Dental Hygiene Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
E.g., Applications for Fall 2025 admission are open from July 1, 2024 to November 1, 2024.
No, the Dental Hygiene program is only offered as full-time study.
The Dental Hygiene program is structured as a “lock step” program. A lock-step program is one in which the student are admitted as a cohort, and take their courses together in a specified sequence (offered only once per year). Courses are offered in a sequence, whereby the knowledge, skills and attitudes build throughout the year. Academic and practice experiences are mapped throughout the 3 years of the Dental Hygiene Program in a continuous manner, not as discrete experiences.
Therefore, part-time study is not possible.
A resident of Alberta is defined as a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident who has been continuously resident in the Province of Alberta, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut for at least one year immediately before the first day of classes of the term for which admission is sought. The one-year residence period shall not be considered broken where the admission committee is satisfied that the applicant was temporarily out of the province on vacation, in short-term employment, or as a full-time student. Applicants on study permit cannot establish residence during a period as a full-time student in an Alberta secondary or postsecondary institution because a stay under study permit is considered to be a visiting period.
If you feel that this definition reflects your current and expected residence, you may claim Alberta residency on your application. We reserve the right to correct your residency claim should we feel that the information in your application does not support your claim and would refer the applicant to the University's Admission Policy.
No, Dental Hygiene students are awarded advanced credits for any previous coursework that is determined to be equivalent to the courses in the Dental Hygiene program curriculum. This is determined following admission and review of transcripts.
Please note that receiving 6 or more units of advanced credit in 1st-year courses disqualifies students from applying for first-year Dental Hygiene awards.
Academic Requirements
The Bachelor of Dental Hygiene program is not a direct entry from high school program.
Applicants must complete a one year in an undergraduate program for their application can be considered. More information can be found under Academic Requirements on the Dental Hygiene webpage.
Applicants should consult the University of Alberta Undergraduate program search tool to review required high school subjects for each program.
Students should have the following grade 12 subjects in order to complete the pre-professional requirements:
- English Language Arts 30-1
- Biology 30
- Chemistry 30
- Mathematics 30-1 or 30-2
Students should consult their institution to determine what high school prerequisites are required.
It is entirely up to you as to which program you choose to complete the academic requirements in. Most applicants choose to complete them through the Faculty of Science but they may be completed through other faculties. We recommend applicants have an alternate program in mind when completing the academic requirements so that if never admitted into the program they can remain in their alternate program and complete a degree of their choosing.
You may wish to consult the Undergraduate program search tool to review the various programs available at the University of Alberta.
You can apply to the Dental Hygiene program while your academic requirements are in-progress as long as the requirements will be completed and final official transcripts are received by June 15 in the year of admission.
Upon receipt of an application for admission and all required documents the Registrar's Office will evaluate your coursework to determine if you have met the requirements. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide unofficial evaluations of coursework. This includes, but is not limited to, the transferability of courses and OGPA calculations.
The course load requirement is a separate academic requirement from the required courses. The minimum requirement of one Fall/Winter academic year with 27 units may be composed of any university transferable courses. It does not need to specifically include the required courses.
Required courses may be completed in any term. However, we do NOT recommend taking required courses in the Spring term in the year that you are seeking admission. Spring courses often do not finish by June 15th when final official transcripts must be received.
If the Spring course is not meeting any admission requirements, you may take spring courses.
However, if the Spring course is a required course or needed to meet the total credit requirement, we do NOT recommend taking the course in the Spring. Spring courses often do not finish by June 15th when final official transcripts must be received. We are not able to accept any other documentation denoting unofficial grades.
Instead, prospective students should take all required courses and credits in the Fall/Winter terms following the submission of their application.
Transcripts are reviewed on a case by case basis, but generally a withdrawal will only affect your application if it occurs during the current year in which you are applying.
Withdrawing from a course may affect your:
- academic year with a full course load of 27 units,
- full-time status, or;
- ability to meet our requirements for application.
Only the first passing grade will be considered for repeated courses. If a passing grade is attained, no credit will be granted if the course is attempted again.
For University of Alberta coursework, a grade of D and above is considered passing.
Grades of D+ and lower are considered deficient for transfer coursework (i.e. courses not completed at the University of Alberta).
All university transferable coursework completed within a term (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) will be considered together, regardless if the courses are from different institutions.
For example, if you took 12 units at the University of Calgary and 3 units at Athabasca University in the Fall term, we will consider that you completed 15 units in the Fall term.
Transferring Courses
Applicants can use the following transfer credit assessment tools to check courses in advance or to plan your timetable and course selection.
- Equivalent course lists for select Alberta post-secondary institutions
- Transfer Alberta search tool for Alberta institutions
- University of Alberta Transfer Credit Search tool for all institutions
If the course is not listed in either tool, you may compare the course description of an accepted course at the UofA to course descriptions at your home institution.
Dentistry Admissions is unable to assess coursework in advance. Upon receipt of an application and all required documents, the Registrar's Office will evaluate your coursework to determine if you have met the academic requirements.
Dentistry Admissions is unable to assess coursework in advance. Upon receipt of an application and all required documents, the Registrar's Office will evaluate your coursework to determine if you have met the academic requirements.
Applicants can use the following transfer credit assessment tools to check courses in advance or to plan your timetable and course selection.
- Equivalent course lists for select Alberta post-secondary institutions
- Transfer Alberta search tool for Alberta institutions
- University of Alberta Transfer Credit Search tool for all institutions
If the course is not listed in either tool, you may compare the course description of an accepted course at the UofA to course descriptions at your home institution.
At some institutions, a course is worth 3 units whereas a course with a required laboratory is worth 4 units.
At the University of Alberta, courses with laboratories are NOT worth more units.
Therefore, a course with laboratories that are 4 units will transfer as 3 units to the University. This may impact the course load for an academic year.
At some institutions, students must register in a laboratory course separately from the lecture course. The laboratory course is listed on the academic transcript with a grade and units.
At the University of Alberta, required laboratories are not separate from the lecture course and no additional units are assigned.
If a course has a co-requisite laboratory course, the laboratory will NOT transfer as additional credit but the grade will be factored into the home GPA. This may impact the converted course load for an academic year.
If a laboratory course is optional (not a co-requisite), it will transfer for credit.
GPA Calculation
Overall GPA is comprised of all transferable postsecondary work completed as a full-time student. Full-time study is equivalent to a minimum of:
- 18 units taken in Fall/Winter terms
- 12 units taken in Spring/Summer terms
For applicants who have completed four or more years (Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer) of full-time transferable postsecondary work, the overall GPA is calculated with the deletion of the lowest GPA year, provided it is not the:
- most recent full-time period
- Only year where 27 units was taken.
Applicants can request special consideration to remove certain years from their OGPA due to extenuating circumstances. Applicants must be able to demonstrate the circumstances that led to the request, such as personal health issues or immediate family circumstances that impacted their academic performance.
Special consideration cannot be used to request a waiver of academic requirements. Applicants requesting special consideration must still meet all minimum academic requirements to be considered for admission.
Please contact Dentistry Admissions to request the Special Consideration Form once you have submitted your application.
Your total grades points divided by the total number of credits equals your OGPA.
You may follow these steps to calculate your OGPA:
- Multiply the numeric value of your grade by the number of credits that course is worth. This equals the grade points for that course.
- Do this for all of your classes and add your total grade points together.
- Divide that number by your total number of credits.
- The number you have at the end is your weighted OGPA.