Find Electrician Schools Near Me in Naperville IL 60540

How to Become an Electrician in Naperville Illinois

Naperville IL electrician inspecting circuit panel The initial step to becoming an electrical tradesman or contractor is locating an electrician trade school near Naperville IL. But with numerous vocational schools to select from, just how do you undertake making sure that you enroll in the ideal one? Especially because there are a number of points to consider. For instance, some potential students will commence by looking for schools that are close to their home. After they have found a few that are within commuting distance, they will select the one with the least expensive tuition. Although location and cost are significant, they are not the only things that need to be examined. Also important are the accreditation and reputations of the schools, as well as their job placement and graduation rates. These and other qualifiers should influence your ultimate decision when choosing an electrician school. We will discuss that checklist in more detail later in this article. But to begin with, let’s talk a little bit about becoming an electrician and the instructional options that are accessible.

Electrician Diploma, Certificate and Degree Programs near Naperville IL

Naperville IL electrician re-wiring power outlet There are three general ways to receive electrician training in a trade or technical school near Naperville IL. You may select a certificate or diploma program, or earn an Associate Degree. Bachelor’s Degrees are offered at certain schools, but are not as prevalent as the first three alternatives. Often these programs are made available in conjunction with an apprenticeship, which are mandated by the majority of states to become licensed or if you want to become certified. Following are short descriptions of the three most common programs offered.

Certificate and Diploma Programs are generally offered by Illinois trade and technical schools and take approximately a year to complete. They furnish a solid foundation and are geared towards those who wish to join an apprenticeship more quickly as a journeyman electrician.
Associate Degrees involve 2 years to finish and are provided by Illinois community colleges, commonly as an Associate Degree in Electrical Technology. They furnish a more well-rounded education while supplying the foundation that readies students to enter into their apprenticeship program.

As earlier stated, Bachelor’s Degree programs are offered at certain Illinois colleges, but are less preferred at four years than the other shorter programs. The majority of states mandate that an apprenticeship of at least 2 years and in most cases four years be performed prior to licensing. Therefore, the majority of students are anxious to commence their paid apprenticeship, particularly if it’s not part of their educational program.

Electrician Licensing and Certification Criteria

Naperville IL electricians working on power lines Electricians in Naperville IL can carry out a multitude of tasks, including testing, installing and replacing electrical systems, and making sure that the wiring in buildings and homes comply with code standards. After completing an apprenticeship, journeyman electricians are required to be licensed in the majority of municipalities and states. The period of apprenticeship varies by state, but generally around 4 to 5 years of practical experience is needed in order to take the licensing exam. The exams typically test general knowledge and electrical theory, along with understanding of the National Electrical Code (NEC). Receiving certification is also an optional way for an electrician to identify her or himself as a skilled and experienced professional. The certifications available vary by state and can be acquired in many specialties, such as cable splicing as an example. The certification procedure in most cases involves 3 levels of proficiency:

An experience requirement
Passing a written exam
Passing a practical exam

Examples of certifying agencies include the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) as well as the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET). It’s crucial that the electrician trade school that you pick not only provides a solid educational foundation, but also helps ready you for passing any certification and licensing examinations that you may need to pass in the future.

Attending Electrician Online Programs in Naperville IL

attending electrician school online in Naperville IL An option that you may have considered is enrolling in an electrician online program to earn a certificate or degree. Although online training programs have become more popular as a way of attending class without needing to travel, in this situation they are not completely internet based. Just about all electrician schools require some attendance on campus to receive practical hands-on training. But since the rest of the classes can be attended online, internet learning may be a more practical option for individuals that have limited time for schooling. And as an added benefit many online training programs have a lower tuition cost compared to their traditional competitors. Travelling costs from Naperville IL are also minimized and some of the study materials may be accessed on line also. Each of these benefits can make electrician online trade schools more affordable and accessible. And many are fully accredited, which we will address in our due diligence checklist.

Things to Ask Electrician Technical Schools

Naperville IL electrician re-wiring circuit panel Now that you have decided to earn a certificate, diploma or degree, you can start to refine your training options. Since there are numerous electrician vocational and trade schools in the Naperville IL area, it’s imperative to have a checklist of criteria that each program must meet. The first 2 that we talked about were location and tuition expense. If you are interested in earning an degree online, then that must be a feature that your chosen school offers. And although all three qualifiers may be important when making your decision, there are additional variables that must be considered as well. Following is a checklist of those added qualifiers that you will need to analyze before enrolling in an electrical tech school.

Accreditation. Numerous electrician trade schools have acquired either a regional or a national accreditation. They can earn Institutional Accreditation, which focuses on the school’s programs as a whole, or Programmatic Accreditation, which pertains to a specific program, for example electrical technology. Make sure that the Naperville IL program and school are accredited by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency, which includes the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Along with helping make certain that you receive a superior education, it may help in securing financial assistance or student loans, which are often not available for non-accredited programs. Additionally, some states require that the electrician training course be accredited for it to be approved for licensing.

