Biology (M.A.)
Admission Requirements
- A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 (4.0 scale).
- Three letters of recommendation evaluating the applicant's academic qualifications.
- An official transcript of the student's undergraduate program, giving evidence of satisfactory completion of 48 credit hours of college science and mathematics courses, including a minimum of 18 credit hours in biology. It is strongly recommended that this coursework also include one year of college physics, one year of organic chemistry, one semester of statistics, and one semester of calculus. The absence of any of these courses may be regarded as a deficiency and students may be required to complete these recommended courses before graduation.
- A written statement of the applicant's academic background, future plans, and area of research interest.
Applicants interested in completing a thesis must identify a faculty sponsor and request a letter of support from them to accompany the admissions application.
In addition, all applicants should review the Admission to a Graduate Program section in this catalog.
Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Course (3 credit hours) | ||
| BIO 600 | FOUNDATIONS OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN BIOLOGY | 3 |
| Biology Electives (600 level) (15-26 credit hours) | ||
| Select 15-26 credit hours 1 | 15-26 | |
| General Graduate Electives (0-6 credit hours) | ||
| Select 0-6 credit hours 1 | 0-6 | |
| Thesis or Capstone Experience (1-6 credit hours) | ||
| BIO 695 | RESEARCH THESIS IN BIOLOGY | 1-6 |
| or BIO 699 | CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE IN BIOLOGY | |
| Total Credit Hours | 30 | |
- 1
Selected by advisement.
Graduation Requirements
- A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale). The candidate may take no more than 36 credit hours to achieve this average.
- A minimum of 30 credit hours. Courses in which a candidate earns a grade below C do not bear credit toward the degree but are calculated in the cumulative average.
Students will demonstrate:
- expertise in areas of biology related to course of study or thesis topic
- analytical skills required to interpret and evaluate research literature
- proficiency in professional scientific writing
- proficiency for effective oral communication of biological information
- ability to plan and conduct experimental research (thesis option only)
- apply accepted standards for ethical science (thesis option only)