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Biology Major Requirements

BIOLOGY BS: minimum 36 hours in biology courses (18 core, 18 upper division electives)

BIOLOGY CORE - required of all majors (18 hours)

  • BIOL 1110/1111 - General Biology I (* prerequisite of CHEM 1110/1111)
  • BIOL 1120/1121 - General Biology II
  • BIOL 3130 - Cell Biology
  • BIOL 3072/3073 - Genetics w/lab
  • BIOL 4100 Evolution

Plus an additional 18 Upper Division (UD) Biology credit hours

  • Biology Course List
  • One of the UD BIOL electives must be an "Organismal" based course (3200, 3620, 4245, 4375, 4640, 4644, 4740, 4744, or 4900)
  • One additional UD BIOL elective must also have a laboratory component (can be a lecture/lab course or a stand-alone lab course)
  • A maximum of 5 research credit hours may apply (BIOL: 4000, 4001, or 4570)
  • Students on a catalog prior to fall 2016 may apply (not required) one UD statistics course: MATH 4611, PSYC 3020

*Students must earn a grade of at least "C-" in all biology courses applied toward the major, the minor, and in all required chemistry, physics, and mathematical courses. Students must earn a grade of at least "C-" in BIOL 1110/1111 and BIOL 1120/1121, before enrolling in any upper division course.

Any required or elective course applied toward the major or minor may be repeated once to earn a minimum grade of "C-". To repeat a course a second time, a student may apply for and receive special permission from the department Undergraduate Studies Committee. Application information is available in the BARC. A student may not repeat a course three times in order to receive a minimum grade of "C-".

Required Chemistry, Physics, Math courses

  • 16 hours in chemistry courses (1110/1111, 1120/1121, 3310/3301, 3511/3501)
  • 8 hours in physics courses (2010/2011, 2020/2021 –trig based or 2110/2111,2120/2121 – calc based)
  • Elementary Calculus or Calculus I (1830 or 1910)

* Students must earn a grade of at least "C-" in CHEM 1110/1111 before starting BIOL 1110/1111 or any other major's level biology courses.

Required Support Classes

  • 3 hours in a Science Ethics course (PHIL 3512, 3514 or 3515)
  • 6 hours in Skills courses: either 2 consecutive Foreign Language courses or 2 Skills Electives
  • 3 hours in a biologically relevant UD Social Science Elective

 

Biology Minor Requirements

Students must earn a grade of at least "C-" in CHEM 1110/1111 before starting BIOL 1110/1111 or any other major's level biology courses.

The Biology Minor requires 18 semester hours of biology courses including:
BIOL 1110/1111, General Biology I lecture and lab
BIOL 1120/1121 General Biology II lecture and lab
10 additional upper division Biology credit hours.

No more than four total credit hours of research and practicum (BIOL 4000, BIOL 4001, BIOL 4570) can be applied toward minor requirements.