Biology, BS

Degree Requirements

120 Credits Required

Curriculum and Degree Requirements for College of Science

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. 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 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 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  
• Computing   
• Cultural Diversity (Language and Culture)   
• General Education  
• Great Issues in Science   
• Laboratory Science   
• Mathematics    
• Multidisciplinary Experience  
• Statistics   
• Teambuilding and Collaboration    
• 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 (35-36 credits)

A minimum 2.0 average in all biology courses is required for this major. 

Each student must take at least one 500-level BIOL course other than BIOL 54200  or a BIOL 59500  lab.

Other Departmental Requirements: (51-76 credits)

Electives (8-34 credits)

University Requirements

Program Requirements

Note

• 2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Science degree.

College of Science Pass/No Pass Option Policy

• Only free electives and courses at the 50000-level general education requirement may be taken under the pass/not-pass option. 
• The pass/not-pass grade mode may be entered for courses which are not required by a student’s major(s), minor(s) or science core curriculum.
• Grade mode Passing is equivalent to at a minimum grade of C- had a letter grade been awarded.
• Students may elect to use the pass/not-pass option for no more than 20% of the 124/120 credit requirement for graduation and for no more than two courses per academic year (Fall-Summer).
• The pass/not-pass option cannot be elected for a course that has already been completed with a letter grade. University Regulation.
• Students may take elective credit while abroad using the P/NP mode.  In the case of universities which only post P/NP, the University will apply a calculation process to determine a letter grade.
• Department of Languages and Cultures P/NP policy and Language Placement results. Students must take advanced coursework for a letter grade to receive credit for lower-level language courses.

World Language Courses

World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor.

ASL-American Sign Language	ARAB-Arabic	CHNS-Chinese	FR-French
GER-German	GREK-Greek (Ancient)	HEBR-Hebrew (Biblical)	HEBR-Hebrew (modern)
ITAL-Italian	JPNS-Japanese	KOR-Korean	LATN-Latin
PTGS-Portuguese	RUSS-Russian	SPAN-Spanish

 

Critical Course

The ♦ course is considered critical.

In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major.  Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful.  These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program”. 

Disclaimer

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.