The Department of Biology is committed to excellence in instruction, scholarly accomplishment, research, professional service, and student success. The Department provides a broad-based undergraduate education in Biology so as to give students the opportunity to pursue a career best-suited to their interests and abilities. Graduates are prepared to enter the workforce or continue their education in graduate or professional school. The Department provides rigorous pre-professional preparation for students seeking careers in biological sciences and health professions.
Core Curriculum - 42 hours
The Core Curriculum serves as a broad foundation for the undergraduate degree. All candidates for a bachelor’s degree must achieve core student learning outcomes, including communication, critical thinking, empirical and quantitative skills, teamwork, personal responsibility and social responsibility, by completing courses within each category or component area of the Core Curriculum as outlined below.
The University has approved specific courses that satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements. Approved courses can be found on the Core Curriculum Page. Students seeking the most efficient way to complete the core curriculum and major or minor requirements are advised to take approved courses that can fulfill both requirements. Although core curriculum courses can also be used to fulfill major or minor requirements, earned credits hours are only applied once.
The courses listed below fulfill core curriculum and major requirements. Students who have completed a core curriculum category with courses other than those listed below will still be required to take the listed course(s) to meet major requirements.
020 Mathematics – 3 hours
030 Life and Physical Science – 6 hours
090 Integrative and Experiential Learning – 6 hours
Major Requirements – 47 hours
Required Courses - 22 hours
Prescribed Electives - 21 hours
Students must take at least one course from each list below. Of the 21 hours, at least 17 hours must be advanced.
Cellular/Molecular
Choose at least one:
Organismal
Choose at least one:
Ecological/Environmental
Choose at least one:
Support Courses - 4 hours
Minor – 18 hours
A minor is required for the B.S. in Biology. Minors vary in credit hours required. If applicable, the credit hours in the minor selected may impact the number of free electives required to reach the 120 credit hours needed to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Free Electives – hours will vary
Students who elect to take BIOL 4199, 4299, and/or 4399 may use up to 8 credit hours towards their free electives.
The B.S. in Biology requires free elective credit hours. The number of free electives required for the B.S. in Biology is contingent on the credit hours of the minor selected. Advanced hours will vary to meet the minimum 42 advanced institutional credit hour requirement for a bachelor’s degree.
Total Credit Hours: 42