Prerequisite Courses
Traditional Program Prerequisite Courses
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 credits, including all of the science and mathematics requirements. However, upon acceptance into the program, an additional 6 credits of core curriculum must be listed on the student’s degree plan.
Our Advisor’s Manual, a guide to taking these prerequisites at various institutions in Arkansas, is available by clicking the button below.
Download the Advisor's Manual for Medical Laboratory Sciences| Area/Typical Course Title | Minimum Credits |
|---|---|
| ENGLISH/COMMUNICATION | |
| English Composition | |
| Two-semester sequence of English Composition | 6 |
| Speech Communication | |
| Fundamentals of Speech or Speech Communication | 3 |
| MATHEMATICS | |
| College Algebra | 3 |
| Trigonometry/Statistics/Calculus (or higher level mathematics) | 3 |
| SCIENCE | |
| Biological/Health Science* | |
| Biology with laboratory | 4 |
| Anatomy & Physiology with laboratory | 4 |
| Microbiology with laboratory | 4 |
| Chemistry | |
| Two-semester sequence of General Chemistry with laboratories | 8 |
| Science Electives** (2000 level and above) | 8 |
| FINE ARTS/HUMANITIES | |
| Fine Arts*** | |
| Music, Art, Theater | 3 |
| Humanities**** | |
| Philosophy, Political Science, Literature, or Humanities | 3 |
| SOCIAL SCIENCES | |
| History | |
| History of the United States or National Government | 3 |
| Social Sciences | |
| Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, or Economics | 6 |
| Electives** | 11 |
| OVERALL TOTAL | 69 |
* Chemistry and Biology/Health Science courses must be suitable for majors in those disciplines and must include laboratory credit in required courses. Other courses may fulfill the program’s requirements. Contact the department for course approval. CLEP credit for science courses is limited to Biology I and Chemistry I.
** Recommended electives include introductory courses in Computer Science, Management, Genetics, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Quantitative Analysis.
*** The Fine Arts requirement cannot be fulfilled with a studio course.
**** 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; world literature is especially recommended.
