Clark College Acceptance Rate, GPA, and Admission Requirements

Unlike Clark's other Bachelor of Applied Science degrees - which require students to already hold an associate degree and enter as juniors, finishing in two years or less - the BAS in Dental Hygiene is a full four-year entry-level program that students can begin without a prior associate degree. It's also selective: the application deadline is January 8 each year for fall entry, requires a non-refundable $50 program application fee, uses a point-system selection process, and requires an applicable GPA of 2.60+ (both overall and specifically in science coursework, with science courses no more than seven years old). Notably, that same 2.60 threshold mirrors Clark's Nursing program requirement, giving students a real fallback health-care option if they aren't selected into Dental Hygiene. Clinical training happens in a 30-chair clinic with a radiology suite and simulation lab at the Firstenburg Dental Hygiene Education and Care Center, plus off-campus sites in both Washington and Oregon.

Running Start is Washington State's specific tuition-free dual-credit program, allowing eligible high school juniors and seniors to take Clark College courses - tuition-free - while still completing their high school diploma, with many students earning a full associate degree by high school graduation. Clark runs regular virtual information sessions followed by in-person Application & Enrollment Support Nights specifically to walk families through eligibility, placement testing, and enrollment steps. Families of Vancouver-area juniors and seniors should be pointed to these specific sessions rather than a generic "check with your high school" response, since Clark structures real, staffed support around the Running Start application process.

Clark's nursing program operates out of Clark College at Washington State University Vancouver, using state-of-the-art laboratories including a simulation lab for realistic clinical scenario training - a genuine co-location partnership between the two-year and four-year institutions, not just a generic "we partner with WSU" claim. Clark also maintains a satellite location at the Columbia Tech Center in east Vancouver. Nursing-track students should plan their commute and course-scheduling expectations around the WSU Vancouver location specifically, rather than assuming all coursework happens at Clark's main Fort Vancouver Way campus.

Clark's main 101-acre campus at Vancouver Central Park earned Bee Campus USA designation in 2023, reflecting pollinator-friendly campus land management - a small but genuine sustainability credential worth knowing for environmentally-minded students. More practically, most of Clark's Bachelor of Applied Science degrees (Applied Management/BASAM, Cybersecurity, Human Services in Addiction Counseling, and others) are specifically designed to stack on top of an existing Clark associate degree, letting working adults complete a bachelor's in two years or less - a genuinely efficient pathway for career-changers or students advancing in a current job, distinct from a traditional four-year bachelor's timeline.