Respiratory Therapy

This program at Houston City College use a selective admissions process and requires an additional application beyond applying. Enrollment is limited, and not all qualified applicants may be offered placement. Please review the admission dates below carefully to ensure you complete all required steps by the required deadlines.

HSRT(AD) Pre-entrance Exam

The Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT-AD) – assessment entrance exam is required to apply for the Respiratory Therapy program at HCC Coleman College.
HSRT assessment result must be submitted with the completed Respiratory Therapy program application. The application will be declined if HSRT-AD exam results are not submitted with the application by the application deadline.

• To schedule an on-campus HSRT-AD test, please contact HCC Coleman College Testing Center or via email: coleman.testing@hccs.edu.
• The payment of $25.00 must be made by either credit or debit card.
• No minimum score is required for admission; however, application rubric points are awarded based on the range of scores.
• Scores are valid for 3 years. Applicants are allowed to submit up to two HSRT-AD assessment results with the program application for the purpose of scoring.
• Please note HSRT-AD official scores must be downloaded directly from insightassessment.com website on a .pdf format. (Regardless taken at HCC or outside of HCC) - No exceptions.

Student Success Course

EDUC 1300 - Learning Framework

Required only if new to college or transferring to HCC with less than 12 college-level credits.

Prerequisite Course

 A minimum GPA of 2.5 or above is required from the prerequisite courses.

Prerequisite Courses: All prerequisite courses must be completed with a minimum grade of ‘C’ upon application submission. Applicants will receive additional points on the rubric based on each prerequisite course completion timeline:

• If course is completed within 3 years by the application deadline, 3 additional points.
• If course is completed more than 3 years but within 5 years by the application deadline, 2 additional points.

Academic Courses

Academic courses are HIGHLY ENCOURAGED to be taken in advance, but are not required for the application. Completion of each of the following courses with a grade of “C” or higher will give you additional points on your application score and go towards the completion of the program/degree plan.

Recommended Courses

Completion of the following courses with a grade of “C” or higher is suggested for success in the prerequisite course(s).

If You Are Offered Admission

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 that the Program Director will be in contact with you after the Letter of Intent deadline to provide you with the information on the process of getting a background check, drug screen, personal health insurance, and deadlines for immunizations. Please check your email regularly for updates and information.

• Complete and send the Letter of Intent form by the deadline stated in the admission acceptance offer email. The offer and blank intent form will be sent to your submitted email address with the application form.
• A Complio system account must be opened houstoncccompliance.com/. Once the account is open, the student will need to order a national background check and drug screen.
• Students are to upload all required documentation onto their Complio E.g. immunizations, CPR for Healthcare Providers card, and required insurance card.
• Proof of personal health insurance; if you need to purchase health insurance, please visit the Health Insurance Information page 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.
• CPR for American Heart Association Healthcare Providers. If accepted into the program, the course will be offered by the program in boot camp.
• Passing drug screen.
• Physical exam.
• Immunization record showing: Completion of Hepatitis B immunization series (may take up to 6 months) and should be valid within, MMR – 2 shots or titer, Tdap – every 10 years, TB – every year, Varicella – 2 shots or titer, Meningitis (required for students 22 years or younger), Hepatitis C negative titer and Influenza – after September 1^st.
• Cleared Criminal Background.  Individuals with a positive background must declare with the Texas Medical Board tmb.state.tx.us (licensing board) and the National Board for Respiratory Care: nbrc.org (credentialing board).
• Complete the mandatory program orientation and student service 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 as follows: Fall Term – plan to attend orientations between July and August.)

HCC Coleman College Grading Scale

To best prepare students for success in their chosen fields, Health Sciences Programs have high standards for progression. Unlike other HCC programs, the Respiratory Therapy 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.respiratorytherapy@hccs.edu. 

Respiratory Therapy 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. 

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, applicants are strongly encouraged to weigh all options before accepting a conditional acceptance into their desired health science program. To facilitate this decision-making, students should understand all 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.

Students are required to provide proof to HCC that they meet all immunization, testing, and other health requirements necessary for clinical placement. These requirements are determined by the healthcare facilities with which HCC partners for clinical education.

Many healthcare facilities require specific immunizations as a condition of employment, volunteering, or student clinical placement. If a student chooses not to receive or provide proof of required immunizations, HCC may be unable to place the student in clinical rotations. HCC will make reasonable efforts to place such students in a clinical site that does not require immunization(s), provided an appropriate site is available, and HCC has an active affiliation agreement that meets the necessary conditions to support the student’s learning outcomes. Though HCC cannot guarantee that such sites will be available at the time clinical placement is needed.

If a student cannot be placed in a qualifying clinical site due to unmet immunization requirements, the student’s progression in the program and ability to graduate may be delayed or prevented. Our affiliate partners’ expectations for student trainees reflect the same standards applied to individuals employed in their respective professional settings.

Students with questions about clinical requirements or placement should contact the program director of their program of interest.

HB 1508 requires the following information be given to students:

This program may lead to an occupational license for which a prior criminal history may make a student ineligible. For more information please visit:  HB 1508 Licensing Requirements.

The Houston City College Respiratory Therapy program, CoARC program number 200095, Associate Degree, 1919 Pressler St. / Houston, TX 77030, is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (coarc.com). 

Students will be able to:

CoARC accredits respiratory therapy education programs in the United States. To achieve this end, it utilizes an ‘outcomes based’ process. Programmatic outcomes are performance indicators that reflect the extent to which the educational goals of the program are achieved and by which program effectiveness is documented.

View the latest programmatic outcomes data 

The Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist program graduates credentials are recognized by the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). Licensure to practice Respiratory Care is issued by the Texas Medical Board (TMB). Licensure to practice is only recognized by the state where it is issued. Moving out of state would require obtaining a license from the new state of residence.

If you have any questions or encounter problems contacting the appropriate licensing board, please contact your Program Director at 713.718.7385

 2022-2023 Third-Party Licensure/Certification Exam Results 

Occupational licensure and/or certification pass rates reported by academic calendar year (Sept. 1–Aug. 31). Results for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022  academic years are provided for comparison.