From http://www.dbasupport.com/oracle/ora...omeDBA02.shtml

Sorry to say, and probably at the cost of my own personal goal of ever working for Oracle, do not attend Oracle University classes (with two exceptions). A typical 5-day course will set you back $2500. In fact, any instructor-led course (the in-person kind) is $500 per day. What do you get for your $500 per day cost of attendance (assuming you are not having to take vacation time)? You get a cardboard box filled with the official course of instruction for that topic. You get a plastic combination pen/hi-liter and a small spiral bound notebook to use for taking additional notes. You may get documentation on a CD. You get to share a computer/workstation with another student. You get to hear the gospel as dispensed by the disciples of Larry (note: the instructors are typically very good and quite knowledgeable). You get free coffee and beverages and breakfast rolls/pastries, and if you really score, you get freshly baked cookies in the afternoon session. You get some personal attention if you are struggling on one of the several labs you do each day, but the class cannot afford to wait for you.

Don't get me wrong – attending a class from Oracle University (OU) is a great experience. The facilities are nice, you are well greeted and treated and you walk away with the definitive source of test questions for that topic's certification exam. Why should you attend an ILT class from OU? One reason is that someone else is paying for it. The other reason is that you have to in order to meet a requirement for certification.