Bachelor of Science in Biology

Scholarship Opportunities
Support Biology
Faculty & Staff

About

The Bachelor of Science in Biology Program is designed to provide you with opportunities to “do biology.” You’ll learn the basics of how to design, conduct, and present research projects. During your final year, you’ll take a senior capstone course that highlights a research project. Many elective courses in biology also incorporate research projects. In addition, undergraduate students often conduct independent research projects in faculty labs.

Our undergraduate students have presented their research projects at EWU’s annual Research and Creative Works Symposium and at both regional and national scientific meetings.

Curriculum & Requirements Career Tracks Academic Plan

What You'll Learn

The following information comes from the official EWU catalog, which outlines all degree requirements and serves as the guide to earning a degree. Courses are designed to provide a well-rounded and versatile degree, covering a wide range of subject areas.

Biology Major, Bachelor of Science in Biology (BS)

Graduation Requirements: complete the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Major Field Test for Biology.

Grade Requirements: a cumulative GPA ≥2.0 for all courses in student’s curriculum in Biology.

Career Track Guides

Required Biology Courses
BIOL 171BIOLOGY I5
BIOL 172BIOLOGY II5
BIOL 173BIOLOGY III5
BIOL 270BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION3
BIOL 310FUNDAMENTALS OF GENETICS5
Choose one of the following
BIOL 301MICROBIOLOGY5
or BIOL 302 BOTANY
or BIOL 303 INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY
or BIOL 304 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY
Choose one of the following
BIOL 423EVOLUTION4-5
or BIOL 440 ECOLOGY
Choose one of the following
BIOL 436CELL BIOLOGY5
or BIOL 438 MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Choose one of the following
BIOL 334HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY III4-5
or BIOL 351 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY
or BIOL 352 PRINCIPLES OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
or BIOL 353 PRINCIPLES OF MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY
Required Supporting Courses
BIOL 380DATA ANALYSIS FOR BIOLOGISTS5
or MATH 161 CALCULUS I
or MATH 380 ELEMENTARY PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS
CHEM 171
& 171L
& CHEM 172
& CHEM 172L
& CHEM 173
& CHEM 173L		GENERAL CHEMISTRY I
and GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY I
and GENERAL CHEMISTRY II
and GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY II
and GENERAL CHEMISTRY III
and GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY III		15
Electives–21 of 36 credits must be in Biology, non-Biology electives must be approved by faculty advisor.36
Required Senior Capstone
BIOL 490SENIOR CAPSTONE5
Total Credits102-104

The following plan of study is for a student with zero credits. Individual students may have different factors such as: credit through transfer work, Advanced Placement, Running Start, or any other type of college-level coursework that requires an individual plan.

Courses could be offered in different terms, checking the academic schedule is paramount in keeping an individual plan current. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.

All Undergraduate students are required to meet the Undergraduate Degree Requirements.

First Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
BIOL 1715BIOL 1725BIOL 1735
CHEM 171
& 171L (Natural Science BACR 1)		5CHEM 172
& 172L (Natural Science BACR 2)		5BIOL 2703
ENGL 1015ENGL 2015CHEM 173
& 173L		5
  Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective2
 15 15 15
Second Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
BIOL 301, 302, 303, or 3045BIOL 3105BIOL 436 or 4385
BIOL 380, MATH 161, or MATH 3805BIOL 423 or 4404-5Biology Elective24
Diversity - graduation requirement15Global Studies - graduation requirement15Humanities & Arts BACR 115
 Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective1Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective2
 15 15-16 16
Third Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
BIOL 334, 351, 352, or 3534-5Biology Elective24Biology Elective24
Biology Elective24Biology Elective24Social Science BACR 215
Humanities & Arts BACR 215Social Science BACR 115Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5
Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective1Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective2Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective1
 14-15 15 15
Fourth Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
Biology Elective24Biology Elective24BIOL 490 (Senior Capstone - graduation requirement)5
Biology Elective 24Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5
Biology Elective24Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5
Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective3Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective1 
 15 15 15
Total Credits 180-182
1

University Graduation Requirements (UGR) and Breadth Area Course Requirements (BACR) courses may be less than 5 credits and additional credits may be required to reach the required 180 total credits needed to graduate.  Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.

2

Electives – 21 of 36 credits must be in Biology, non-Biology electives must be approved by faculty advisor.

Career Track Advising Suggestions

Plant Sciences

Pre-Chiropractic

Fisheries

Pre-Medical Laboratory Science

Optometry

Pharmacy

Physical Therapy

Physician Assistant

Veterinary Medicine

Wildlife Biology-Management