Biology Curriculum

  1. Course descriptions
  2. General education requirements
  3. Entry prerequisites
  4. Core requirements
  5. Elective requirements
  6. Petitions

Course descriptions

Follow the links below for descriptions of each course. The biology major can use courses from several different disciplines:

General education requirements

All 56³Ô¹ÏÍø students must complete a common set of general education requirements. As a Biology major, you will have already completed the Natural Science (NSc) and Reasoning (R) requirements by taking chemistry and biology classes, but make sure to plan for completion of the following:

  1. English Composition (C) – 5 credits
  2. Additional Writing (W) – 10 credits
  3. Diversity (DIV) – 5 credits (almost always also fulfills A&H or SSc; was only 3 credits prior to autumn 2023)
  4. Arts & Humanities (A&H) – 15 credits (cannot overlap with SSc)
  5. Social Sciences (SSc) – 15 credits (cannot overlap with A&H)

Entry prerequisites

Visit our Admissions page for information on prerequisite coursework.

Core requirements

Courses cannot apply to more than one requirement for the Biology major, meaning the same course cannot count towards both the core and elective requirements.

  1. Calculus (choose one course)
  2. Statistics (choose one course)
    • MATH& 146: Introduction to Statistics from Washington Community Colleges
      • Please reach out to the Biology advisor if you have completed and transferred in this course but it is not yet applying to the statistics requirement on your degree audit.
  3. Physics I and II (choose one series)
    • Note on Physics III: The third course in the above two series is or . These are not required for your Biology degree, but may be needed to apply to some graduate programs.
  4. Genetics
  5. Evolution
  6. Ecology (choose one course)
  7. Cell Biology (choose one course)
    • — BBIO 370 is the normal prerequisite, so this will not often be used for the Cell Biology requirement except in rare cases.
    • Note on transfers: Many community college Microbiology courses are not accepted. Check our Admissions page for more information.
  8. Physiology (choose one course)
    • Note on sequencing: We suggest taking BBIO 351 before BBIO 352, but it is not a prerequisite. You can take just one course, or both courses in either order.
    • Note on transfers: Many community college Physiology courses are not accepted. Check our Admissions page for more information.
  9. Investigative Biology
    • All Biology students must complete at least one biology-related research project.
    • Visit the Investigative Biology page for information on the requirement, how to find research, and step-by-step instructions for making sure that your project fulfills the requirement.
    • Plan EARLY: Start planning for this requirement at least 6 months in advance.

Elective requirements

Biology & Society

You must complete one (1) course for this requirement. This is flexible – if you find a course that seems related to both Biology and Society then you can submit a petition to request for it to count.

Many Biology and Society courses can also fulfill general education credit.

  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills DIV
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills DIV
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • ; also fulfills SSc
  • Special topics and seminar courses are often appropriate for this requirement, but topics vary. Double check with the Biology advisor to make sure these will count:
    • ; also fulfills SSc
    • ; also fulfills SSc

Upper division biology electives

You must complete 20 credits (usually four courses) of upper division (300-level or higher) biology elective coursework. You must choose your electives from at least two out of three of the following categories. Click the category titles to see lists of approved courses.

  • ; only 3 credits
  • ; no longer counts for the Neuroscience minor. If you are taking the Neuroscience minor, take BBIO 320 instead.
  • ; cannot count for both Biology major and Neuroscience minor
  • ; cannot count for both Biology major and Neuroscience minor

Miscellaneous Electives

These courses can count as a Biology Elective, but usually do not count towards the “two out of three categories” requirement from above:

    • Maximum of 10 credits of BBIO 499 may apply to the Biology Electives requirement

Petitions

Biology-related courses that are not included on the core or elective requirements lists are considered on a case-by-case basis. If you have a syllabus, letter from the instructor, or other detailed description for the class you want to use as an elective, you can submit a petition to request for the course to count.

Submit a biology major / minor petition

Some transfer courses never count for Biology major requirements. Visit our Admissions page for information on transfer coursework.