Admission Criteria
Students completing approximately 72 semester hours of prerequisite courses must apply for the professional phase of the program in the Spring semester (January 31 deadline). Applicants must have an overall GPA of 2.5 and a 2.75 GPA in math and sciences and attend a mandatory orientation. A limited number of clinical sites are available; therefore, no more than 35 students will be selected to enter the professional phase of the program. Students must be aware that there is a possibility they may be placed in a second shift clinical setting or out of the El Paso / Las Cruces area. Certain out of town clinical affiliates offer stipends to students attending their facility. For a current listing of high impact clinical sites please contact the CLS Clinical Coordinator (ecamacho@utep.edu). This is at the expense of the student.
All lower-division course work must be completed prior to enrolling in the fall professional phase of the Clinical Laboratory Science courses. All students beginning the professional courses will be required prior to the clinical practicum to show evidence of current CPR certification, a recent physical exam, criminal background check, drug screening, health insurance and current immunizations, including flu, COVID and Hepatitis B vaccination. Some clinical affiliates may require finger printing. A grade of 75% or higher must be earned in each CLS class. If a student earns less than a 75%, the student must withdraw from the program and reapply the following year. If the student is re-admitted to the program, the student will be REQUIRED to AUDIT all courses that the student has been successful in and earn at least a 75%. During the auditing of courses, the student is required to attend the classes and take all exams and pass the exams with a minimum of 75%. Issuing of the BS degree IS NOT contingent upon the students passing of any type of external certification or licensure examination.