Both the BA and BS degrees in Biology are designed to meet the needs of students expressing an interest in general biology and preparing them to be competitive as applicants to a variety of graduate programs, professional schools or immediately in the job market.

Student Learning Outcomes

Biology majors at Washburn University, upon completion of the program will be able to:

• Describe and explain fundamental biological concepts in cell biology, genetics, organismal biology, structure and function relationships, ecology, and evolution.
• Explain and utilize the scientific method.
• Employ and demonstrate a variety of scientific techniques in the core biology disciplines of zoology, microbiology, genetics, and undergraduate research.
• Analyze and interpret scientific data.
• Evaluate scientific information and use oral and written presentation skills to formulate explanations of data in a professional manner.

Degree Requirements

Biology, BA

In addition to the requirements stated below, students must complete an additional 31-32 hours of General Education, all requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree, and any additional hours needed to reach the minimum 120 credit hours required for graduation.  Some of the courses below may also fulfill general education or other degree requirements.  Please see your advisor for more information.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Math Gateway Course
MA 116	College Algebra 2	3
Required Courses Inside Department
BI 192	General Cellular Biology	5
BI 194	General Organismal Biology	5
BI 301	General Microbiology	4
BI 333	General Genetics	4
BI 395	Research in Biology (Capstone Course)	1
BI 490	Advanced Biology Communication (Capstone Course)	3
Additional BI courses 1		16
Subtotal		41
Required Courses Outside Department
CH 151 & CH 152	Fundamentals of Chemistry I and Fundamentals of Chemistry II	10
CH 340 & CH 342	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Lab I	5
MA 140	Statistics	3-5
or MA 151	Calculus & Analytic Geometry I
Select one of the following physics sequences:		10
PS 261 & PS 262	College Physics I and College Physics II
PS 281 & PS 282	General Physics I and General Physics II
Subtotal		28-30
Total Hours		69-71

¹

13 of these 16 hours must be upper division BI courses

²

If student has already completed a different college math course, please discuss with your advisor.

Degree Requirements

Biology, BS

In addition to the requirements stated below, students must complete an additional 31-32 hours of General Education, all requirements for a Bachelor of Science degree, and any additional hours needed to reach the minimum 120 credit hours required for graduation.  Some of the courses below may also fulfill general education or other degree requirements.  Please see your advisor for more information.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Math Gateway Course
MA 116	College Algebra 2	3
Required Courses Inside Department
BI 192	General Cellular Biology	5
BI 194	General Organismal Biology	5
BI 301	General Microbiology	4
BI 333	General Genetics	4
BI 395	Research in Biology (Capstone Course)	1
BI 490	Advanced Biology Communication (Capstone Course)	3
Additional BI courses 1		22
Subtotal		47
Required Courses Outside Department
CH 151 & CH 152	Fundamentals of Chemistry I and Fundamentals of Chemistry II	10
CH 340 & CH 342	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Lab I	5
MA 140	Statistics	3-5
or MA 151	Calculus & Analytic Geometry I
Select one of the following physics sequences:		10
PS 261 & PS 262	College Physics I and College Physics II
PS 281 & PS 282	General Physics I and General Physics II
Subtotal		28-30
Total Hours		75-77

¹

19 of these 22 hours must be upper division BI courses

²

If student has already completed a different college math course, please discuss with your advisor.