarc.com).

CoARC accredits respiratory therapy education programs in the United States. To achieve this end, it utilizes an ‘outcomes based’ process. Programmatic outcomes are performance indicators that reflect the extent to which the educational goals of the program are achieved and by which program effectiveness is documented.

Current period three-year average 2021-2023

Retention – 89%
Job Placement – 95%
RRT Credentialing Success – 74%
Overall Employer Satisfaction – 100%
Overall Graduate Satisfaction – 100%
CoARC Outcomes