Are you a problem-solver who’s also compassionate, sensitive and personable? Are you ready for a fast-growing health career? If so, take a look at our Respiratory Care program. Respiratory therapists (also called respiratory care practitioners) provide hands-on care that helps people recover from a wide range of medical conditions that affect the lungs.
Respiratory Care Program at a Glance
2 years to complete1
$5,940 tuition2
- El Centro3
What Can I Study?
I Want to Go to Work
Can I Get a Job?
Dallas College offers a variety of certificates and degrees to help you gain the skills you need to start working right away.
- These credentials are often considered Career and Technical Education (CTE).
- These credentials are established with the assistance and cooperation of representatives from local business, to meet local and regional employment needs.
- Higher level certificates and degrees will typically lead to a higher salary in the workforce.
- Workforce (CE) Certificates can often be completed faster than traditional credit certificates but typically do not offer college credit.
- Level 1, Level 2, Enhanced Skills certificates and others, offer college credit and are often stackable to help you build skills as you work towards an Associate Degree.
- Workforce credentials may give you college credit at Dallas College, but they may not transfer to other colleges or universities.
If you're unsure if this is the right path for you, you can talk to a Pathway Specialist for advice.
Pathway Specialist
- 972-669-6400
- PathwaySpecialist@DallasCollege.edu
What Can I Earn? Will There Be Plenty of Jobs?
Demand is growing for caring respiratory therapists who can work one on one with patients to improve their breathing. Check out a few of the incredible career opportunities you’ll be ready for. Your future starts here!
Respiratory Therapists
$39/hr
Median Salary
234
Job Openings
+20%
Projected Outlook
Top Skills:
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Learning
- Service Orientation
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Complex Problem Solving
All jobs data gathered for Dallas/Fort Worth. Source: Dallas College Labor Market Intelligence and Lightcast4.
“Respiratory therapists are not just technicians trained to deliver treatments and therapies with different types of equipment. We have to truly comprehend a wide range of topics and how they relate to a patient’s condition.” Read Shawn Terry, B.A., RRT, RCP's story.
A Look Inside Respiratory Care
Are you a problem-solver who is also compassionate, sensitive, and personable?
If so, the Respiratory Care program at Dallas College is for you.
Respiratory therapists, also called respiratory care practitioners, provide hands-on care that help people recover from a wide range of medical conditions that affect the lungs.
There are a wide variety of specializations including critical care, long-term care, pulmonary rehabilitation, home care, medical device sales, and more.
So, why choose Dallas College to jumpstart your career?
As a student, you will benefit from our dedicated faculty and have access to the most advanced equipment available to health care students in our simulation teaching labs.
Graduates are eligible to sit for the Therapists Multiple Choice and Clinical Simulation exam in order to earn the CRT or RRT credential from the National Board for Respiratory Care.
For more information, visit our website and begin your Dallas College experience.
The Respiratory Care program is located in the Downtown Health Sciences Center (formerly El Centro's Center for Allied Health and Nursing) at Market and Pacific streets, a block north of the El Centro campus. The program's goal is 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 center comprises 55 classrooms and labs that contain some of the most advanced equipment available to educate health care students.
The center's high-tech equipment includes:
- Teaching labs that simulate surgical and hospital settings for specific program applications.
- Microphones and cameras in each classroom to capture audio and video instruction.
- Three classrooms with videoconferencing for two-way viewing.
- Two simulation labs with computerized patient mannequins.
The Respiratory Care Program program has its own admissions process, timeline and requirements. Visit the School of Health Sciences Information Packets and Sessions page to view the Respiratory Care Program information packets.
Please email the Health Occupations Admissions Office or call 972-669-6400, press 1 for Admissions, followed by 2 for Nursing and Allied Health Admissions, to receive an information packet and information session details.
This program also requires a criminal background check and drug testing.
Accreditation and Affiliations
The Dallas College Respiratory Care program (program ID 200103, AAS) at the El Centro Campus, is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (www.coarc.com) . View CoARC's outcomes data for all its accredited programs. 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.
School of Health Sciences by the Numbers
Please review current job openings and contact your advisor to review your options. All data gathered for Dallas/Fort Worth.
Source: Dallas College Labor Market Intelligence
Find Out More About Respiratory Care Program
Sign up to receive additional information about Respiratory Care Program or call 972-669-6400.
School of Health Sciences
- 972-669-6400
- AskSOHS@DallasCollege.edu
Dallas College
- 972-669-6400
- Text College to 214-978-6457
- StudentHelp@DallasCollege.edu
1Length of time is based on catalog degree plans. Prerequisites may be required, which are not included in this estimate. For most programs, full-time student status is assumed, a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester.
2Cost is based on tuition rates for program hours for Dallas County residents. The price of most required learning materials (books, software, supplies, etc.) is included with the price of tuition. Visit our Paying for College site to learn more about cost, financial aid, scholarships and more.
3Each location offers a unique combination of certificate and degree options. Not all degree and certificate offerings are available for admission/start at all campuses every semester.
4A portion of Lightcast’s data comes from O*NET Online by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Lightcast has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
HB1508 Notice
This program may lead to an occupational license for which a prior criminal history may make a student ineligible.
For more information, please visit dallascollege.edu/hb1508.