Course Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 30 credits for the MA in biological sciences, which includes:

• 26 credit hours of courses numbered BIOL 500 or above* In addition, the options below may be used in part to fulfill the 26 credit requirement:
  • up to two courses (maximum of eight credit hours) from courses outside Biological Sciences (with advisor approval).
  • up to eight credit hours of BIOL 597. BIOL 597 is for independent study arranged with a faculty member. Up to two 400-level undergraduate courses (maximum of eight credits) may be taken as BIOL 597 with permission from the instructor, the student’s advisor and approval from the Graduate School. This requires that extra work be identified and completed to justify graduate credit. 
• two credit hours of BIOL 680X** (Departmental Seminar)
• two credit hours of BIOL 680M Capstone course (see below for more information)

*Courses that can fulfill this requirement include two-credit BIOL seminar courses. This requirement can not be fulfilled with BIOL 591, 595, 599, 680X, 696, 699, and any MAT/MSEd courses.

**Students may take this for only 1 credit per semester, and only 2 credits maximum may be applied toward the degree requirements.

Capstone Project

This project will be completed through the BIOL 680M Capstone course, which is required for all MA students in the Department of Biological Sciences. In the rare situation that a student cannot complete the project through the MA program, alternate accommodations can be made only with the permission of the director of the biological sciences MA program.