Histologic Technician Admission Guide

•   Program days and times may vary but you should plan to attend classes 4-5 days a week. Day classes are generally between 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Clinical rotations are generally from 7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Please plan accordingly to ensure you have proper transportation.

On average, approximately 30 students apply for admission each application period. Of these, approximately 15 are typically accepted.

The Histologic Technician program is a selective admission program. Prospective applicants should review the HCC Application Requirements, Histologic Technician Program Application Requirements, and Pre-Enrollment Process & Requirements outlined in this guide.

HCC Application Requirements:

• Step 1.   Apply for Admission to HCC:

New student to HCC: If you are new to college or transferring to HCC, your first step is to become an HCC Eagle by submitting a free admissions application to HCC. Please create a profile and complete a degree-seeking application: https://applytexas.org/. Upon completing the application, you will receive your acceptance letter and a welcome email that contains your HCC Student ID number and P-number (if assigned). If you have filled out an HCC application at any point or you already have an HCC student ID number, please do not submit another HCC application. Multiple HCC new student applications and/or ID numbers are not allowed.
Returning student to HCC: If you have not been enrolled in HCC for the past 3 semesters, you must re-activate your HCC student account. If you need assistance with this process, please visit: Returning HCC Student | Houston Community College - HCC.
International Students: If you are an international student planning to attend HCC on a status F-1, (DACA, refugee, L visa, H visa, etc.), please visit https://www.hccs.edu/support- services/international- students/.
Veteran students: Please visit https://www.hccs.edu/support-services/veteran-affairs/. Download and complete DD Form 214 & SF-180 Form and submit with the application.

• Step 2.   Apply for Financial Aid (this step is optional):

All students should apply for financial aid immediately after applying for admission to HCC. Filling out a financial aid application is the first step in learning your options to pay for college. HCC accepts financial aid applications throughout the year, submitting an application early will give you a better chance of securing aid.
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at fafsa.gov, School Code: 010422
- Free Application for Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA) at hccs.edu/tasfa.
If you need assistance paying for college, please visit the Coleman Financial Aid office for assistance or visit www.hccs.edu/applying-and-paying/financial-aid/

• Step 3.   Complete My Eagle HCC Account Checklist:

Please visit: myeagle.hccs.edu and sign into the Student System. Review and complete the HCC Policy and On-Boarding Checklist sections. To avoid delays in the processing of your application, please complete all To-Do List items.

- Career Interest Assessment: All first-time HCC students must complete this module.

- Meningitis Vaccine – Future and returning students who are under the age of 22 are required to submit proof of vaccination. For more information on requirements, resources & any religious, medical, or online student exemptions, please visit Meningitis Vaccine.
- Submit Official Transcript(s): Please submit your official sealed (unopened) transcript(s) from high school, GED, and any other colleges and/or Universities previously If you have completed your courses at HCC, you do not need to submit an official transcript. We do not accept unofficial copies or official copies that have been opened. There are two ways to submit an official transcript from your high school or previous institution:

Submit Electronically: Have an official PDF transcript electronically sent from approved service providers such as Credentials, Parchment, and National Student Clearinghouse to: admissions@hccs.edu
Submit by Mail: Please use the address: Houston Community College, Office of Admissions & Records, P.O. Box 667517, Houston, TX 77266-7517

If you have completed coursework with other institutions and need more information on transfer equivalency with HCC, please visit http://www.hccs.edu/support-services/transfers/transferring- credits/.

All foreign transcripts must be evaluated by an approved credential evaluation service. The evaluation must include course-by-course evaluation and US equivalency for earned degree. The official evaluation report must be submitted to HCC. The HCC internal process can take up to 8 weeks for evaluation and transfer of course credits. To find a list of approved evaluation companies, please visit Foreign Transcript/ Foreign Credit Evaluators.

For more information on transcript(s) submission, please visit Transcript(s). It is the responsibility of the student to allow enough time for the evaluation of transcripts; please allow 6-8 weeks for evaluation and transfer of course credits.

To receive Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) credit towards admission to the Histologic Technician program, an applicant should not have previously taken or attempted the course (by title), that is the same as the PLA credit for which he/she is applying. For more information on PLA, you may visit https://www.hccs.edu/resources-for/current-students/prior-learning-assessment/

-Texas Success Initiative requirements –If you have the "Texas Success Initiative College Readiness Requirements" Checklist on your To-do List in the Student Center, you have to be placed into core courses one of two ways:

Have an approved exemption (reason) for not taking Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2); OR
Take the Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2)
Please visit the Texas Success Initiative Assessment to learn about your options to complete this requirement.

