Most students at Oshkosh Normal were assigned challenging schedules consisting of four quarters per academic year. Each quarter comprised four or five condensed classes, putting students through sixteen to twenty classes per year. In addition, many students took summer school classes.

There were several courses of study available at the Normal School in 1905, each varying in depth and difficulty according to the perceived needs of its graduates. The Common School Course, for instance, was only one year long and consisted of daily recitations in English, natural science, mathematics, history, civics, the arts, and "professional work." This subject matter was deemed to be appropriate for those intending to teach in rural schools. Students who intended to teach in "graded" or larger rural schools were assigned to a two-year Elementary Course, after which they could proceed to specialize in the two-year English-Scientific Course, German Course, or Latin Course.