Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is one of the most explicit programs in the country about accepting online prerequisites. Its prerequisite page states the policy in a single sentence: “Requirements can be fulfilled by courses from any accredited institution, including online courses and labs.” Most vet schools leave applicants guessing on this. K-State does not, which makes it the highest-confidence target school in the country for anyone completing prerequisites through an accredited online provider.
This article covers all 53 required semester credits across K-State’s 12 prerequisite categories, with a course-by-course mapping to the PrereqCourses.com catalog delivered through Upper Iowa University. It also covers the rules that decide whether a course actually counts: the 6-year recency rule and the exception most applicants miss, the genetics-not-reproduction distinction, the writing requirement scope, and the three separate GPA thresholds you have to clear at once.
Three things line up here that rarely line up elsewhere. K-State accepts online coursework and online labs from any accredited institution, and says so in writing. PrereqCourses.com courses are delivered through Upper Iowa University, which holds regional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission and issues its own official transcript. And every K-State science prerequisite maps to a course in the catalog, including both physics courses with lab, which is the requirement most online providers do not carry.
The practical result is one provider, one transcript, and no gaps to fill somewhere else. For an applicant who would otherwise be assembling coursework from three or four institutions, that is the difference between a clean VMCAS submission and a verification delay.
K-State requires 53 total semester credits, or 77 quarter units, across 12 categories. That splits into 35 credits of science, 6 credits of writing, and 12 credits of social sciences and humanities.
| K-State Requirement | Semester Credits | Quarter Units | Lab Required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry I | 4 | 6 | Yes |
| Chemistry II | 4 | 6 | Yes |
| Organic Chemistry | 4 to 5 | 6 to 7 | Yes |
| Biochemistry | 3 | 4 | No |
| Physics I | 4 | 6 | Yes |
| Physics II | 4 | 6 | Yes |
| Biology or Zoology | 4 | 6 | Yes |
| Microbiology | 4 | 5 to 6 | Yes |
| Genetics | 3 | 4 | No |
| Writing I | 3 | 4 | No |
| Writing II | 3 | 4 | No |
| Social Sciences / Humanities | 12 | 18 | No |
| TOTAL | 53 | 77 |
The 35-credit science block is where nearly all the work sits. It is the block the recency rule applies to, the block the science GPA is calculated from, and the block that online providers are most useful for. The 12 credits of social sciences and humanities are usually already covered by a completed undergraduate degree, and the 6 credits of writing usually are too. Career changers should plan around the sciences.
Every K-State requirement line below maps to a specific Upper Iowa University course. All courses are self-paced, start on the 1st of every month, and include the lab component where K-State requires one.
| K-State Requirement | Credits | PrereqCourses.com Course | UIU Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry I with Lab | 4 | General Chemistry I with Lab | CHEM 151 |
| Chemistry II with Lab | 4 | General Chemistry II with Lab | CHEM 152 |
| Organic Chemistry with Lab | 4 to 5 | Organic Chemistry I with Lab | CHEM 251 |
| Biochemistry | 3 | Biochemistry I | CHEM 330 |
| Physics I with Lab | 4 | Introduction to Physics I with Lab | PHY 115 |
| Physics II with Lab | 4 | Introduction to Physics II with Lab | PHY 116 |
| Biology or Zoology with Lab | 4 | Principles of Biology I with Lab | BIO 135 |
| Microbiology with Lab | 4 | Microbiology with Lab | BIO 210 |
| Genetics | 3 | General Genetics | BIO 282 |
| Writing I | 3 | English Composition I | ENG 101 |
| Writing II | 3 | English Composition II | ENG 102 |
| Social Sciences / Humanities | 12 | Any four of General Psychology, Principles of Sociology, American History, Introduction to Philosophy, Principles of Microeconomics, U.S. Government, Criminology | PSY 190, SOC 110, HIST 110, PHIL 150, ECON 160, PS 100, CJ 333 |
| The K-State conversion mathAll 35 science credits K-State requires can be completed through a single provider: PrereqCourses.com via Upper Iowa University. A single-provider path removes the transcript fragmentation that causes VMCAS verification delays. Rather than coordinating transcripts from three or four institutions and hoping each one arrives on time, you submit one Upper Iowa University transcript covering the entire science block. |
Physics deserves a note of its own. It is the K-State requirement applicants most often expect to complete somewhere else, because most online prerequisite providers do not carry a physics sequence with lab. K-State requires both Physics I and Physics II at 4 credits each, both with lab, and both are available here on the same transcript as the rest of the science block.