Histologic Technician Program Application Requirements:

• Step 4. Meet with HCC Coleman College Representative:

 At least once during the application acceptance period, we strongly recommend that an applicant attend an In-Person/Virtual Program Information Session or meet with an HCC Coleman Advisor via phone or in-person or virtually to ensure they are meeting all of the program admission criteria. To view up-to-date in-person hours for Coleman College Student Services, please visit https://www.hccs.edu/support-services/academic-advising/. 

• Step 5. Program Information Session:

 Attend online program information session at Histologic Technician | Houston Community College (HCC) | We are Houston's Community College (hccs.edu). If you have questions regarding the program information sessions, please contact via phone at 713-718-5980 or via email at co.histotech@hccs.edu.

• Step 6. Complete Requirements and Submit Program Application:

 In addition to the HCC admission application, you must complete and submit a typed Histologic Technician program application via email to co.hlabadmit@hccs.edu. Please send all the application requirements listed below with the program application form by the submission deadline and label each attachment with the file name:
- Copy of all transcript/s showing completion of required prerequisite courses, and highly recommended academic courses. Official college transcript/s must be submitted to HCC admissions.

  To learn about prerequisite and academic courses, please refer to the next section Program Application: Academic Course Requirements.

When the number of eligible applications exceeds program seat availability, selective criteria are used to determine which applicants are offered admission. Selective criteria are awarded based on the following:

• 100% may be awarded based on the health program academic criteria (grades earned from pre-entry form, required and recommended courses and general education requirements)
• All application requirements must be satisfied by the close of the application window.

If you are offered admission you will need to complete the following pre-enrollment requirements by a specific due date to maintain eligible status.
Please note the Program Director will be in contact with you once your Letter of Intent has been received to provide you the information on the process of following requirements. Please check your email regularly for updates and information.

• Complete and return the Letter of Intent form by the deadline stated in the admission acceptance offer email that will be sent to your submitted email address with the program application.
• Proof of personal health insurance: If you need to purchase health insurance please visit: Student Health Insurance | Houston Community College - HCC (hccs.edu) for a list of health care insurance providers that HCC has compiled as a courtesy to students who wish to contact a potential provider to meet their personal health insurance needs. Students are advised to contact more than one company and compare offerings.
• Passing drug screen. 
• Physical examination.
• Immunization record showing: Completion of Hepatitis B immunization series (may take up to 6 months), MMR – 2shots or titer, Tdap – every 10 years, TB – every year, Varicella – 2 shots or titer, Meningitis (required for students 22years or younger) and Influenza – after September 1.
• Cleared Criminal Background.
• Complete mandatory program orientation and student services orientation on the date provided in your admission email. (Please clear your calendar so you are available to attend the mandatory orientations if you are offered admission. Fall Term – plan to attend orientation between July and August.)
  
  
• Clinical Requirements for Program Progression & Completion

To provide students with the most robust clinical educational experience and to ensure that students progress and graduate as scheduled, it is highly recommended that applicants weigh all of their options before agreeing to a conditional acceptance into their desired health science program. In order to facilitate this decision-making, students should understand all of the requirements of their program, including clinical education.

To be placed in a clinical educational experience, students must comply with the guidelines and requirements of HCC clinical sites, including health and wellness directives. Most clinical sites require background checks, health testing, drug screens and immunizations, including proof of COVID-19 vaccination. 

Students are required to provide to HCC proof that students meet all clinical requirements, with the exception of their COVID-19 vaccination status.  Consistent with state law, HCC does not mandate the COVID-19 vaccination. Students have the choice to voluntarily disclose or not disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status through their HCC Complio account.

However, most healthcare facilities do require the vaccine as a condition of employment, volunteering, or student clinical placement.  If a student chooses not to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status or is not vaccinated, HCC may not be able to place the student in clinical rotations.  HCC will work to place such students into a clinical site that does not require the vaccine, provided such a site is available and HCC has an active affiliation agreement in place that meets the necessary conditions to provide an appropriate learning opportunity for the student.  However, HCC cannot guarantee that clinical sites that do not require the COVID vaccine will be available at the time the student requires placement.  At this time, many healthcare facilities are not accepting religious or medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine for clinical students.

If a student chooses not to receive or to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and no clinical sites are available to accept the student that do not require the COVID-19 vaccination, the student’s progression in the program and graduation will be delayed or stopped all together.  If a student cannot be timely placed in a qualifying clinical site, a student may not be able to complete the program. Our affiliate partners’ expectations are the same for our students as they would be when our students ultimately become employees in their chosen field.

Students with questions about clinical requirements and placement may contact the program director of their program of interest. 

