The University of Illinois Pesticide Safety Education Program team partners with Illinois Department of Agriculture to provide In-Person Training and Testing Clinics. These clinics provide Illinois operators and applicators the opportunity to prepare for and take their licensing exam(s) at the same one- or two-day clinic.
- Starting on the PSEP Training & Testing page, click either the orange In-Person Commercial Training Registration button or the blue In-Person Private Training Registration button. This will take you to the In-Person Training and Testing Clinic registration page.
- Locate the training clinic Date and Location that you prefer. You may select the number of tickets you would like for each category training offered on this page or click on the clinic name to see the address of the venue, time of each training and select the number of tickets you would like for each category training offered.
- After selecting the number of tickets you would like, click Add to Event Cart.
- You will be offered the option to Return to Events List, View Event Cart or Proceed to Registration.
- After choosing Proceed to Registration, you will be asked for your contact information for each ticket, then choose Proceed to Payment Options.
- Here you will enter your payment information and use the Authorize.Net Pay button to securely process a credit card payment.
- After the payment is complete, you will receive a transaction receipt, confirmation of the trainings you registered for, and an email with a link to your event tickets.
- Your event ticket to be scanned at check-in for each of your trainings. If you forget your ticket, you can be checked in using your name.
- Your photo I.D. for your exam
- A basic function calculator (cell phones cannot be used as calculators during the exam)
- A pencil
- Your retest letter for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which includes your USA Plants #, company name and address (if applicable)
- Your USA Plants # or Social Security #
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I register for an In-Person Training and Testing Clinic? See the Registering for an In-Person Training and Testing Clinic section above.
Do I really need to register ahead of time? Yes. Due to limited space, we ask that everyone registers for in-person trainings ahead of time. We cannot guarantee that there will still be seats available at check-in on the morning of the event.
How much does training cost? General Standards and Private applicator trainings cost $45. Each commercial category training costs $25.
How can I reschedule or cancel my in-person training? Please contact the UofI Pesticide Safety Education Program (217) 244-2123 to reschedule or cancel your in-person training registration. We receive a lot of calls and respond in the order that they were received, so we recommend calling for cancellations the day before the event or sooner.
Can I substitute one employee for another at check-in? No. Please call our office (217) 244-2123 prior to training for substitutions. The new attendee's name and email address will be needed and a new ticket will be sent to that individual's email. This will ensure that your check-in goes smoothly on the day of the training.
What is the refund policy? Registration fees will be refunded if you cancel prior to the start of your training. You will need to call our office to cancel (217) 244-2123. We recommend calling for cancellations at least the day before the event.
How can I request accommodations for training or testing? In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, any attendee requiring a reasonable accommodation for training should contact the UofI Pesticide Safety Education Program (217) 244-2123 and for testing contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture (800) 641-3934 of specific needs at least three weeks prior to any testing session.
Online training is also available for those who feel they would benefit from self-paced training or closed captioning.
Cost and Payments
How much does training cost? General Standards and Private applicator trainings cost $45. Each commercial category trainings cost $25.
How will I receive my receipt? The receipt will be emailed to the email address you entered for Attendee 1 during registration. If you would like to register a group but do not want to purchase a registration for yourself and do not want Attendee 1 to receive the receipt, please call our office to register by phone (217) 244-2123.
How much does it cost to take an exam? In-person exams are free.
Can I pay when I arrive on the morning of training? Payments will not be accepted on the morning of training. We ask that you pay using the online registration system or call our office (217) 244-2123 if you prefer a different form of payment.
How can I reschedule or cancel my in-person training? Please contact the UofI Pesticide Safety Education Program (217) 244-2123 to reschedule or cancel your in-person training registration.
Can I substitute one employee for another at check-in? No. Please call our office (217) 244-2123 prior to training for substitutions. The new attendee's name and email address will be needed and a new ticket will be sent to that individual's email. This will ensure that your check-in goes smoothly on the day of the training.
What is the refund policy? Registration fees will be refunded if you cancel or reschedule prior to the starting time of your training.
Registration and Scheduling
How do I register for an In-Person Training and Testing Clinic? See the Registering for an In-Person Training and Testing Clinic section above.
Do I really need to register ahead of time? Yes. Due to limited space, we ask that everyone registers for in-person trainings ahead of time. We cannot guarantee that there will still be seats available the morning of the event.
The registration page says the event I want is sold out, is it really sold out? Is there a waitlist?
Registrations are entered into our system in real-time, so when it says sold out, it is really sold out. There is no waitlist. As clients cancel and reschedule, spaces will immediately become available. We often have cancellations the afternoon before the training, this is a good time to check back to see if spaces become available.
Can I enter TBD as the person's name if I'm not sure which employee I want to send to training? No. Our registration software does not recognize place-holders and using a place-holder phrase may result in confusion or cancellation. Please wait until you are sure who needs to attend training and register with their names.
Can I substitute one employee for another at check-in? No. Please call our office (217) 244-2123 prior to training for substitutions. The new attendee's name and email address will be needed and a new ticket will be sent to that individual's email. This will ensure that your check-in goes smoothly on the day of the training.
How can I reschedule or cancel my in-person training? Please contact the UofI Pesticide Safety Education Program (217) 244-2123 to reschedule or cancel your in-person training registration.I want in-person testing but not training, can I do that? Visit the PSEP Training & Testing page and click the green button that says "In-Person Test Only Registration."
The in-person training and testing dates or locations don't work for me, can I do training and/or testing online? Yes. Starting on the PSEP Training & Testing page, to see the online training and testing options for commercial and private applicators.
For step-by-step instructions on signing up for Online Training, visit the Online Training How-to and FAQ page.
For step-by-step instructions on signing up for Online Testing, visit the Online Exam How-to and FAQ page.
What is the refund policy? Registration fees will be refunded if you cancel or reschedule prior to the starting time of your training.
Tickets and Check-in
How do the event tickets work? A few minutes after registering, you will receive an email with a link to your event tickets. You will receive a separate ticket for each training you have registered for (for example, if you registered for general standards, ornamentals and turfgrass at the same clinic, you will receive three tickets). You will be asked to scan your ticket before entering each training. Each ticket will only be scanned once.
Exams
How soon can I take my exam after training? State law requires an 1-hour break between a commercial training and the exam. A 15-minute break is required between a private applicator training and the exam.
How much time is given for each exam? You will be given 3 hours to complete any exam. On average, people complete the general standards exam in 2 hours, private applicator exam in 1 ½ hours, and commercial applicator category exams in 1 ½ hours.
What am I allowed to have during the Exam? A basic function calculator (not on phone/tablet), a pencil, photo I.D., your USA plants # or social security #, your IDA retest letter (if applicable). You will be provided a copy of the equation sheet during the exam.
Are bathroom breaks allowed during the Exam? Yes, one bathroom break is allowed per exam.
When will I receive my exam score? After completing your exam, it will be graded by an IDA inspector and you will be given your score. The results are automatically sent to the Illinois Department of Agriculture. IDA will mail your license application to you and process your license.
Continuing Education Credits
Can I earn continuing education credits from the trainings? Yes, you can earn continuing education credits. Some trainings will ask for your information to report to the crediting association and some will allow you to self-report to the crediting association. Courses granting continuing education credits are:
- General Standards - Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA)
- Field Crops - Certified Crop Adviser (CCA)
- Ornamentals - International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)
- Turfgrass - Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA)