Biology, BS
Introduction
Please click here to see Integrative Biology department information.
These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Program Delivery
- This is an on-campus program.
Declaring This Major
- Click here to go to information about declaring a major.
General Requirements
To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.
- CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
- CU Denver Core Curriculum
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
- Click here for information about Academic Policies
Program Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum of 55 credit hours, including a minimum of 36 BIOL credit hours and 19 credit hours in ancillary coursework.
- Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000- level and above) BIOL credit hours.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the major GPA. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements.
- Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000-level and above) BIOL credit hours with CU Denver faculty and at least 3 credits must be at 4000-level or higher.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Upper division BIOL courses more than ten years old will not count automatically to the Major, but can be evaluated individually for their current relevance to the degree program through a petition process with the Department of Integrative Biology Curriculum Committee. Approval for courses older than ten years is not guaranteed so students may be required to update their knowledge by taking additional courses when past courses are outdated.
- Undergraduate students may count up to six credit hours of independent study or internship (any combination of BIOL 3840 Independent Study, BIOL 3939 Internship, BIOL 4840 Independent Study, BIOL 4880 Directed Research) toward the upper-division Biology electives requirement in the major.
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Complete the following required courses: | 20 | |
Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2030 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) | |
Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2031 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | |
Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2040 | Honors Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | |
Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | ||
or BIOL 2041 | Honors Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | |
Principles of Ecology | ||
Introduction to Evolution | ||
General Cell Biology | ||
General Genetics | ||
Complete a minimum of one upper division level (3000 or higher) Biology lab. | 2 | |
Complete a minimum of one 4000-level BIOL lecture course. 1 | 3 | |
Complete at least 11 additional upper division level (3000 or higher) BIOL elective credits or enough BIOL elective credits to reach the minimum required total of 36 BIOL credits. 2 | 11 | |
Complete one of the following quantitative courses. | 3 | |
Biostatistics | ||
Calculus I | ||
Applied Statistics | ||
Complete the following required Chemistry courses. | 13 | |
General Chemistry I | ||
or CHEM 2081 | Honors General Chemistry I | |
General Chemistry Laboratory I | ||
or CHEM 2039 | Majors General Chemistry I Laboratory | |
or CHEM 2088 | Honors General Chemistry I Laboratory | |
General Chemistry II | ||
or CHEM 2091 | Honors General Chemistry II Lecture | |
General Chemistry Laboratory II | ||
or CHEM 2069 | Majors General Chemistry II Laboratory | |
or CHEM 2098 | Honors General Chemistry II Laboratory | |
Organic Chemistry I | ||
or CHEM 3481 | Majors Organic Chemistry I | |
Complete one of the following writing intensive courses. | 3 | |
Writing in the Sciences (also satisfies CLAS Communicative Skills requirement) | ||
Technical Writing (also satisfies CLAS Communicative Skills requirement) | ||
Proposal and Grant Writing (also satisfies CLAS Humanities requirement) | ||
Argumentation and Logic (also satisfies CLAS Humanities requirement) | ||
Rhetorics of Medicine & Health (also satisfies CLAS Behavioral Science requirement) | ||
Total Hours | 55 |
- 1
- Students must complete a minimum of one 4000-level Biology lecture course with CU Denver faculty.
- 2
CHEM 3810 Biochemistry or CHEM 4820 General Biochemistry II will also apply as an upper division level Biology elective.
Upper Division Biology Lab Courses
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Complete at least one upper division level (3000 or higher) Biology lab course from the following list: | 2 | |
Advanced Special Topics with Lab | ||
Human Physiology | ||
Human Anatomy | ||
Ecology Laboratory | ||
Cell Biology Laboratory | ||
Mammalogy | ||
General Microbiology Lab | ||
Molecular Biology Laboratory | ||
Plant Structure and Development | ||
Flora of Colorado | ||
Advanced Human Anatomy Laboratory | ||
Field Studies | ||
Total Hours | 2 |
4000-Level Biology Elective
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Complete at least one three credit hour 4000-level or higher BIOL lecture course from CU Denver Biology faculty. | 3 | |
Introduction to Biotechnology | ||
Advanced Biology Topics | ||
Advanced Ecology | ||
Disease Ecology | ||
Virology | ||
Cell Biology of Disease | ||
Molecular Genetics | ||
Topics in Molecular Biology | ||
Human Genetics | ||
Medical Microbiology | ||
Conservation Biology | ||
Neurobiology | ||
Genomics and Bioinformatics | ||
Mechanisms of Animal Behavior | ||
Plant Structure and Development | ||
Flora of Colorado | ||
Applied Microbial Ecology | ||
Biogeography | ||
Introduction to Spatial Ecology | ||
Environmental Toxicology | ||
Exercise Physiology | ||
Mechanisms of Human Pathology | ||
Population and Evolutionary Genetics | ||
Cell Signaling | ||
Topics in Immunology | ||
Biology of Cancer | ||
Structural Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases | ||
Aquatic Ecology | ||
Biochemistry of Metabolic Disease | ||
Biochemistry of Gene Regulation and Cancer | ||
Advanced Evolution | ||
Total Hours | 3 |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.
To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.