Do prerequisites taken online actually count?

Whether an online prerequisite "counts" comes down to one thing, and it isn't whether it was online — it's whether the school that taught it is regionally or institutionally accredited. That's a very fair thing to wonder about, especially with prerequisites often taken years after — or well before — starting a TCM program, since a course that looks legitimate on a course-marketplace site can still turn out to be non-transferable if the underlying school isn't accredited.

Five Branches requires three natural science courses — General Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, each a minimum of three semester credits — plus General Psychology, which falls under the general-education requirement rather than being a natural science. Human Anatomy and Human Physiology are not admission prerequisites. Per what the school publishes (Educational Requirements page, revised 09/2026), online sections of any of these are accepted as long as they come from a regionally/institutionally accredited college and produce an official transcript. Labs are the other thing to check course-by-course, since online providers handle them differently (at-home kits, virtual labs, or an in-person lab requirement).

One caution: platforms like StraighterLine or Sophia Learning carry only an ACE credit recommendation, not accreditation — they're a real transfer risk here and need written pre-approval from Five Branches before relying on them.

Curious which of the four you're missing, or want a sense of what a given provider's lab actually looks like?