The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Biological Sciences prepares students for careers in biology, graduate programs in biological sciences, and professional programs in health fields including medical, dental and veterinary.
Admission Requirements
- Complete the Admission Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees.
Academic Requirements
To graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Biological Sciences, the student must complete all courses covered under major requirements for a BA in Biological Sciences with a minimum grade of C. All prerequisites for Biology (BIOL) courses must be completed with a minimum grade of C. Students who audit or are unable to earn a minimum grade of C in a lower-division (100- or 200-level) BIOL course may repeat the course two additional times on a space-available basis. Students who audit or are unable to earn a minimum grade of C in an upper-division (300- or 400-level) BIOL course may repeat the course one additional time on a space-available basis. Students repeating a BIOL course are required to complete all components of that course during the semester in which the course is retaken. When repeating a course with a lecture and laboratory component, both components must be repeated. Students enrolled in a BIOL laboratory must attend lab the first week of class or they may be administratively dropped.
Graduation Requirements
- Complete the General University Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees.
- Complete the General Education Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees.
- Major requirements include both 27 credits in support courses from outside the discipline and 52-53 credits of coursework in biology, other natural sciences and math.
- Complete an exit examination.
- Complete the following major requirements with a minimum grade of C:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Support Courses | ||
| Complete 27 credits from the following prefixes, 9 credits of which must be upper-division, and may include courses from the general education requirements lists. You must complete a minimum of 3 credits from each of the following areas: | 27 | |
Fine Arts (ART, CWLA, DNCE, MUS, THR) | ||
Humanities (AKNS, ART, ASL, ENGL, FREN, GER, HIST, HUM, JPN, LING, PHIL, PS, RUSS, SPAN) | ||
Social Sciences (ANTH, BA, CEL, ECON, ENVI, GEOG, INTL, HS, JPC, JUST, LEGL, PSY, SOC, SWK, WSGS) | ||
| Core Courses | ||
| BIOL A108 | Principles and Methods in Biology | 6 |
| BIOL A242 | Fundamentals of Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL A243 | Experiential Learning: Cell Biology and Genetics | 4 |
| or BIOL A273 | Experiential Learning: Ecology and Evolution | |
| BIOL A252 | Principles of Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL A271 | Principles of Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL A288 | Principles of Evolution | 3 |
| BIOL A492 | Undergraduate Seminar | 1 |
| CHEM A105 & A105L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM A106 & A106L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory | 4 |
| STAT A200 | Elementary Statistics | 3-4 |
| or STAT A253 | Applied Statistics for the Sciences | |
| or STAT A307 | Probability and Statistics | |
| Upper-Division Program Electives | 18 | |
| Complete a minimum of 3 credits from four of the five subject areas. A minimum of 6 credits must be experiential learning courses from two subject areas. 1 | ||
Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology | ||
| Human Genome | ||
| Experiential Learning: Bioinformatics | ||
| Molecular Biology | ||
| Molecular Biology of Cancer | ||
| Experiential Learning: Molecular Biology | ||
| Immunology | ||
| Microbial Biology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Microbial Biology | ||
| Host-Microbiome Interactions | ||
| Virology | ||
Ecology and Evolution | ||
| Marine Mammal Biology | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Experiential Learning: Animal Behavior | ||
| Wildlife Ecology | ||
| Biogeography | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Ecotoxicology | ||
| Tundra and Taiga Ecosystems | ||
| Biological Oceanography | ||
| Marine Biology | ||
| Exploration Ecology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Exploration Ecology Field Study | ||
| Evolutionary Ecology | ||
| Microbial Ecology | ||
| Geomicrobiology | ||
| Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease | ||
Diversity and Organismal Biology | ||
| Vertebrate Biology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Vertebrate Biology | ||
| Plant Biology | ||
| Ichthyology | ||
| Marine Invertebrate Biology | ||
| Marine Mammal Biology | ||
| Plant Diversity and Evolution | ||
| Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates | ||
| Microbial Biology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Microbial Biology | ||
| Microbial Diversity | ||
Physiology | ||
| Principles of Animal Physiology | ||
| Experiential Learning: Animal Physiology | ||
| Behavioral Endocrinology | ||
| Neurophysiology | ||
| Comparative Animal Physiology | ||
| Applied Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology | ||
| Fish Physiology | ||
| Sleep and Chronobiology | ||
| Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates | ||
| Microbial Physiology | ||
| Additional Upper-Division Electives | ||
| Selected Lecture Topics in Biology | ||
| Selected Laboratory Topics in Biology 1 | ||
| Instructional Practicum: Laboratory | ||
BIOL A497 | Independent Study in Biology | |
| Individual Research 1 | ||
| Senior Thesis | ||
| Total | 79-80 | |
- 1
Several courses are listed in more than one area. Each course can only count toward the credit requirement in one area. BIOL A498 and BIOL A490L credits may not be counted toward the experiential learning minimum requirement.
A minimum of 120 credits is required for the degree, 39 credits of which must be upper-division.
Biological Sciences Exit Examination
All BA Biological Sciences majors are required to complete a nationally standardized exit examination during the semester immediately prior to or during the semester they intend to graduate. There is no minimum score required for graduation.
Honors in Biological Sciences
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Biological Sciences recognizes distinguished achievement by conferring programmatic honors in biological sciences. In order to receive honors in biological sciences, a student must meet the following requirements:
- Meet the requirements for Graduation with Honors;
- Meet the requirements for a BA in Biological Sciences;
- Earn a minimum GPA of 3.50 in the major requirements;
- During the senior year of their academic program, the student must gain faculty approval for and complete, with a minimum grade of B, a senior thesis research project, with enrollment in BIOL A499. Biological science faculty members must approve the project proposal and final written report.
Program Student Learning Outcomes
Students graduating with a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the core concepts in the biological sciences: evolution; structure and function relationships; information flow, exchange and storage; transformation of energy and matter.
- Apply the process of science and construct knowledge through observations, experimentation, quantitative reasoning and hypothesis testing.
- Read, analyze and synthesize primary literature, and communicate scientific concepts and data in written and oral form.