• HB 1508 requires the following information be given to students:

If you are applying for admission to a program that prepares an individual for an initial occupational license or certification and/or if you later decide to change to a program that prepares you for an initial occupational license or certification, in accordance with state law, please be advised of the following: 

1. An individual who has been charged or convicted of an offense or who is on probation may not be eligible for issuance of an occupational license or certification upon completion of the educational program.
2. It is the responsibility of the individual to immediately report to the program any change in status that would affect that individual’s eligibility to apply for a license or certification.
3. Local, state or national licensing and certification authorities may issue additional guidelines related to criminal history. Applicant should contact their respective licensing or certification authority for more details.

Most healthcare programs require all students, admitted to the program, to submit to a national background check which may include fingerprinting. Applicants are encouraged to review all applicable eligibility requirements related to the respective occupational license or certification. Questions related to eligibility requirements should be directed to the individual program and applicable licensing or certification authority.

• The Histologic Technician Program requires participation in clinical rotations in order to complete the program. In order to participate in clinical rotations at our affiliate sites, certain background information must be verifed. Students participating in clinical rotations must meet the same background verifications as clinical staff at our affiliate sites. For that reason, we require students to submit the following required background information before admission/enrollment in the program is completed: 

1. Social Security Number Verification
2. Criminal Search (7 yrs. or up to 5 criminal searches)
3. Violent Sexual Offender and Predator Registry Search
4. OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities
5. GSA List of Parties Excluded from Federal Programs
6. US Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), List of Specially Designated nationals (SDN)
7. State Exclusive List https://hhs.texas.gov/
8. Driver’s license or government-issued identification 

Please note: Verification of this information is the financial responsibility of the student and must be completed through the program-approved vendor - Complio. 

•  HCC Coleman College Grading Policy

To best prepare students for success in their chosen fields, Health Sciences Programs have high standards for progression. Unlike other HCC programs, the Histologic Technician program requires a C (75%) or better to progress to the next course or semester in the program. For specific questions about grades, grading, and progression within Health Science programs, please contact Coleman College at co.histotech@hccs.edu.

Histologic Technician Program Grading Scale

A = 100 – 90 %
B = 89 – 80 %
C = 79 – 75 %*
D = 74 – 60 %
F = 59 – 0 %

*A grade of C (75%) or better must be achieved to progress to the next course or semester.

Tuition is estimated using the Texas resident rates. Out-of-district and out-of-state residents will have higher tuition fees. Please visit http://www.hccs.edu/applying-and-paying/tuition-calculator/ for more information.
Tuition is for core coursework only. General Education and Support courses are not included. These are high estimates; actual costs will vary depending on health insurance coverage.

Due to increases/decreases in books and supplements, please check the bookstore website at https://hccs.bncollege.com/shop/hccs-central/home for updated cost information. Only required books are included in the estimate.

Learn more about the degree plan by visiting the HCC Catalog

You can use a valid MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express card to pay for tuition and fees. You can also use debit card with Visa or MasterCard logo, but not a non-USA credit card. Online payment via check is also available.
Check or echeck payments have a 10 day hold on release of official transcripts. International students or their parents can also pay online from their country of origin with their local currency, where applicable. Online payment from other countries can be made through “International Fund Transfer” payment option.

Additional Option For Payment

•  Financial Aid

If you need assistance paying for college, please visit the Coleman Financial Aid office for assistance or visit www.hccs.edu/applying-and-paying/financial-aid/

• Capital IDEA Houston

Capital IDEA Houston fully funds participants’ tuition, fees, and books for an Associate’s Degree or College-level Certificate with no loans or paybacks required. Please visit College Degree Programs | Capital IDEA Houston to see the List of Sponsored Programs.

• Scholarships

In addition to federal and state aid, scholarships are a great way to offset all or part of the cost of your education. We encourage you to learn about the different types of scholarships awarded by financial aid, the HCC Foundation, and outside groups. Please visit https://www.hccs.edu/applying-and-paying/financial-aid/scholarships/ for more information.

•  Installment Payment Plan

If you are paying out of pocket and need assistance on how to setup a payment plan, please visit Business Office at HCC Coleman or visit https://www.hccs.edu/applying-and-paying/student-financial-services/ for more information.

Accreditation Agency

National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

 Certification Testing

HCC Coleman College HT graduates are eligible to take the national certification exam offered by the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (BOC-ASCP).

Employment Opportunities

Technicians work in hospital, reference, research, forensic or physicians’ office laboratories.

Average Salary

Entry- level salaries are in range between $38,000 and $52,000 annually. Find out the entry level wages, the medium wages and high wages for each career field in High School or less, Vocational Certificate, Associate's degree, Bachelor's degree and Graduate degree: https://www.hccs.edu/continuing-education/about-us/outreach-services/career-coach/ 

Questions

For further assistance on program admission requirements, please email us at co.admissionadvising@hccs.edu or co.histotech@hccs.edu.