Biology, BS

Curriculum and Degree Requirements

A College of Science degree is conferred when a student successfully completes all requirements in their degree program.  Students will complete coursework or approved experiential learning activities to meet the following three degree components:

1. Major
2. Science Core Curriculum
3. Free Electives

Students may use any of the following options to meet College of Science degree requirements:

• Purdue Coursework
• Ap, IB, and CLEP credit.  The use of AP and IB coursework varies between College of Science degree plans.
• Transfer Credit. Students should consult the Admissions Transfer Credit Resource page for all available transfer options.

College of Science degree programs vary widely in their approval and use of the proceeding options and thus students are strongly encouraged to work closely with their academic advisors and to regularly consult their MyPurduePlan to view the use of each option in their degree plan. 

Most College of Science degree programs contain free elective credits students may use to pursue courses that relate to their interests or which support their major area of study. The elective area of a degree plan may also be used to complete minors, second majors and certificates such as the Entrepreneurial Certificate. With the exception of courses on the No Count List, any Purdue course may be used to meet the free elective area of a student’s degree plan.

College of Science Core Requirements

All Students starting Purdue University Fall semester, 2007 or later are required to pursue the 2007 Science Core curriculum.

The College of Science Core Curriculum requires the completion of approved coursework and/or experiential learning opportunities in the following academic areas:

• Composition and Presentation  
• Teambuilding and Collaboration  
• Language and Culture  
• General Education  
• Great Issues  
• Labratory Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computing Core  
• Multidisciplinary Experience 
• Mathematics 
• Statistics 
• Computing  
• No Count List  

Earning Core Curricular Requirements through Experience

Students may meet selected core curriculum requirements through approved experiential learning opportunities. Interested students should contact their academic advisor for more information on this option and incorporating experiential learning into their four-year program of study. For more information on earning requirements through experience, please click here.

Departmental/Program Major Courses (34-37 credits)

*A 2.0 average is required in these courses

Other Departmental /Program Course Requirements (64-76 credits)

• CHM 12901 - General Chemistry With A Biological Focus
• Organic CHM 1 Selective - Credit Hours: 4.00
• Organic CHM 2 Selective - Credit Hours: 4.00
• Chemistry Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00 - 4.00
• PHYS 1 Selective - Select from PHYS 23300  or 17200  (satisfies Science Selective for core) - Credit Hours: 4.00
• PHYS 2 Selective - Select from PHYS 23400  or 27200   - Credit Hours: 4.00
• STAT 50300 - Statistical Methods For Biology
• Computer Science Selective (may also meet Teambuilding & Collaboration for Science core) - Credit Hours: 3.00 - 4.00

•  

• ENGL 10600 - First-Year Composition (satisfies Written Communication and Information Literacy for core) or
• ENGL 10800 - Accelerated First-Year Composition (satisfies Written Communication and Information Literacy for core)

•  

• Language & Culture 1 Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Language & Culture 2 Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Language & Culture 3 Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
• COM 21700 - Science Writing And Presentation (satisfies Oral Communication for core)
• General Education 1 Selective (may satisfy Human Culture Behavioral/Social Science for core) - Credit Hours: 3.00
• General Education 2 Selective (may satisfy Human Cultures Humanities for core) - Credit Hours: 3.00
• General Education 3 Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Great Issues Selective (may also meet Teambuilding & Collaboration for Science core) - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Multidisciplinary Selective - Credit Hours: 1.00 - 3.00

Electives (7-22 credits)

University Core Requirements

• Human Cultures Humanities
• Human Cultures Behavioral/Social Science
• Information Literacy
• Science #1
• Science #2
• Science, Technology, and Society
• Written Communication
• Oral Communication
• Quantitative Reasoning

• For a complete listing of course selectives, visit the Provost’s Website or click here .

Program Requirements

Note

120 semester credits required for Bachelor of Science degree.

2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Science degree.

Degree Requirement

The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements.

The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.

Foreign Language Courses

Foreign Language proficiency requirements vary by program.  For acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor:

American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, (ancient) Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

Critical Course

The ♦ course is considered critical. A Critical Course is one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major.