Dental Assisting Admission Process
Admission Requirements
High School Completion
To ensure eligibility, please provide documentation confirming your high school graduation or possession of a high school equivalency diploma. All required documents should be submitted to the admissions office at EICC.
Placement Assessment
Prior to admission, all students should fulfill a reading placement assessment. This prerequisite can be satisfied through successful completion of college or high school coursework, or by taking one of the following placement tests: ACT, SAT, ACCUPLACER, HiSET. If you have already undergone an assessment within the past three years, you may submit your official high school or college transcript as proof to request an assessment waiver. Dental Assisting applicants must meet one of the following minimum requirements for reading placement:
- High School Cumulative GPA 2.75 or Higher
- AND Completion of Junior-Level English
- Writing Score: 6+
- OR Reading Score: 70+
- Writing Score: 480+
- OR Reading Score: 520+
- OR Essay Score: 15+
- English Score: 18+
- OR Reading Score: 21
- Writing Score: 15+
- OR Writing and Reading Score: 30+
- OR Writing, Reading, Social Studies and Science Score: 60+
- OR Overall Score: 75+
- OR Essay Score: 4+
Admission Application for Dental Assisting
To apply for the Dental Assisting program, you are required to fill out the designated application form included in the admission packet. Once completed, please submit the application directly to the Dental Assisting Program Director for consideration.
Barb Nichol, Program Director
Pre-Admission Session
Attendance at a pre-admission session is mandatory. During this session, you will receive a comprehensive overview of the program's prerequisites, course sequence, application process for licensure/registration, the Iowa Dental Board's policy on criminal history, and details regarding the Iowa Core Performance Standards.
Admission Status
Admission to the Dental Assisting program will be granted based on the completion of all admission criteria, following a chronological order. The following statuses will be assigned:
Regret students have submitted an application to the Dental Assisting program but have not completed one or more of the admission requirements outlined above. Students with a regret status are not ranked on the waitlist and will need to re-submit a Dental Assisting application once admission requirements have been completed.
Waitlist students have all the admission requirements completed and are waiting for acceptance into the Dental Assisting program. A waiting list is necessary due to limited capacity for program enrollment. Students are ranked on the waiting list based on the date they complete all admission requirements.
The Dental Assisting program begins in the fall and spring semesters. Students at the top of the waiting list are offered acceptance into the program and are required to respond by the stated deadline to avoid cancellation of their application. Students who refuse an acceptance offer will be asked to reapply.
Program Requirements
Prior to the second week of the first semester of the Dental Assisting program, the following criteria must be fulfilled. Failure to meet these program requirements will result in the student being unable to participate in laboratory and clinical components and may necessitate their withdrawal from the program.
Complete the American Heart Association Health Care Provider (BLS) CPR or American Red Cross CPR for the Healthcare Provider certification.
- Health Physical and Immunization
- Hepatitis B or declination
- QuantiFERON gold testing annually for TB
- TDPA/MMR
- Varicella
- Seasonal Influenza annually
- Certified Criminal, dependent adult, and child abuse background screening
- Annual proof of health insurance coverage