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College Prerequisite Course Requirements

Prerequisite courses may be taken at any accredited college or university; however, courses taken at other universities must be equivalent to those offered at IUPUI. 

Required courses must have letter grades of "C" or above; no pass/fail options are accepted. 
IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR 2009: All pre-requisite courses must be completed by the end of the spring semester of the year in which you plan to apply.
All pre-requisite science courses must have been completed within the past seven (7) years.

THE IUSD STUDENT RECORDS AND ADMISSIONS OFFICE SHOULD APPROVE COMPARABLE COURSES.  It is the responsibility of the applicant to verify that the courses taken will transfer and be equivalent to those offered on the IUPUI campus.  Click here to view prerequisite courses for Universities and Colleges in Indiana. Enroll in additional electives in preparation for the dental hygiene curriculum (e.g.  courses in ethics, nutrition, and medical terminology).
Admission into the program is possible after completion of the specific required courses listed below.  All letter grades will be computed in your GPA.  Repeating a course does NOT remove any previous grade from your dental hygiene application to Indiana University School of Dentistry.  IU School of Dentistry does not honor the "FX" policy.  All "FX" grades are treated as "F" grades.

Students who have received departmental credit either by examination or placement at an institution outside of the IU system will receive transfer credit for that departmental exam or departmental credit if the credit has been validated by successfully completing the next higher course in the sequence.  Independent Study courses are not accepted.

Required Courses:  All required college courses must be completed with a grade of "C" or above.  Remedial courses cannot be used to fulfill requirements.

  • English Composition
  • Introductory Psychology
  • Introductory Sociology
  • Public Speaking
  • Chemistry, with laboratory (minimum of 4 hours)

IUPUI course equivalency:  Elementary Chemistry lecture C101 (3 cr.) and Elementary Chemistry Lab C121 (2 cr).  Note:  If you attend Purdue University you need to complete both CHEM 111 and CHEM 112 or CHEM 115.  If you attend Ivy Tech you will need to complete chemistry with laboratory course at another university.   The Chemistry course(s) offered at Ivy Tech are not equivalent to C101 at IUPUI.

  • Human Anatomy
  • Human Physiology

IUPUI course equivalencies for Human Anatomy and Human Physiology are Biology N212, Human Biology (3 cr) and Biology N214, Human Biology (3 cr).   Laboratories N213 and N215 are optional.  Note that some dental hygiene programs in Indiana do not accept N212 and N214.  If you are applying to any other dental hygiene programs (in addition to the program at IUPUI), you should take N261, Human Anatomy and N217, Human Physiology.

Note:  Ivy Tech course equivalency:  ANP 101 & 102, Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II, transfers to IUPUI as N261, Human Anatomy; ANP 201, Advanced Physiology will transfer as N217, Human Physiology.  All three courses at Ivy Tech must be completed to meet the Indiana University School of Dentistry Dental Hygiene Program requirement.

  • Microbiology Lecture and Laboratory (the microbiology course must include immunology)

IUPUI microbiology equivalency:  The only acceptable microbiology course is MICR J210.  The microbiology course offered at Ivy Tech does not meet the requirement for the Dental Hygiene Program.

  • 2 Arts and Humanities Courses

The following is a list of Arts and Humanities courses which will be acceptable to fulfill the pre-dental hygiene requirements at Indiana University School of Dentistry.

Afro-American Studies American Folklore American Literature Ancient Art
Art Appreciation Classical Mythology Classical Studies English Literature
Foreign Language History Medical Terminology (CLAS 209 only) Music Appreciation
Music History Near Eastern
Languages and
Cultures		 Philosophy Religious Studies & Western Studies

NOTE: TWO (2) Arts and Humanities courses are required for admission to the Dental Hygiene program at Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis.

For a more detailed list, click on the following link: Prerequisites

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