The four-year curriculum in biology prepares students for graduate study in biology, for employment in laboratory or field programs in private industry or government agencies and for teaching in secondary schools. This curriculum also prepares students for admission into schools of medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine, and into allied health programs.

Degree requirements – Bachelor of Science in Biology
Extended Teacher Preparation Program
Honors in biology

Degree requirements Bachelor of Science in Biology

The curriculum for a Bachelor of Science in Biology requires a minimum of 120 credits, with at least 40 of those credits in biology or other approved courses. A cumulative GPA of 2.0 is required. At least six laboratory experiences must be taken from all biology courses; one of these may be BIOL 492 Independent Study or BIOL 495 Research and Thesis. Registration in BIOL 492 or 495 must be for a minimum of two credit hours to count as one of the six required laboratory experiences. No more than eight credits of the 100-level (or introductory level) courses can be applied to the major.

Collateral requirements. The following requirements must be fulfilled by all majors:

Life sciences: LFSC 101 Introduction to Life Sciences

Mathematics: Majors must take STAT 210 Basic Practice of Statistics and one additional course from the following options (or the equivalent):

A statistics (STAT) course numbered 314 or above
MATH 200 Calculus with Analytic Geometry I

All students enrolling in a mathematics, statistics or computer science course must satisfy the prerequisite for the course before enrolling in the course. The prerequisite may be satisfied either by placement into the course based on the results of either the VCU Mathematics Placement Test or by successful completion of the prerequisite course. Depending on the test results, students may be placed in MATH 141 or MATH 151 before being admitted into one of the courses listed above.

Chemistry: The Department of Biology requires students to meet the Department of Chemistry’s course prerequisite grade requirement of C or better in all prerequisite courses.

CHEM 101-102 and CHEZ 101L-102L General Chemistry and Laboratory I and II
CHEM 301-302 and CHEZ 301L-302L Organic Chemistry and Laboratory I and II

Physics: Students will choose one of the following options:

PHYS 201-202 General Physics
PHYS 207 University Physics I and PHYS 208 University Physics II

Biocore. The following courses must be taken by all majors. A grade of C or better in BIOL 151, 152, BIOZ 151L, 152L, or their equivalent, is required for enrollment in all advanced biology courses (BIOL 218 and higher). A grade of C or better in BIOL 218 is required for enrollment in all courses for which it is a prerequisite.

BIOL 151, 152 and BIOZ 151L, 152L Introduction to Biological Science and Laboratory I and II
BIOL 218 Cell Biology
BIOL 310 Genetics
BIOL 317 Ecology
Biology capstone (either BIOL 475 Biology Capstone Seminar, BIOL 476 Biology Capstone Laboratory or BIOL 477 Biology Capstone Experience)

Biology electives. Select from all biology (BIOL and BIOZ) courses applicable to the biology major and biochemistry (BIOC/CHEM 403). All majors must take one course from the animal group, one course from the plant group and additional courses from any of the three groups shown below to satisfy the 40 biology credits and 6 total laboratory experiences needed for the major. At least one of the two animal and plant courses selected must include a laboratory experience. The laboratory experience may be fulfilled by a separate laboratory section (BIOZ) or by laboratory hours included in a lecture-based (BIOL) course. Not all courses are offered each semester.

Animal group
BIOL 301 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
BIOL 302 Animal Embryology
BIOL 309 Entomology
BIOL 312 Invertebrate Zoology and BIOZ 312L Invertebrate Zoology Laboratory
BIOL 313 Vertebrate Natural History and BIOZ 313L Vertebrate Natural History Laboratory
BIOL 416 Ornithology and BIOZ 416L Ornithology Laboratory
BIOL 417 Mammalogy
BIOL 435 Herpetology
BIOL 445 Neurobiology and Behavior
BIOL 503 Fish Biology

Plant group
BIOL 320 Biology of the Seed Plant
BIOL 321 Plant Development and BIOZ 321L Plant Development Laboratory
BIOL 391 Topics in Biology: Economic Botany
BIOL 512 Plant Diversity and Evolution

Other electives
BIOL 291 Topics in Biology
BIOL 292 Independent Study
BIOL 303 Bacteriology and BIOZ 303L Bacteriology Laboratory
BIOL 307 Aquatic Ecology and BIOZ 307L Aquatic Ecology Laboratory
BIOL 308 Vertebrate Histology
BIOZ 310L Genetics Laboratory
BIOL 311 Animal Physiology
BIOZ 317L Ecology Laboratory
BIOL 351/BNFO 301 Introduction to Bioinformatics
BIOL 361 Biomedical Research
BIOL 391 Topics in Biology
BIOL 392 Introduction to Research
BIOL 401 Applied and Environmental Microbiology
BIOL 415 Aquatic Macrophytes
BIOL 431 Introduction to Marine Biology
BIOL/FRSC 438 Forensic Molecular Biology and BIOZ/FRSZ 438L Forensic Molecular Biology Laboratory
BIOL 450 Biology of Cancer I
BIOL 451 Biology of Cancer II
BIOL 455 Immunology
BIOL 490 Research Seminar
BIOL 491 Topics in Biology and BIOZ 491L Topics in Biology Laboratory
BIOL 492 Independent Study
BIOL 495 Research and Thesis
BIOL 496 Biology Preceptorship
CHEM/BIOC 403 Biochemistry
BIOL courses at the 500 level, available to qualified seniors and graduate students only

Courses not applicable to the major: The following courses are not available for credit toward the B.S. in Biology, but may be used as general electives toward the bachelors degree:

BIOL 101 Biological Concepts
BIOL 103 Environmental Science
BIOL 201 Human Biology
BIOZ 201L Human Biology Laboratory
BIOL 205 Human Anatomy
BIOL/PHIS 206 Human Physiology
BIOZ/PHIZ 206L Human Physiology Laboratory
BIOL 209 Medical Microbiology
BIOZ 209L Medical Microbiology Laboratory
BIOL 217 Principles of Nutrition
BIOL 332/ENVS 330 Environmental Pollution
BIOL 341/ANTH 301 Human Evolution
BIOL/ANTH 403 Primatology

Extended Teacher Preparation Program

Biology majors interested in teaching careers in secondary education can enroll in the Extended Teacher Preparation Program, which simultaneously awards a bachelor”s degree in biology and a master”s degree in teaching. For more information about this program, jointly administered by the College of Humanities and Sciences and the School of Education, contact the School of Educations Student Services Center.

Honors in biology

Biology majors may graduate with honors in biology. To qualify, students must have overall and biology GPAs of at least 3.5 and must complete the following courses in this sequence: BIOL 392 Introduction to Research, at least four credits of BIOL 495 Research and Thesis and BIOL 490 Research Seminar. Grades of A or B must be earned in each of the listed courses. Students who qualify will have the notation “Honors in Biology” placed on their transcript. Students must meet all Department of Biology requirements for graduation. Students should consult with their academic advisers to create a program suitable to their particular needs and interests.