Departments & Programs

Biology

B.S. Biology/M.S. Secondary Education

In an effort to address the shortage of Indiana high school teachers in certain subjects, the College, in conjunction with the IU School of Education, offers an accelerated five-year program in which students can obtain a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Secondary Education and also complete all requirements for State licensure in Secondary Education. Under this program, students complete all of the coursework required for the B.S. in Biology major by their eighth semester at IU. Beginning in their eighth semester and then continuing in the summer after their fourth year and in a fifth year of study, students complete all of the requirements for the M.S. in Secondary Education with licensure.

Students must apply and earn admittance to the School of Education's Secondary Transition to Teaching and the Master of Science in Education programs during the fall semester of their senior year. After they have completed a minimum of 90 credit hours in the College of Arts and Sciences and satisfied the Foundations, Intensive Writing, Foreign Language, Breadth of Inquiry, and major concentration requirements for the B.S. in Biology, students may apply up to 32 credit hours earned in the School of Education as College electives. The requirements for the B.S. in Biology must be completed before student teaching begins in the final spring semester of the five-year program. The two degrees (B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Secondary Education) are awarded simultaneously.

Students considering this degree should seek advising from both the Department of Biology and the School of Education. Also, students are advised to check on the effect that the transition to graduate status may have on existing undergraduate funding.