One of the largest DC programs in the country
Life University's College of Chiropractic in Marietta, Georgia runs on a trimester system following a major fall 2024 curriculum revision, with the DC program built around 295 credit hours spanning basic sciences, technique, diagnostics, clinical care, business, and electives. The university reports total enrollment of 2,715 (Fall 2023): 875 undergraduate and 1,840 graduate/professional students, though the DC program's specific headcount within that total isn't broken out separately.
- Program: College of Chiropractic, trimester system
- Campus: 1269 Barclay Circle SE, Marietta, GA
- Curriculum: 295 credit hours
Life's published NBCE results
Life University reports an 86.5% overall NBCE pass rate for 2025, for graduates who passed all parts within the standard six-month post-graduation window. On Part IV specifically, Life students posted a 93.3% first-time pass rate in November 2025, against a national average of 86.2% for that period. The school has also cited an earlier figure of 84% of graduates passing all NBCE parts within six months of graduation, from a prior year not specified in its published materials.
A new rule tying graduation to boards
Starting Fall 2025, Life University put a direct requirement in place: no chiropractic student may graduate without passing all four NBCE parts first. The university has stated its DC program has since been found compliant with CCE's Policy 56 standard for licensure outcomes. For current and incoming students, that means boards planning isn't a parallel track to your coursework anymore, it's a graduation requirement, so treating each Part as a checkpoint rather than an afterthought matters more than at programs without that rule.
Sitting your five NBCE exams
Life students take five total NBCE exams for licensing: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and the Physiotherapy exam. Life hasn't published an exact trimester-by-Part sitting schedule, but NBCE eligibility rules set the outer bounds regardless of school: Part I for eligible second-year students, Part II for eligible third-year students, Part III within nine months of graduation, and Part IV within six months, now held only at the NBCE's Assessment Center in Greeley, Colorado.
Why the graduation rule changes your planning
At most programs, a weak showing on one NBCE Part is a setback you work around, then keep moving toward graduation on the original timeline. At Life, since Fall 2025, that's no longer true: you can't graduate until you've passed all four parts, full stop. That makes early, deliberate preparation for Part I in particular worth prioritizing, since it's the exam most students face first and the one most likely to require a scheduling adjustment if a retake becomes necessary. Treat the sequence as four checkpoints you clear on the way to a degree, not four exams that happen to come up somewhere near it.
Practice with ChiroEDU
ChiroEDU's practice exams are built to feel like the real computer-based test: domain-by-domain exams for Part 1 and Part 2 with four attempts each, four mock exams for Part 3 with radiology, and PT exams with item analysis. Interested in helping classmates prep? ChiroEDU is looking for student reps at every school.
Sources: Life University NBCE page · student achievement · Chiropractic Economics coverage. Figures as published by the university; checked September 2026. ChiroEDU is independent and not affiliated with Life University or the NBCE.