Biology, BA

Requirements

Requirements for the BA degree include 30 credit hours of acceptable credits in biology and at least one 300-level laboratory course beyond BIOL 301 CELLULAR &MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. Students must also complete three courses covering interdisciplinary topics within the sciences or between the sciences and other disciplines. Students must take at least one class in each of the following six competencies: Applying the Process of Science, Quantitative Reasoning, Modeling and Simulation, Interdisciplinary, Communication and Collaboration, and Science and Society.  These competencies can be fulfilled by either biology electives or the three outside electives identified in the course list below. Courses may cover up to two competencies.

  • Students must complete the final 30 credit hours of their degree at Roosevelt University; off-site allied health courses do not count towards this requirement.
  • At least 20 credit hours in acceptable biology, chemistry, or physics courses must be successfully completed at Roosevelt University; no more than 15 credit hours of acceptable biology courses may be taken completed elsewhere and applied to the BA biology degree.
  • Following enrollment, completion of all remaining biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics course requirements for Biology degrees must be accomplished at Roosevelt University. Under special circumstances, written permission to take required courses elsewhere may be granted by Biology advisors.
  • Biology courses must have been taken within the last eight years to be accepted for graduation.
  • No more than six credit hours total of independent study (BIOL 395 INDEPENDENT STUDY), (BIOL 392 RESEARCH IN BIOLOGY), and internships (BIOL 391 MEDICAL INTERNSHIP, or BIOL 396 BIOLOGY INTERNSHIP) in biology may be used to fulfill the requirements of the major.
  • Technical and/or clinical courses are not acceptable for transfer credit.
  • AP biology credit with a score of 3.0 or higher may apply toward the major in biology or the general education requirements after consultation with an advisor.
  • AP chemistry credit with a score of 4 or higher satisfies the requirements for CHEM 201 with lab.
  • At least one biology course with a laboratory above BIOL 301 CELLULAR &MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (not including independent research).
  • A grade of C- is the minimal acceptable grade for a course to be applied to the major and the supporting sequence or acceptable as a prerequisite for subsequent courses.
  • A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required for all courses in the major.
Courses Required for the Biology BA
BIOL 201ORGANISMIC BIOLOGY (with lab)5
BIOL 202ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND GENETICS (with lab)5
BIOL 301CELLULAR &MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (with lab)5
CHEM 201GENERAL CHEMISTRY I (with lab)5
CHEM 202GENERAL CHEMISTRY II (with lab)5
CHEM 210SURVEY OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY (with lab)5
or CHEM 211 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I
MATH 121COLLEGE ALGEBRA3
MATH 217ELEMENTARY STATISTICS3
Biology Electives
Select additional biology electives to bring total to a minimum of 30 semester hours. These courses in combination with the major electives must cover all six core competency areas. Courses may cover up to two competency areas. 115
Area 1 Applying the Process of Science
Select at least one course from this list. Course offerings will vary by semester.
ANATOMY &PHYSIOLOGY I
ANATOMY &PHYSIOLOGY II
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
QUANTITATIVE ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
EVOLUTIONARY PHYSIOLOGY (Lab)
GENERAL GENETICS (Lecture)
MICROBIOLOGY (Lab)
IMMUNOLOGY (Lab)
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY: AFRICA
Area 2: Quantitative Reasoning
Select at least one course from this list. Course offerings will vary by semester.
BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS IN BIOCHEMISTRY & BIOTECHNOLOGY
ADVANCED BIOCHEMISTRY
QUANTITATIVE ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
ECOLOGY (Lab)
BIOSTATISTICS
MARINE BIOLOGY
GENERAL GENETICS (Lecture)
BIOLOGY OF BIRDS: ORNITHOLOGY
Area 3: Modeling and Simulation
Select at least one course from this list. Course offerings will vary by semester.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
BIOCHEMISTRY
VIROLOGY
GENOMICS & APPLIED BIOINFO
Area 4: Interdisciplinary
Select at least one course from this list. Course offerings will vary by semester.
BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY
BIOCHEMISTRY
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS IN BIOCHEMISTRY & BIOTECHNOLOGY
ADVANCED BIOCHEMISTRY
ECOLOGY (Lecture)
NUTRITION IN AMERICA
CANCER BIOLOGY
MICROBIOLOGY (Lecture)
BIOLOGY OF BIRDS: ORNITHOLOGY
Area 5: Communication and Collaboration
Select at least one course from this list. Course offerings will vary by semester.
ANATOMY &PHYSIOLOGY I
ANATOMY &PHYSIOLOGY II
EVOLUTIONARY PHYSIOLOGY
GENERAL GENETICS (Lab)
MICROBIOLOGY (Lecture)
IMMUNOLOGY (Lecture)
Area 6: Science and Society
Select at least one course from this list. Course offerings will vary by semester.
FERMENTATION SCIENCE
ECOLOGY (Lecture)
TROPICAL MARINE BIOLOGY
MARINE BIOLOGY
NUTRITION IN AMERICA
CANCER BIOLOGY
IMMUNOLOGY (Lecture)
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY: AFRICA
Any of the following courses can be taken as general electives to reach the required 30 credit hours in the Biology major
KINESIOLOGY
HISTOLOGY & ULTRASTRUCTURE
ECOLOGY OF TALLGRASS PRAIRIE
INTRODUCTION TO NEUROSCIENCE
SPECIAL TOPICS IN BIOLOGY
MEDICAL INTERNSHIP
RESEARCH IN BIOLOGY
INDEPENDENT STUDY
Major Electives outside of BIOL (take 3) 1, 29-15
Area 3: Modeling and Simulation
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION/MODELING
GAME THEORY AND APPLICATIONS
Area 4: Interdisciplinary
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY II
CALCULUS I
CALCULUS II
INTRODUCTION TO NON-CALCULUS BASED PHYSICS I
INTRO TO NON-CALCULUS PHYSICS II
Area 6: Science and Society
HISTORY OF PUBLIC HEALTH
SOCIAL & CULTURAL HISTORY OF MEDICINE 1500-PRESENT
HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
ETHICS
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE
PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY
PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES & IDEAS
RESEARCH METHODS
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
HUMAN NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
WATER
FOOD
ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
BIODIVERSITY
WRITING URBAN NATURE
URBAN ECOLOGY
General Education, University Writing Requirement, and Electives
Courses to total 12060-54
Total Credit Hours120
1

