Biology Program (B.A.)
Curriculum For Future High School Biology Teachers
All students majoring in Biology must complete 55 quarter hours of required and elective Biology courses. Biology majors who wish to prepare for careers teaching Biology in high school should be sure to include, within the 55 quarter hours, the specific Biology courses required for Secondary Certification by the Illinois State Board of Education. These courses are listed below, following the list of Biology electives. General education requirements recommended for pre-secondary education students are also listed.
Future biology teachers may choose to participate in the B.A. - M.A.T. Program, which is designed to help students make a smooth transition from their undergraduate program to the NLU Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) Secondary Education Program.
Requirements for a B.A. in Biology are as follows:
1. Completion of 55 quarter hours of Biology coursework with grades of "C" or better (5 required Biology courses plus 6 Biology electives). Twenty-five of these 55 hours must be upper level (300 or higher) and a minimum of 15 of the 25 upper level quarter hours must be taken at National-Louis University.
2. Completion of 37 quarter hours of required courses in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry (see course list below).
3. Completion of the general education core (69 quarter hours), of which 15 quarter hours must be natural sciences (biological, physical, or chemical). If appropriate, the 15 quarter hours of natural sciences may also be used to fulfill specific course requirements of the Biology major (see below). In addition, students must pass the English Competency Test.
4. To reach the 180 quarter hours required for graduation, students must complete an additional 34 quarter hours of free electives.
Required courses for major in Biology 55 QH
Required Biology courses 25
Biology electives 30
The state of Illinois requires that secondary education students complete at least 12 quarter hours in each of the following three areas: Botany, Zoology, and Physiology. Courses offered in these areas are as follows:
Botany
Zoology
Physiology
Required courses in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry 37 QH
Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
In addition to the required courses listed above, students seeking a B.A. degree in Biology must complete general education requirements and electives to reach a total of 180 quarter hours. Note that general education requirements are more specific for those preparing for careers in secondary education.
General Education Requirements 54 QH
(in addition to 15 quarter hours of science)
The Biology program requires a minimum of 69 quarter hours or the equivalent in general education coursework for completion of the B.A. degree. This will include demonstration of competence in all ten core areas below and also include the specific courses or equivalent listed in areas four through ten. The Biology program accepts the following types of credit as equivalent to general education coursework at NLU: appropriate courses transferred from other accredited institutions, appropriate CLEP (Biology, chemistry, Natural Sciences) and DANTES (Environment & Humanity: The Race to Save the Planet, Principles of Physical Science I, Astronomy, Physical Geology), examination credit, and appropriate credit by proficiency. For AP courses: Biology (a score of 3 for 5 quarter hours, a score of 4 or 5 for General Biology and a Biology elective), Chemistry (a score of 3 for Inorganic Chemistry I, a score of 4 or 5 for Inorganic chemistry I and II), Environmental Science (a score of 3 or better for 5 quarter hours), Physics B (a score of 3 or better for Physics), Physics C (a score of 3 or better for Physics and a science elective). To determine which equivalent credits are appropriate, contact your advisor or the Assessment Center.