High Completion and Placement Rates. Ask the electrician schools you are reviewing what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the percentage or portion of students who enroll in and complete the program. A lower completion rate could suggest that students were unhappy with the course and dropped out. It may also mean that the instructors were not competent to instruct the students. It’s also imperative that the schools have high job placement rates. Older and/or more reputable schools may have a more extensive list of graduates, which may mean more contacts for the school to employ for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate will not only affirm that the school has an excellent reputation within the industry, but additionally that it has the network of contacts to assist Naperville IL graduates secure apprenticeships or jobs.

Apprenticeship Programs. Most electrician technical programs are taught along with an internship or an apprenticeship program. Those participating trade and technical programs will help place you in an apprenticeship program inside their network of electrician companies or labor unions. Find out if the schools you are considering have referring relationships with Naperville IL area electricians or electrical companies. An apprenticeship not only provides a valuable experience by furnishing hands-on training, but it also furnishes employment opportunities and helps to establish relationships in the local electrician professional community.

Modern Facilities. Make sure that the campus facilities and the equipment that you will be trained on are up-to-date and what you will be working with in the field. If you are presently in an internship or an apprenticeship, check with the electrical specialist you are working with regarding what you should be looking for. If not, ask a local Naperville IL electrical contracting company if they can give you some tips. Additionally bear in mind that unless you are willing to move, the school must be within driving distance of your Naperville residence. Take note that if you decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, in addition to moving costs there may be higher tuition charges compared to in-state residents.

Smaller Classes. It’s desirable that you receive as much personalized training as possible, which can be difficult in larger classes. Ask if you can sit in on a couple of the classes so that you can observe how large they are and experience the interaction between instructors and students. Speak with several of the students and get their opinions relating to class sizes and instruction. Finally, speak with some of the teachers and find out what their level of expertise is and what certifications or degrees they have earned.

Flexible Scheduling. Confirm that the class schedules for the schools you are evaluating are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you can only attend classes at night or on weekends near Naperville IL, confirm that the programs you are looking at offer those choices. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, be sure that the school you select permits part-time enrollment. Additionally, check out what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any due to work, illness or family emergencies.

Considering Attending an Electrician School near Naperville IL?

Following is a little bit of background information about the Naperville IL area.

Naperville, Illinois

Naperville (/ˈneɪpərˌvɪl/) is a city in DuPage and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a suburb of Chicago. Located 28 miles west of Chicago, Naperville was founded in 1831 and developed as the fifth-largest city in Illinois.[5] As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 141,853, which was estimated to have increased to 147,112 by July 2015.[6]

In a 2010 study assessing cities with populations exceeding 75,000, Naperville was ranked as the wealthiest city in the Midwest and the eleventh wealthiest in the nation.[7] It was ranked among the nation's safest cities by USAToday and Business Insider.[8][9] Naperville was voted the second-best place to live in the United States by Money magazine in 2006[10] and it was rated first on the list of best cities for early retirement in 2013 by Kiplinger.[11] In 2015, it was named as one of the most educated large cities in America with populations over 50,000.[12][13]

In July 1831, Joseph Naper arrived at the west bank of the DuPage River with his family and friends to found what would be known as Naper's Settlement.[14] Among those original settlers were Naper's wife Almeda Landon, his brother John with wife Betsy Goff, his sister Amy with husband John Murray, and his mother Sarah. Their arrival followed a nearly two-month voyage across three Great Lakes in the Naper brothers' schooner, the Telegraph. Also on the journey were several families who remained in the settlement that would become Chicago, including that of Dexter Graves[15] who is memorialized in Graceland Cemetery by the well-known Lorado Taft statue "Eternal Silence" (also known as "the Dexter Graves Monument").

The location could not be found.

Enroll in the Right Electrical Technical School near Naperville IL

Picking the best electrician training program will undoubtedly be the most critical decision you will make to start your new trade. As we have covered in this article, there are a number of things that you will need to evaluate and compare among the training programs you are considering. It’s a necessity that any electrical training that you are examining includes a lot of hands-on training. Classes should be smaller in size and every student must have their personal equipment to train with. Classroom teaching needs to provide a real-world perspective, and the course of study should be up-to-date and conform with industry standards. Courses differ in length and the type of credential offered, so you will have to decide what length of program and certificate or degree will best fulfill your needs. Every training program provides different options for certification also. Perhaps the best approach to research your final list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the students and instructors. Take the time to monitor a few classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the training program you decide on is the right one for you. With the right training, hard work and dedication, the end result will be a new trade as a professional electrician in Naperville IL.