Must be selected in consultation with an advisor.

2

Student must take three total courses from these electives but these courses can be from any of the listed competencies.  The six competencies can be fulfilled by either biology electives or the three outside electives identified in the course list.

CORE Requirements (General Education)

First Year Success Course or Transfer Success Course
FYS 101FIRST YEAR SUCCESS COURSE1
or TRS 101 TRANSFER SUCCESS 101
Communication Requirement
ENG 101COMPOSITION I: CRITICAL READING & WRITING3
ENG 102COMPOSITION II: INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMIC RESEARCH3
COMM 101PUBLIC SPEAKING (or program specific CORE communications course)3
Ideas of Social Justice
3 credits in coursework categorized as Ideas.3
Humanities and Fine and Performing Arts 2, 3
9 credits from the following subject areas: African-American Studies, Art History, English (excluding ENG 101 and ENG 102), History, Languages, Music, Philosophy, Theatre, Communication and Women's and Gender Studies9
Mathematics
MATH 110QUANTITATIVE LITERACY (or above) 13
Science
One biological science and one physical science required (one must include a one credit lab).7-8
Social Sciences 2,3
9 credits from the following subject areas: African-American Studies, Criminal Justice, Economics, History, Journalism, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies9
Experiential Learning
6 credits from coursework categorized as Experiential Learning. 6
Total Credit Hours47-48
1

Higher level of Math may be required by major

2

Coursework must come from outside of students' major discipline

3

A maximum of 9 credits can be applied from a single discipline towards humanities and social science requirements

These quantitative requirements also apply to degrees.

  • Students must earn a minimum of 120 semester hours.
  • Students may apply no more than 60 credit hours of 100-level courses toward the degree.
  • Students must apply no fewer than 60 credit hours of 200- and 300-level courses toward the degree.
  • Students must have at least 18 credit hours (of the 60 credit hours above) at the 300 level.
  • Students may transfer in no more than 70 credit hours from community colleges.
  • Students earning less than 60 total hours in residence must take their final 30 hours at Roosevelt University. Note that some majors have additional requirements for RU hours.
  • Students must have a grade point average of 2.0 or higher to graduate. Note that some majors have additional GPA requirements.
  • Students may apply no more than 51 hours in the major (BA) or 57 hours in the major (BS)

Your degree map is a general guide suggesting courses to complete each term on the academic pathway to your degree. It is based on the most current scheduling information from your academic program. Your program’s degree map is reviewed annually and updated as schedules change (although you retain the same course requirements as long as you are continuously enrolled in your degree program).

Always work closely with your academic advisor to understand curriculum requirements and scheduling, as each student’s academic plan can look slightly different.

Year 1
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
FYS 1011BIOL 2025
ENG 1013Ideas of Social Justice3
MATH 1213ENG 1023
CHEM 2015CHEM 2025
Humanities #13 
 15 16
Year 2
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
BIOL 2015BIOL 301 (Experiential Learning #1)35
MATH 2173Social Science #23
CHEM 210 or 2115Humanities #23
Social Science #13Major Elective outside of BIOL #13
 16 14
Year 3
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
BIOL 3XX with Lab25Biology Elective3
Major Elective outside of BIOL #23Major Elective outside of BIOL #33
Humanities #33Social Science #33
COMM 1013General Elective 13
 General Elective13
 14 15
Year 4
FallCredit HoursSpringCredit Hours
Biology Elective 3Experiential Learning #233
Biology Elective 3Biology Elective 3
General Elective13General Elective13
General Elective13General Elective13
General Elective13General Elective13
 15 15
Total Credit Hours 120
1

Or course towards an optional Minor.

2

Any course at the 300 level within the discipline above BIOL 301.

3

Experiential Learning class must be 200/300 level. Satisfies CORE Experiential Learning requirement. EXL courses can satisfy major requirements/electives or CORE requirement.