M.A. in Biology

Program Description | Admission | Degree RequirementsCourses


Program Description

The Master of Arts in Biology is a non-thesis program primarily designed for secondary education teachers who wish to increase their competency in the field of biology. The program allows students to elect a twelve hour secondary field that logically supports the biology major. Students who plan to pursue doctoral studies are strongly encouraged to pursue the M.S. in Biology.


Admissions

Applicants seeking admission to the graduate program in biology must submit the following directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions:

  1. Graduate Application
  2. Application fee
  3. Official transcript(s) of all previous college work
  4. Official GRE scores
  5. Two letters of recommendation from faculty in the student's major at the undergraduate degree-granting institution
  6. Statement of Purpose outlining the student’s goals in the program

 

To be granted regular admission, applicants must have an undergraduate degree in biology or a related field. Applicants having an undergraduate degree in a discipline other than biology must successfully complete the equivalent of an undergraduate minor in the biological sciences before being considered for regular admission.


Regular admission is based in part on a combination of GRE scores and undergraduate GPA, but these factors do not constitute the sole criteria for consideration of an applicant. Instead, a holistic review of each student's application file will be completed.


More detailed information on competitive GRE scores and undergraduate GPA can be found on the department's website at: www.shsu.edu/academics/biological-sciences/.


Degree Requirements

There are two different plans leading to the M.A. in Biology. Plan 1 requires thirty-two semester hours of graduate credit in biology. In Plan 2, students take twenty-six hours in biology with 12 hours of supporting coursework in a chosen minor for a total of thirty-eight hours of graduate credit.


All graduate students are required to pass a comprehensive examination on general biological concepts based on their coursework. The nature of this examination, which may be written and/or oral, will be determined by the student's comprehensive exam committee. Students must be enrolled the semester they take the comprehensive examination.


In addition, a literature-based review paper is prepared in consultation with the student's faculty advisor. Students must defend the literature-based review before their advisory committee and present it to the faculty in seminar format.

Plan 1 - M.A. in Biology

Item
Requirement
Options
Hours
Required
1
Specified
Course
Choose all from:
BIOL 5200 <BIOL 520> Professional Aspects of Science
2
2
Electives
Choose ten from:
Graduate courses in BIOL excluding thesis courses1
30
TOTAL
32
Notes:
1 Selections should be made in consultation with the Graduate Advisor.

Plan 2 - M.A. in Biology

Item
Requirement
Options
Hours
Required
1
Specified
Course
Choose all from:
BIOL 5200 <BIO 520> Professional Aspects of Science
2
2
Electives
Choose eight from:
Graduate courses in BIOL excluding thesis courses
24
3 Secondary Field Choose four from:
Graduate courses in an approved field1
12
TOTAL
38
Notes:
1 Selections must be made in consultation with the Graduate Advisor.

 


Courses

Biology (BIOL)

Senior Courses Open to Graduate Students
With departmental approval, a maximum of six hours of the following senior (4000-level) courses may be taken for graduate credit toward the M.A. in Biology. Course requirements in senior courses must be appropriately modified for graduate credit.

BIOL 4430 <BIO 430> Vertebrate Natural History
BIOL 4310 <BIO 431> General Entomology
BIOL 4320 <BIO 432> Environmental Toxicology
BIOL 4330 <BIO 433> Aquatic Biology
BIOL 4350 <BIO 435> Immunology
BIOL 4360 <BIO 436> Genetic Analysis of Human Disease
BIOL 4370 <BIO 437> Microbial Ecology
BIOL 4380 <BIO 438> Medical Microbiology
BIOL 4460 <BIO 446> Parasitology
BIOL 4475 <BIO 448> Physiological Ecology
BIOL 4490 <BIO 449> Advanced Cell Biology
BIOL 4306 <BIO 460> Philosophy of Biology
BIOL 4361 <BIO 461> Introductory Evolutionary Biology
BIOL 4370 <BIO 470> Animal Behavior
BIOL 4471 <BIO 471> Invertebrate Zoology
BIOL 4374 <BIO 474> Biostatistics
BIOL 4480 <BIO 480> Molecular Biology
BIOL 4493 <BIO 493> Endocrinology

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