Prerequisite Courses

Traditional Program Prerequisite Courses

The information below applies to the Fall 2025 admission cycle.

The prerequisites listed on this page are for the on-campus Traditional Medical Laboratory Sciences program only.  For the online MLT-to-MLS Degree Completion program’s prerequisite requirements, please click here.

A minimum of 69 credits are required from a regionally accredited college or university and must fulfill all College requirements regarding the acceptance of transfer credit.  Only courses with a grade of “C” or better are accepted to meet prerequisite course requirements.  Students are eligible for the MLS program after completing 63 prerequisite credits, including Biology w/ Lab, Anatomy & Physiology w/ Lab, Microbiology w/ Lab, both Chemistry w/ Lab courses, and both Science Electives.  However, upon acceptance into the program, an additional 6 credits of core curriculum must be listed on the student’s degree plan.

Area/Typical Course TitleMinimum Credits
ENGLISH/COMMUNICATION
English Composition
Two-semester sequence of English Composition6
Speech Communication*
Fundamentals of Speech or Speech Communication3
MATHEMATICS
College Algebra (or higher level mathematics)3
Trigonometry/Statistics/Calculus (or higher level mathematics)3
SCIENCE
Biological/Health Science**
Biology with laboratory4
Anatomy & Physiology with laboratory4
Microbiology with laboratory4
Chemistry
Two-semester sequence of General Chemistry with laboratories8
Science Electives***8
FINE ARTS/HUMANITIES
Fine Arts****
Music, Art, Theater3
Humanities*****
Philosophy, Literature, History, Political Science or Humanities
SOCIAL SCIENCES
History
History of the United States or National Government3
Social Sciences
Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Economics, Political Science or History6
Electives***11
OVERALL TOTAL69

*An additional Humanities or Fine Arts course may be substituted for Speech Communication.

**Chemistry and Biology/Health Science courses must be suitable for majors in those disciplines and must include laboratory credit in required courses. The following courses (including labs) are considered equivalent to Biology w/ Lab, Anatomy & Physiology w/ Lab, or Microbiology w/ Lab: Animal or Human Anatomy, Animal or Human Physiology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Cell Physiology or Biology, Genetics/Genomics, Immunology, Molecular Biology, Mycology, Neuroscience, Organic Chemistry, Parasitology, Pathology/Pathophysiology/Pathogenesis, Quantitative Analysis, Toxicology, Virology, or Zoology.  Other courses may fulfill the program’s requirements. Contact the department for course approval.

***Recommended electives include introductory courses in Computer Science, Management, Genetics, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Quantitative Analysis.  Science courses can be substituted with Program or Assistant Program Director approval.

****The Fine Arts requirement cannot be fulfilled with a studio course. An additional Humanities course may be substituted for Fine Arts.

*****Humanities requirements may be selected from the courses in the subject areas of philosophy, political science, literature and the humanities.  The course in National Government, if selected to meet the US History/National Government requirement, cannot also be used to meet the Humanities requirement in Political Science.  Acceptable courses in literature must be broad survey courses.

AP/IB/CLEP credit for math requirements are acceptable if the transferring institution has given equivalent credit for the courses at their institution.