Eligibility Requirements | Optional Asset Retest | Financial Aid | Points Policy

Eligibility requirements

Records requirements

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that KCC receives all materials by the specified deadlines.

1. The applicant must complete and submit the Admissions Form to KCC and be accepted to the college.
2. The Health Career Program application must be completed and submitted to a health careers advisor in the Department of Student Services. This application must be submitted yearly prior to the deadline date. Completion of the program application requires an appointment with a health careers advisor and the advisor's signature. You may make an advisement appointment by phoning Student Services at (815) 802-8500.
3. OFFICIAL high school transcripts or official GED scores must be received directly from the high school and from the GED testing institution by KCC's Office of Admissions and Registration. Faxes are not considered official. A GED recipient may choose to have an official high school transcript sent in addition to official GED scores if he/she believes courses completed may positively affect eligibility or acceptance.  If you completed your GED at KCC, you must complete a form to have your GED transcript transferred to your College Credit Division file. If you are presently enrolled in high school, an official seventh semester transcript must be received prior to the deadline date; a final transcript also must be received following high school graduation.
4. OFFICIAL college transcripts must be received by KCC's Office of Admissions and Registration directly from all other colleges attended. Faxes are not considered official. Transcripts must include all course work completed by the deadline date above.
5. Foreign documents must be evaluated by a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) before the degree is confirmed as equivalent to a U.S. diploma and/or points or credit for any coursework may be awarded. Please go to: www.naces.org/members.htm for more information.
6. Scores from the ASSET or COMPASS test taken no more than two years prior to the month of the program deadline must be on file at KCC. See "Optional Retest" section under "Health Career Programs" for retesting information. If ASSET or COMPAS was taken at another institution, applicants must ensure that scores are received by KCC directly from that institution.  (See I A-E at the bottom of the this page for 2009 program changes to this requirement.)

   NOTE:Time limitations for test scores go according to the month and year of the deadline date. To be used for health career program eligibility or point purposes, tests must have been taken no more than two years prior to the month of the deadline date.  For example, if the deadline is March 2008, scores from tests taken prior to March 2006 cannot be used.

7. For the Registered Nursing—Advanced Placement Sequence program, a copy of the applicant's current LPN license must be on file at KCC.

Academic requirements

1. High school graduation or GED equivalency. (Applicants who are high school seniors at the deadline must graduate at the end of that academic year in order to retain eligibility.)
2. Applicants with college credit at KCC must have a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale (C average). Applicants who reside outside of KCC's district who receive the same program entry consideration as in-district students must have a 2.0 or better GPA when cumulative GPAs from KCC and from their district's community college are combined.  The minimum grade point average must be maintained until that year's program begins or eligibility for/acceptance to that program is automatically nullified.(See V at the bottom of the this page for 2009 program changes to this requirement.)
3. A grade average of "C" OR BETTER for coursework as specified for each program below, unless otherwise noted.

   In general, one semester of an equivalent college-level or Academic Skills Center course of three semester hours or more from an appropriately accredited college/university will equate to and satisfy the one year of high school course requirement. However, MATH 0983 is not an acceptable substitute for one year of high school math. (See III at the bottom of the this page for 2009 math rule changes.See IV at the bottom of this page for 2009 science rule changes.)

Radiograph

One year—high school or college biology
High school or college Algebra I within the last 5 years or the equivalent¹

(Chemistry is a prerequisite to KCC's Anatomy and Physiology I course. Therefore, students taking Anatomy and Physiology I at KCC after they have been accepted to the Radiography program MUST have completed a year of high school (or a semester of college) chemistry with a C or better by the end of the first summer term in the program. High School biochemistery cannot be used to meet the prerequisite for KCC's Anatomy and Physiology courses.)

Registered Nursing

One year—high school or college biology
One year—high school or college chemistry³
High school or college Algebra I within the last 5 years or the equivalent¹

RN—Advanced Placement Sequence - Option 1

The same as Registered Nursing plus—
LPN Licensure by the state of Illinois
English I (C not required)
Anatomy and Physiology I

RN—Advanced Placement Sequence - Option 2

The same as Registered Nursing plus—
LPN Licensure by the state of Illinois
Anatomy and Physiology I
Anatomy and Physiology II
Microbiology
English I (C not required)
Introduction to Psychology (C not required)

Practical Nursing

One of the following completed within the past 5 years:

• One year of high school math with a B- average or better
• MATH 0993, MATH 1213 or an equivalent college math coursewith a B average or better
• High school Algebra I, with a C or better, or the equivalent¹
  Or
  One of the following within the past two years:
• A score of 550 or better on the math portion of the GED test
• A score of 42 or better on the numerical skills portion of ASSET or a COMPASS pre-algebra score of 50 or better.

Respiratory Therapist

One year—high school or college biology
High school Algebra I within the last 5 years or the equivalent¹

Respiratory Therapist—
Advanced placement sequence

Same as Respiratory Therapist, plus a Certificate of Completion from KCC in Respiratory Care Technology or the equivalent

Fundamentals of Writing and Computer Literacy must be completed prior to beginning the program.

Medical Laboratory Technology

One year—high school or college biology
One year—high school or college chemistry³
High school Algebra II within the last 5 years or the equivalent²

NOTE: Time limitations for course work go according to the year of the deadline date.  If the deadline date is in 2008, and the course must have been completed within the the last five years, that means it must have been completed some time during 2003.

NOTE:Time limitations for test scores go according to the month and year of the deadline date.  If tests must have been taken within the last two years and the deadline is March 2008, tests taken prior to March 2006 cannot be used.