K-State applies a 6-year recency rule to the 35 credit hours of required science coursework. Science taken more than 6 years before the DVM program starts does not satisfy the requirement on its own. For an applicant whose undergraduate science is seven or more years old, this is the most consequential rule on the entire prerequisite page.
There is an exception, and it changes the picture substantially.
| K-State’s recency exceptionIf Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Genetics and Physics II all fall within the 6-year window, K-State will accept Chemistry I, Chemistry II, Biology and Physics I out of date. What that means in practice: a career changer with general chemistry, general biology and Physics I from ten or more years ago does not need to retake them, provided the five upper-division sciences are completed within 6 years of the target start date. Out-of-date courses still count toward the GPA calculation, but they satisfy the requirement. |
This is the most underappreciated rule in the K-State specification. Career changers routinely assume that old science means starting over. It does not. The retake burden concentrates in five courses, roughly 18 credit hours, all of which are available through PrereqCourses.com and completable in 6 to 9 months of focused work.
Email admit@vet.k-state.edu with your actual transcript dates before assuming any course is in or out of date. K-State’s admissions office invites these questions directly on the prerequisite page, and a written reply removes the ambiguity at submission time. Asking costs nothing. Assuming wrong costs a retake.
Beyond credit hours and recency, K-State specifies what each course has to cover. These rules are unusually well documented, and several of them disqualify courses that applicants assume will count.
The requirement is one course, not a two-semester sequence. Introductory biology, introductory zoology, or any higher-level biology course satisfies it, with BIOL 198 as the K-State equivalent. Principles of Biology I with Lab (BIO 135) meets this directly. Applicants frequently complete a full year of biology here when only one course is required.
K-State accepts General Organic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry I, or Organic Chemistry II. Only one is required. K-State also accepts the common online structure of 3 lecture credits plus 1 lab credit for a total of 4. Organic Chemistry I with Lab (CHEM 251) satisfies the requirement without the full year sequence that many other vet schools demand.
K-State asks for a course focused on the chemistry and metabolism of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and nucleic acids, which is standard content for any one-semester biochemistry course. Biochemistry I (CHEM 330) is a 300-level course covering metabolic pathways, protein structure, enzyme kinetics, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and nucleic acid biochemistry.
K-State requires Physics I and Physics II, 4 credits each, both with a lab component. Introduction to Physics I (PHY 115) and Introduction to Physics II (PHY 116) both include their labs. Worth noting for anyone applying under the recency exception: Physics II is one of the five courses that must be current, while Physics I is one of the four that may be out of date.
This is K-State’s sharpest content rule. Genetics means the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics, and the page states plainly that reproduction courses do not fulfil it. Applicants from animal science backgrounds whose transcripts show animal reproduction or similar cannot use those courses here, even where other vet schools accept them. General Genetics (BIO 282) is a Mendelian and molecular genetics course and satisfies the requirement.
K-State expects coverage of bacteria, viruses, archaea, fungi and protozoa, including biochemistry, physiology, cell biology, ecology, evolution and clinical aspects. A standard one-semester general microbiology course covers all of it. Microbiology with Lab (BIO 210) includes the lab component that K-State requires.
Two writing courses are required, satisfied by composition courses, undergraduate writing-requirement courses, or courses carrying an ENG prefix. English Composition I (ENG 101) and English Composition II (ENG 102) cover both. If a course title does not make the writing focus obvious, K-State asks for a syllabus. Most applicants have already cleared this during their undergraduate degree.
The broadest requirement on the list. K-State counts law, history, ancient and modern languages, philosophy, religion, visual and performing arts appreciation, anthropology, criminology, administration, archaeology, education, economics, psychology, linguistics and political science. Almost any four-year degree already covers it. Applicants who focus only on the sciences, though, arrive 12 credits short, which is a common and avoidable surprise.
K-State applies a 2.800 minimum to three separate GPA calculations, and you have to clear all three. Falling below on any one of them ends the application.
The science GPA is the one that matters most for career changers. A 2.800 across the 35 science credits means averaging roughly a B minus through organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics and both physics courses. Several B grades and a single C plus still clear it. These are minimums rather than targets: recent admitted applicants have averaged closer to 3.7 in science prerequisites and 3.9 in their last 45 hours, so meeting the floor and being competitive are different things.
