PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS
Coursework and pathways to professional degrees
With our wide variety of regularly offered courses, you can complete the requirements for entrance into professional programs such as nursing, physical therapy, medicine, and others. Or you can jump start your path to a business or teaching career.
Students in these pathways may or may not choose to complete an associate degree at URock before transferring; an associate degree may provide you greater flexibility as your career goals change. Students can also work with their advisors on pathways to specific majors. By taking particular prerequisite coursework, you can shorten your time to a bachelor’s degree when you move on — to the Whitewater campus or wherever you plan to transfer.
Many of the top professional programs in our region accept our students, and our alumni tell us they received a solid foundation on which they are thriving.
Pre-business
Taking pre-business courses on the Rock County campus will prepare you to move to the Whitewater campus — where you’ll find an AACSB-accredited College of Business and Economics that’s the biggest in the state — or to transfer to another university of your choice.
Sample courses
- Introduction to Business
- Personal Finance
- Introductory Accounting
- Managerial Accounting
- Intro to Management Information Systems
- Business Communication
- Business Statistics
- Micro Economics
Pre-education
Taking pre-education courses at the Rock County campus will prepare you to move on to the College of Education and Professional Studies on the Whitewater campus — which graduates more accredited teachers than any other college in the state — or to transfer to a university of your choice.
Sample courses
- Concepts, Issues, and Field Experience in Education
- Educational Psychology
- Education in a Pluralist Society
- Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence
Pre-health
Your work in the pre-professional health program on the Rock County campus will prepare you to apply to a professional school, to participate in the Collaborative Nursing BSN in conjunction with Edgewood College or to earn a health-related bachelor’s degree on the Whitewater campus or at another college of your choice.
Sample courses
- General Chemistry
- Introductory Psychology
- Survey of Biochemistry
- Concepts of Biology
- Anatomy and Physiology
- General Survey of Microbiology
- Organic Chemistry
- Life Span Developmental Psychology
- Pre-Chiropractic
- Pre-Dental
- Pre-Medical
- Pre-Optometry
- Pre-Pharmacy
- Pre-Physical Therapy
- Pre-Physicians Assistant
- Pre-Veterinary
- Our small class sizes
- In-person hands-on lab experiences taught by faculty members
- Shared resources for pre-health pathways between Whitewater and Rock County campuses
- Access to one-on-one professional advising
- Academic support through the Learning Support Center and free one-on-one tutoring in math, science, and writing
- Access to cadaver laboratory on the Whitewater campus for some courses
- Opportunities to participate in research projects with professors
“My time at U Rock was the most influential part of my education and kick-started my career. The small class sizes gave me the opportunity to develop relationships with my professors. This led to a successful internship and helped guide my career path. I graduated with a B.S. in chemistry and I am currently a quality control chemist at SHINE Medical Technologies.”
—Dan Cerny
“U Rock offered me affordable tuition and all the prerequisite classes for nursing school. It made transferring into a nursing program very easy!”
—Laiken Noble
“The student centered-teaching at U Rock helped me transition from the military to going to UW-Madison for my BSN to pursuing my doctorate in anesthesia nursing. U Rock taught me how to look for help from my professors and peers and most importantly the value of hard work and the success that it brings.”
—Peter Cummings
“U Rock provided me with the opportunity not only to progress as a student towards my goal of becoming a pharmacist but also to form connections with fellow professors and students that will last a lifetime. They helped prepare me for my future as a pharmacist by challenging me to step outside of my comfort zone and realize my true potential within.”
—Stephanie Moran
Careers: What can you do with a Healthcare degree?
Our pre-health students have gone on to earn bachelor’s degrees work as physicians, physician's assistants, nurses, chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, physical therapists, and veterinarians.
They have also branched into specialty jobs like:
- Orthopedic surgery physician assistant
- Pharmaceutical project manager and scientist
- Quality control chemist
- Research animal care technician
- Surgical robotics salesperson
- Technical laboratory trainer
And they’ve gone on to earn master’s degrees and doctorates at prestigious graduate schools, including:
- Chamberlain University
- Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Des Moines
- Purdue University
- University of Minnesota
- UW-Madison
- UW-Milwaukee
Find out more about Pre-Professional Programs
To learn more about your pathway to a health or other professional degree, contact the Warhawk Solution Center at 608-758-6541 or uwwrockinfo@uww.edu or visit the Warhawk Solution Center webpage.