¹Equivalents include any of the following within the past two years: (1) a score of 600 or better on the math portion of the GED test, (2) a score of 40 or better on the elementary algebra portion of the ASSET, (3) a COMPASS algebra score of 40 or better; or the following within the past five years: Basic Algebra (MATH 1414) with a grade of "C" or better.

²Equivalents include either of the following within the past two years: (1) a score of 40 or better on the intermediate algebra portion of the ASSET, or (2) a COMPASS algebra score of 60 or better; or the following within the past five years: Intermediate Algebra (MATH 1424) with a grade of "C" or better.

³One year of high school biochemistry with a grade of "C" or better will serve to meet the minimum chemistry requirement or award a point.  It will not, however, serve as a prerequisite to KCC's Anatomy and Physiology courses or General
Chemistry I.

⁴The applicant's ASSET reading skills score added to his/her writing skills score must be equal to or greater than 80 with a reading score no lower than a 38. COMPASS scores may be used to meet this requirement, but both reading and writing must be taken at the same time. The COMPASS reading score added to the writing score must be equal to or greater than 140 with the reading score no lower than 68. (See II at the bottom of the this page for 2009 program changes to this requirement.)

⁵A minimum of six (6) points is required by all programs. (See the "Points Policy" section under "Health Career Programs".)

⁶To be eligible for the RN or PN program, an applicant must have successfully completed an Illinois Public Health Department (IDPH) approved Basic Nursing Assistant training program with a grade of "C" or better. Documentation must be received by the Office of Admissions and Registration by the appropriate deadline. Documentation must consist of an official college transcript, a certificate of completion issued by the program sponsor which includes the program number issued by the IDPH, or documentation stating that the applicant is currently on Illinois' CNA registry. A current LPN license in the state of Illinois may be substituted.

Notes:

Students entering the RN program during the fall 2008 semester must take and pass English 1613 or the equivalent either prior to or during the fall 2008 semester. If a student plans to take English 1613 with first semester RN courses, he/she is responsible for meeting prerequisites for English 1613 prior to that semester. If an applicant has not successfully completed ENGL 1613 or the equivalent and is not eligible to enroll in ENGL 1613 concurrently with the first semester of the RN program, the applicant is no longer eligible for that year's program and any acceptance to that program is automatically nullified.

Courses with a BIOL or PSCI prefix included in a health career curriculum must be completed with a minimum grade of "C" either prior to or during the semester/term where they appear in the curriculum outline (see current catalog) in order for the student to continue in the program.

If an applicant feels an exception to minimum eligibility requirements should be made due to extenuating circumstances, the applicant should make an appointment with the director of advisement services in the Department of Student Services regarding the appeal process.

A list of minimum abilities a person should possess in order to successfully complete each health career program is available in the Department of Student Services. Students considering entering a health career program should read this list prior to beginning work toward entrance into that program.

Students who complete one week of a 2008 health career program will not be eligible to be considered for entry to a different 2008 health degree program that begins subsequently.

CHANGES TO BE IMPLEMENTED
FOR 2009 PROGRAMS

I. REQUIRED TEST SCORES
A. ASSET scores will no longer be used.
B. The most recent official ACT scores or the most recent COMPASS scores may be used to meet minimum eligibility requirements. (See section II and III for minimum score requirements.)
C. The scores must be from a test taken less than two years prior to the month of the initial deadline.
D.  Only the most recent COMPASS scores will be used as part of the competitive point system.
E.  All students taking COMPASS for health career admissions purposes must start with the pre-algebra level on the math section of the test.

II. READING AND WRITING MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
A. COMPASS - Reading score added to the writing score must be equal to or greater than 156. Reading score must be 79 or higher.OR

B. ACT - Reading scored added to writing score must be equal to 42 or higher. Reading score must be 22 or higher.OR

C. Course work-ENGL 1413 and READ 1484 with grades of "B" or better within the last five years. English I with a grade of "C" or better may be substituted for ENGL 1413. OR

D. Combinations-
     *  ENGL 1413 with a grade of "B" or better within the last five years and either a COMPASS Reading score of 79 or higher or an ACT reading score of 22 or higher within the last two years.  OR
     *  READ 1484 with a grade of "B" or better within the last five years and either a COMPASS  writing score of 77 or higher or an ACT writing score of 20 or higher within the last 2 years.

III.MATH MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
A. The math requirement for the PN program will be the same as that required for the RN program.
B. COMPASS - Algebra score of 40 or higher
C. ACT - Math score of 20 or higher
D. Course work - Math points will only come from the score on the math sections of the COMPASS test - no points will be awarded for math courses.

IV. SCIENCE REQUIREMENTS
A.  Science courses completed more than seven year prior to the deadline cannot be used to meet minimum eligibility requirements, nor can they be used to award points, nor can they be used to meet a course requirement in the curriculum.
B.  High school or college chemistry courses determined not to cover the desired content will not be used to meet eligibility requirements nor will they award a point.  An example is Chem Com.

V. GRADE POINT AVERAGE
A.  A 2.5 grade point average will be the minimum KCC GPA for eligibility for the Practical Nursing, Registered Nursing and Radiography programs.
B.  A 2.0 grade point average will be the minimum KCC GPA for eligibility for the Respiratory Therapist and Medical Laboratory Technology programs.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

International students under an F-1 visa must have a U.S. sponsor living in the district before being considered "in-district."  Students who have applied for or have a permanent resident card must provide proof before in-district residency applies.  Those with another international student visa type, or an F-1 visa holder without an in-district sponsor, will be considered "out-of-district."