Can You Take Respiratory Therapy Prerequisites Online? What Counts, and Why- you can complete most RT prerequisites online — but “online” isn’t the question that decides whether they count. Accreditation is. Here’s exactly what makes an online prerequisite transfer into a respiratory therapy program, and the one detail to confirm before you enroll.
Target keyword: respiratory therapy prerequisites online • Last verified May 2026 against current CoARC-accredited program pages
| The short answerYes — you can complete most respiratory therapy prerequisites online and have them count, as long as the provider is regionally accredited and the credit posts to an official transcript. RT programs evaluate prerequisite coursework on the accreditation of the institution that grants the credit, not on whether the course was delivered online. Most programs state plainly that prerequisites “may be taken at any accredited college or university.” The one detail to confirm per program: the science courses (anatomy and physiology, microbiology, chemistry) must include a lab, and a minority of programs ask that the lab be hands-on rather than purely simulated. Confirm each target program’s accreditation, transcript, and lab-format rules in writing before you enroll. |
If you’re planning to apply to a respiratory therapy program, you’ve probably hit the same worry every nontraditional applicant does: “I can take A&P or microbiology online and fit it around my schedule — but will the program actually accept it?” It’s a fair question, and the answer is reassuring once you understand what programs are really evaluating. The word “online” is not the thing that decides whether a prerequisite counts. Accreditation is. This guide explains why, walks through the three factors that actually govern whether an online prerequisite transfers, and is honest about the one place where online doesn’t work. For the full requirement list, the complete respiratory therapy prerequisites guide is the companion reference. The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) lists accredited programs you can verify these rules against.
Here’s the reframe that resolves most of the anxiety: a respiratory therapy program does not evaluate your prerequisite by asking how it was delivered. It evaluates it by asking who granted the credit. A course from a regionally accredited institution posts to an official transcript as that institution’s credit — and the transcript does not annotate whether you sat in a lecture hall or completed the work online. To the program reviewing it, an online A&P course from a regionally accredited university and an in-person A&P course from the same university are the same transcript line.
Program admissions pages say this directly. IU Indianapolis’s respiratory therapy program, for example, states that “prerequisites may be taken at any accredited college or university.” The University of Kansas Medical Center’s respiratory care program specifies that “transfer credits must come from a regionally accredited educational program.” The common thread is accreditation, not format — which means the right first question for any prerequisite is not “Is this online?” but “Is the provider regionally accredited, and does the credit post to a transcript I can send?”
| The distinction that decides everythingDelivery format ≠ acceptance. RT programs evaluate prerequisite credit on the accreditation of the institution that granted it, not on whether the course was taught online. Regional accreditation is the test. Screen every prospective course on that first, before format ever enters the picture. |
Accreditation is the foundation, and the distinction that matters is regional versus national accreditation — a counterintuitive hierarchy, because “national” sounds broader. In U.S. higher education, regional accreditation is the more rigorous and more widely transferable standard, and it’s the one RT programs require. Credit flows freely among regionally accredited institutions; credit from non-accredited or some nationally accredited providers often does not transfer into a regionally accredited program — which is exactly the direction your prerequisite needs to travel.
The recognized regional accreditors are HLC (Higher Learning Commission), MSCHE (Middle States), NECHE (New England), SACSCOC (Southern), and WASC (Western). A provider accredited by one of these is on the correct side of the line. A provider that touts “accreditation” without naming one of these — or that names a national or programmatic accreditor instead — is a flag to investigate before you pay.
It’s worth keeping one more distinction clear, because it confuses applicants. The accreditation that governs whether your prerequisite transfers is the regional, institutional accreditation of the provider that teaches it. That’s separate from CoARC accreditation, which applies to the respiratory therapy program itself — the credential that makes you eligible to sit for the National Board for Respiratory Care exams. You want your RT program to be CoARC-accredited; you want your prerequisite provider to be regionally accredited. They’re two different things doing two different jobs.
| The accreditation checklist for any provider• Is the provider accredited by HLC, MSCHE, NECHE, SACSCOC, or WASC? (Regional = good.)• Is the accreditation institutional — granted to the whole university, not just a program?• Can you confirm it on the institution’s own accreditation page, not just a marketing claim? |
Accreditation only matters if the credit actually appears on an official transcript from the accredited institution. This is the second thing to verify, and it’s where some “course” providers fall short — they deliver content but don’t grant credit that posts to a regionally accredited university transcript. Without a transcript, there is nothing for an RT program to evaluate.
The question to ask is concrete: “When I finish this course, does it appear on an official transcript from a regionally accredited university, and can I order that transcript sent to my target programs?” If the answer is yes, the credit behaves like any other transfer credit. One practical detail: programs require an official transcript sent directly from the issuing institution, not a copy you forward — and because RT cohorts are seat-limited and deadline-driven, ordering that transcript early is part of the plan, not an afterthought. A late transcript can miss a competitive application window as surely as an unfinished course can.
This is the factor that’s specific to RT prerequisites and the one most worth confirming. Respiratory therapy programs require their science prerequisites — anatomy and physiology, microbiology, and chemistry — to include a laboratory component. Antelope Valley College, for instance, states plainly that “all science courses require a lab.” A lecture-only science course will not satisfy a with-lab requirement, however well-accredited the provider.
