Dental hygiene students working in clinic

Entry-Level Track

Application Process

The application period is October 1 - February 1 of each year.

***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***

When applying, all of the steps below are required to be completed successfully. Please review and familiarize yourself with the steps.

Step 1 – Apply Online for admission to Foothill College

Step 2 – Talk with a Counselor at Foothill College Counseling Department

Step 3 – Complete Prerequisites and one of the required GE patterns

Step 4 – Order Official E-Transcripts and send directly to Foothill College Admissions and Records at fhtranscripts@fhda.edu

Step 5 – Submit a Transcript Evaluation Request with the Evaluations Team

Step 6 – Submit an application to the Dental Hygiene Program via Allied Healths App in MyPortal

***Important Documents: please review them carefully before applying:

- Application Instructions (please read carefully before applying)
- Application Sample
- Dental Hygiene Procedures Observation form

Selection Procedure

Admission Policy

Selection of applicants is based on criteria approved by Foothill College and aligned with the standards of the California Community Colleges Baccalaureate Degree Program, as well as state and federal regulations and accreditation guidelines.

Primary admission criteria include:

Completion of all prerequisite courses with a minimum grade of “C” or better
Completion of one of the required general education patterns
A minimum GPA of 2.75 in required biological sciences: Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology, and Nutrition
A cumulative college GPA of 2.50 or higher for all colleges attended
Compliance with the program’s technical standards (as outlined in the application)

Placement into the Program

A point-based system is used to evaluate all applicants to the Dental Hygiene Program. Points are awarded based on overall GPA, grades in the required prerequisites which are included the the biological science courses (such as anatomy and physiology, microbiology, and nutrition), and dental related education.

The top 30 qualified applicants with the highest total points will be offered provisional acceptance into the program. All other qualified applicants will be placed on the Alternate List., ranked in order from highest to lowest points total. If a provisionally accepted applicant declines their spot, the next alternate will be offered placement.

All provisionally accepted applicants must register for DH 50: Orientation to Dental Hygiene, offered during the 4-week Summer Quarter. Final acceptance into the program is based on the final grade percentage earned in DH 50.

The top 24 students (based on final DH 50 grades) will be granted final acceptance into the program. The remaining 6 students are placed on the Alternate List for Fall admission. If not selected by the start of Fall quarter, alternate students must reapply for the next application cycle.

Notification Timeline

Selections are made by April 1, and all applicants will be notified of acceptance or non-acceptance via email.

Be sure to check the email associated with your MyPortal account regularly and add important program contacts to your email address book to avoid missing important updates.

No Waitlist Policy

The Foothill College Dental Hygiene Program does not maintain a waitlist. Applicants wwho are not accepted and wish to reapply must submit a new application during the next application cycle.

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