A minimum grade of C minus is required on every prerequisite. Anything below that must be retaken, and the retake grade replaces the original for fulfilment purposes, though both grades feed the GPA calculation if the retake happens within 6 years. A D or F sitting on a transcript in a required course at the time of application disqualifies that course. Pass/Fail and Credit/No Credit grades are not accepted, with a narrow exception for the Spring, Summer and Fall 2020 terms.
K-State accepts AP and test credits when they appear itemized on an official transcript, which is more permissive than many US vet schools. If your AP credits were awarded as block credit rather than itemized by course, verify with admissions before counting on them.
Because K-State accepts online coursework outright and the recency exception spares the lower-division foundations, the sequence here is more compressed than it would be at a stricter program. Three phases.
Start with the courses that open the most doors downstream. General Chemistry I (CHEM 151) first, because chemistry has the longest prerequisite chain and everything in Phase 2 waits on it. Principles of Biology I with Lab (BIO 135) in parallel, since it satisfies the biology requirement outright and is the prerequisite for both microbiology and genetics. If your physics is old or missing, Introduction to Physics I (PHY 115) also fits here, since it has no chemistry dependency.
These are the courses the recency rule cares about, and they carry the heaviest load. General Chemistry II (CHEM 152), then Organic Chemistry I (CHEM 251), then Biochemistry I (CHEM 330), each waiting on the one before it. In parallel, Microbiology with Lab (BIO 210) and General Genetics (BIO 282), which need general biology but no chemistry. Introduction to Physics II (PHY 116) belongs in this window too, since it is one of the five courses that must fall inside the 6-year window.
With coursework finishing on schedule, the last six months go to veterinary experience hours, letters of recommendation, the personal statement, and the submission itself. K-State does not require the GRE, which removes a step other programs still impose. VMCAS opens in mid-May with a mid-September deadline for the cycle starting the following August.
Even with an explicit online acceptance policy, two verification steps are worth taking before you pay for anything.
K-State maintains a transfer equivalency database of previously evaluated courses. If a course you are considering has been assessed before, the database will show whether it satisfies the requirement. A course may not appear if no prior K-State applicant has used that institution, in which case move to step 2.
For anything not already in the database, K-State invites applicants to submit a course evaluation request with the syllabus attached. The form is linked from the prerequisite page and responses typically come back within one to two weeks. This turns an assumption into a written confirmation.
For recency questions, AP credit specifics, or substitutions the form does not cover, email admit@vet.k-state.edu with the specific details. The written reply is documentation if anything is queried at review.
Yes, and the policy is stated on K-State’s own prerequisite page: requirements can be fulfilled by courses from any accredited institution, including online courses and labs. It applies to chemistry, biology, microbiology and physics labs alike. This is one of the most explicit online lab acceptance statements in the US vet school system.
Yes. K-State requires Physics I and Physics II at 4 credits each, both with lab, and both are available through PrereqCourses.com with their lab components on an Upper Iowa University transcript.
Probably not. If you complete organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics and Physics II within 6 years of your target start date, K-State accepts general chemistry, biology and Physics I that are older. Those courses still count toward the GPA calculation but satisfy the requirement. Confirm your own dates with admissions before assuming either way.
No. K-State no longer requires or considers the GRE, which removes several months of test preparation and the registration fee. Test requirements do change, so verify before each cycle.
No. K-State requires the 53 prerequisite credits and the GPA minimums, not a completed degree. Prerequisites must be finished by the end of the spring term before the program begins.
$675 for a 3-credit course and $695 for a 4-credit course with lab. The full K-State science block, all nine courses including both physics courses, comes to $6,215. Textbooks and lab materials are purchased separately and are not included in the course price. The same nine courses taken at a four-year university typically run between $13,000 and $27,000 across two academic years, depending on residency and institution.
Admissions evaluates the transcript, and an Upper Iowa University transcript records the course, credits and grade the same way any other UIU course appears. More to the point, the delivery format is not a problem to be hidden here: K-State states outright that it accepts online courses and labs from accredited institutions.
K-State admits roughly 120 to 125 new DVM students each year, about half of them Kansas residents.
K-State is the clearest online prerequisite target in US veterinary education, and the whole 53-credit requirement can be completed on one accredited transcript. Courses start the 1st of every month and run self-paced, so you can begin without waiting for a semester and carry more than one course at a time.
Browse the veterinary prerequisite courses, or talk to an advisor if you want your transcript mapped against the K-State list before you enroll.
Requirements verified against Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine’s published prerequisite page in September 2026. Requirements change, so always confirm current requirements with K-State admissions before enrolling.