Most regionally accredited online science courses include the lab — delivered through hands-on kits shipped to you, virtual simulations, or a combination — and the credit posts to the transcript as a lab science. But a minority of programs now verify that anatomy and microbiology labs involved physical, hands-on materials rather than purely digital simulations. So the essential step, before enrolling, is to confirm in writing that your provider’s lab format meets your specific program’s expectation. Be precise when you ask: “Do you accept a science course with a kit-based, hands-on online lab from a regionally accredited institution?” gets a usable answer; a vague “do you take online courses?” does not.
| Confirm the lab format before you enrollThe science prerequisites must carry a lab, and a minority of RT programs ask that the lab be hands-on rather than fully simulated. This is the one detail that can make or break an otherwise valid online science credit. Confirm each target program’s lab-format policy in writing before enrolling — it takes a few minutes and is the cheapest insurance in the whole process. |
With those three factors satisfied, the RT prerequisite list maps cleanly onto self-paced online coursework. PrereqCourses.com delivers these courses through Upper Iowa University, which is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) — a recognized regional accreditor — with credit posting to an official transcript. Here’s how the common RT requirements line up:
| RT prerequisite | Online via PrereqCourses | Lab? |
|---|---|---|
| Anatomy & Physiology I & II | BIO 270 / BIO 275 | With lab |
| Microbiology | BIO 210 | With lab |
| Chemistry | CHEM 151 / CHEM 152 | With lab |
| College math / statistics | MATH 107 / MATH 220 | No lab |
| Medical terminology | EXSS 170 | No lab |
Course mappings and program requirements vary; confirm each against your target program’s current admissions page and PrereqCourses’ current catalog before enrolling.
Because the credit is granted by an HLC-accredited institution and appears on an official university transcript, it’s evaluated like any other regionally accredited transfer credit at programs that accept transfer prerequisites — which is nearly all of them. The gen-ed and non-lab courses (math, statistics, medical terminology) are the most straightforward; the science-with-lab courses are equally transferable provided you’ve confirmed the lab-format point above. For the course-by-course detail, see the guides to A&P for RT school online, microbiology for RT, and the chemistry requirement.
Two honest caveats, because getting them wrong wastes time and money:
Within those limits, the online route is a genuinely strong fit — especially for the working adult or career-changer who can’t pause a job to sit fixed-schedule classes, and for anyone refreshing science credits that have aged out of a program’s roughly five-year recency window.
| The honest framingOnline prerequisites are a powerful tool for the right situation and the wrong tool for an in-person-only lab program. Match the course to your specific target programs’ rules — confirmed in writing — rather than assuming “online” either always works or never does. The truth is in between, and a few minutes of verification per program tells you exactly where you stand. |
RT admission is competitive — most programs require a minimum GPA (commonly around 2.5 overall, with a C or better in each science prerequisite), and many rank applicants for a limited number of cohort seats, so completion of the prerequisites does not by itself guarantee admission. That competitiveness leads some applicants to worry an online prerequisite will look weaker on a ranked application. At programs that accept online coursework, it won’t: once a regionally accredited course transfers in, it posts as a completed requirement and feeds your prerequisite GPA exactly like any other credit. The committee is evaluating whether the requirement is met and what grade you earned — not auditing the room the course was taken in.
If anything, the format works in a competitive applicant’s favor in one specific way: a self-paced course lets you give a demanding science the focused time it needs to earn a strong grade, rather than rushing it on a fixed semester clock — and in a ranked-admission system, the grade is what counts. For more on the GPA and ranking dynamics, see what GPA you need for RT school.
Can I really take respiratory therapy prerequisites online?
Yes — most RT prerequisites can be completed online and count, provided the provider is regionally accredited and the credit posts to an official transcript. Most programs state prerequisites may be taken at any accredited college or university. Confirm the science-with-lab and lab-format rules with each target program first.
Do RT programs accept online science labs?
From a regionally accredited provider, generally yes — the science courses include a lab and post to the transcript as lab sciences. The caveat: a minority of programs verify that anatomy and microbiology labs were hands-on rather than purely simulated, so confirm your provider’s lab format in writing before enrolling.
What’s the difference between regional and national accreditation?
Regional accreditation (HLC, MSCHE, NECHE, SACSCOC, WASC) is the more rigorous, more transferable standard in U.S. higher education, and the one RT programs require. National accreditation often applies to vocational or specialized institutions and is generally not accepted for prerequisites. Counterintuitively, “regional” is the higher bar.
Is PrereqCourses regionally accredited?
PrereqCourses delivers coursework through Upper Iowa University, which is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), one of the five recognized regional accreditors. Credit posts to an official UIU transcript. Confirm per-program acceptance, especially the lab-format rule, before enrolling.
Will taking prerequisites online hurt my chances at a competitive RT program?
No — at programs that accept online coursework, a regionally accredited transfer course posts as a completed requirement and feeds your prerequisite GPA like any other credit. RT admission is competitive and often ranked, but it’s the grade and whether the requirement is met that matter, not the delivery format.
Can I do the whole RT program online too?
No. The prerequisites can be completed online, but the respiratory therapy program itself — clinical training and supervised patient care — is in person and includes mandatory clinical rotations. Online prerequisites get you efficiently to the starting line; they don’t replace the program.
Yes, you can take RT prerequisites online — but accreditation, not delivery format, is what decides whether they count.
RT programs evaluate prerequisite credit on the regional accreditation of the institution that granted it and whether it posts to an official transcript — not on whether the course was online. Most programs accept prerequisites from any accredited college or university. The one RT-specific detail to confirm per program: the science prerequisites must include a lab, and a minority require that lab to be hands-on rather than simulated. Confirm accreditation, transcript, and lab format in writing before enrolling, and reserve a local in-person option for any program that requires onsite labs.
Ready to start? Explore the self-paced RT prerequisite courses — A&P, microbiology, chemistry, math, and medical terminology — delivered through HLC-accredited Upper Iowa University.
Plan the rest of your RT application:
Accreditation status and program policies change. Always confirm a provider’s current regional accreditation on the institution’s own page, and verify each target program’s prerequisite, lab-format, grade, and recency rules against its current admissions page before enrolling. This guide is general information only and is not a guarantee of credit transfer or admission.
