Prerequisites
Prerequisites
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Starting with the Fall 2025 application cycle, PHT 58 (Fundamentals of Pharmacology)
will no longer be required as a prerequisite for the Dental Hygiene Program.
|
Complete ALL prerequisites before applying is highly recommended. A limited number (1-3 courses) of prerequisites may be in-progress at the time of applying; however, it may affect the chance of acceptance into the program. All in-progress courses must be completed before starting the program in summer quarter.
- A grade of "C" or higher is required for each prerequisite.
- Cumulative College GPA of 2.5 or higher
- Biological Science courses* GPA of 2.75 or higher (Anatomy&Physiology, Nutrition, and Microbiology must be taken within six-year of the current application cycle)
- Completion of one of the following general education (GE) patterns. Important Note: Students who have completed the local general education requirements at another California
community college may be able to use this to satisfy general education. Please meet
with a counselor to determine if general education has been completed.
- Cal-GETC (California General Education Transfer Curriculum)
- CSU General Education Breadth Requirements
- IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum)
- Foothill College General Education
| COURSE NAME | COURSEWORK EQUIVALENT |
|---|---|
| Human Anatomy & Physiology with labs* | BIOL 40A & 40B & 40C or equivalent |
| Introduction to Human Nutrition* | BIOL 45 or equivalent |
| Microbiology with lab* | BIOL 41 or equivalent |
| Survey of Inorganic, Organic & Biochemistry with labs | CHEM 30A & CHEM 30B or equivalent |
| Introduction to Speech or Communication | COMM 1A or 1AH or 1B or 2 or 3 or 4 or equivalent |
| Introduction to Dental Hygiene (must be taken at Foothill College) |
DH 200L - no substitution |
| English Composition & Reading | ENGL 1A or 1AH or ESLL 26 or equivalent |
| English Composition, Critical Reading & Thinking | ENGL 1B or 1BH or 1C or 1CH or PHIL 1 or 7 or equivalent |
| Health | HLTH 21 or HLTH 20 or equivalent |
| Statistics | MATH 10 or PSYC 7 or SOC 7 or equivalent |
| General Psychology | PSYC 1 or equivalent |
| Introduction to Sociology | SOC 1 or equivalent |
| Intercultural Communication (excluding CSU Area F) |
COMM 12 or COMM 10 or equivalent |
- Majors courses & upper division GE: 100.5 units
- Total units for BS in Dental Hygiene: a minimum of 180 units is required for the student to be awarded the bachelor degree, which includes lower division general education and prerequisite courses.
- Check out an example of Foothill's Entry-Level Education Plan.
To help assess how your previously earned college credits may transfer to Foothill College, you are encouraged to use the Transfer Equivalency System (TES) to view how courses from other regionally accredited institutions may transfer to Foothill College
It is strongly recommended that prospective applicants meet with an academic counselor to:
- Review and evaluate college transcripts
- Determine if any course petitions for equivalency are necessary
- Verify General Education (GE) completion for the Bachelor of Science degree
- Important: petitions for course equivalency must be submitted by the end of the Fall quarter to be considered before the application deadline.
To make a 30-minute counseling appointment, you must have a valid Foothill College CWID (student ID).
- Bring transcripts (official or unofficial)
- Course outlines, syllabi, or other relevant documentation (if petitioning courses)
- Meet a Counselor.
Students who have fulfilled local GE requirements at another California community college may also be eligible to use those to meet Foothill's GE requirements. Meet with a counselor to confirm whether your GE is complete and applicable.
All transcripts must be sent electronically to Foothill College Admissions and Records at fhtranscripts@fhda.edu before the application deadline. If your college does not offer electronic transcripts, official sealed transcripts should send to Admissions and Records will suffice. Transcripts should include all work shown as completed on the application.
Submit a Transcript Evaluation Request: Evaluations will be completed even if you haven’t earned units at Foothill College. You will be contacted directly once your evaluation is complete.
Note: ALL college transcripts from US colleges and universities are required, even if the courses don’t seem relevant. An application that is not complete and/or does not have all transcripts included will not be considered.
Previous Applicants - All previous applicants must re-apply via MyPortal and resubmit all updated transcripts electronically to the Foothill College Admissions and Records Department.
International Transcripts - Dental Hygiene program will not accept international transcripts for program prerequisites. Students looking to use coursework from their international transcript for general education credit, will need to have it evaluated by one of the following agencies before following the course substitution process:
- Educational Credential Evaluators https://ece.org
- World Education Services, Inc http://www.wes.org
- For addition list of agencies, please click here: Foreign Transcript Evaluation Services.
If a student is not using their international transcripts for general education, there is no need to submit transcripts to Admissions & Records.
Once students have their international transcript evaluated by one of the above agencies, they will still need to follow proper protocol for course substitution process.
Contact Us
Truc Nguyen
Dental Administrative Assistant |
