Degree Pathway for the Bachelor of Science in Biology - General Option - 2021

For students who entered fall 2021 and beyond.

Freshman Year

Sophomore Year

Junior Year

Senior Year

Total Minimum Credits = 120

¹The Arts and Humanities (AH) and Social Sciences (SS) perspectives are subsets of the Breadth of Knowledge (BOK) requirements in the Core Curriculum. No more than two BOK courses can be taken with the same four-letter prefix.

The Core Curriculum also includes seven Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs).  The Diversity and Cultural Awareness (DCA) and Social Responsibility and Ethics (SRE) are met outside the major requirements. See the DCA course listing and the SRE course listing for a full list of classes that fulfill these requirements. 

The Class Search tool can be used to identify AH and SS courses that simultaneously satisfy the DCA or SRE requirement.

The Core Curriculum courses may be taken in any sequence. Refer to the Core Curriculum policy for further details. You should meet with your college-based professional advisor and/or faculty advisor to determine how best to satisfy the Core Curriculum requirements.

²Students are required to take one course from the “Organisms, Evolution, and Environment” (OEE) category and one from the “Cell and Tissue” (CT) category to ensure they have adequate Breadth of Knowledge at the sophomore level. Students should consult with their advisor regarding course selection to satisfy the OEE and CT elective requirements.  

• Organisms, Evolution, and Environment Electives
  • BIOL.2400 Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
  • BIOL.2055 Introduction to Bioinformatics
• Cell and Tissue Electives
  • BIOL.2200 Principles of Cellular Biology
  • BIOL.2520 Physiology

³Free Electives can be satisfied by any UML course xxxx.1010 or above, with the following exceptions:

• Courses with the MATH prefix must be above the level of Calculus I.
• Courses with the LIFE prefix may NOT be used.
• Additional Biology courses can be used, but NO MORE than 60 credits of BIOL coursework may be applied towards the minimum 120 credits requirement to graduate.

⁴Students in the General Option must complete six (6) upper-level biology electives of which three (3) must have labs. Labs can be taken as a 3 credit lecture with a 1 credit lab or both combined into a 4 credit class. In addition, some lab courses have a 3 credit lecture with 2 credit lab for a total of 5 credits. Additionally, two (2) of the three (3) electives with labs may be replaced by taking the 4 credit senior research courses BIOL.4110L and BIOL.4120L

⁵Free Elective can vary from 0-3 credits depending on the number of 1 credit or 2 credit labs completed. For example:

• If a student completes no more than three 1 credit labs (whether the lab is a separate course or combined with the lecture into a 4 credit class), then Free Elective will be a 3 credit class.
• However, if a student completes no more than 3 labs and each lab is a separate 2-credit lab, then the student will have earned three additional BIOL credits which can be used to satisfy Free Elective.
• Other combinations can result in Free Elective being 1 or 2 credits.

⁶Courses may be taken in either semester of the year listed.

Current UMass Lowell students should use their Advisement Report in SIS. If you need assistance, please contact your advisor.

Restriction on off-campus study:

Be advised that any course taken at another institution must be formally approved prior to enrollment. See the catalog policy for details.