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nursing students practicing treating a hospital patient

Nursing Prerequisite Requirements

Please see the Course Equivalency Chart for course transferability from other Washington State schools. For credits earned outside Washington State or courses not listed on the Course Equivalency Chart, please contact the nursing program office to obtain the proper waivers well in advance of applying to the nursing program.

Note: These courses have other prerequisites that cannot be waived, for example, CHEM& 100, PSYC& 100, BIOL& 160 and a possible Math or English series. Please work closely with the nursing advisor.

Minimum Qualifications

  • CHEM& 121 – Introduction to Chemistry (with lab)
  • BIOL& 241 – Human A&P 1 (with lab)
  • BIOL& 242 – Human A&P 2 (with lab)
  • BIOL& 260 – Microbiology (with lab)
  • ENGL& 101 – English Composition I
  • PSYC& 200 – Lifespan Psychology

We no longer have an age out for required or extra point classes. Students are allowed as many retakes as necessary to meet the minimum grade of each course.

Applicants must earn a 3.0 (B) or better in each course.

An Associate Degree in Pre-Nursing/DTA is not required to apply to the Pierce College Nursing Program. The Pre-Nursing DTA does meet our academic coursework for prerequisites but contains some additional courses that are not on our required prerequisite list. The Associate Degree in Pre-Nursing does make a candidate eligible to apply to multiple colleges and universities in Washington State that offer nursing degrees.

Additional Application Points

Students who have taken the following prerequisite courses may be awarded 0.5 additional points on their application with a 3.2 - 3.7 grade in the course, or one additional point for grades above 3.7:

  • BIOL& 241 – Human A&P 1
  • BIOL& 242 – Human A&P 2
  • BIOL& 260 – Microbiology

Next: Application Process