As a student in the IU Online Graduate Certificate in Biology, you analyze and explore the nature of life and living organisms at an advanced level. You gain the ability to break down and analyze biological concepts for an undergraduate audience, the ability to develop and analyze hypotheses and experiments, a fluency with scientific literature, and a richer understanding of biology in the natural world around us.

Specific areas of focus include:

• Evolution
• Ecology and environmental biology
• Organismal biology
• Cell and molecular biology, and biochemistry
• Genetics, bioinformatics, and genomics
• Anatomy and physiology
• Developmental biology

Many online support services are available to assist you as you progress through the program.

Of Special Interest for Dual-credit and Community College Instructors Needing to Meet HLC Standards

The Graduate Certificate in Biology is ideal for those who want to teach dual-credit courses and who need to meet Higher Learning Commission dual-credit qualification standards. These standards require teachers wanting to teach dual-credit courses in biology to hold either a master's degree in biology or a master's degree in another discipline (such as education), plus at least 18 credit hours of discipline-specific graduate coursework.

• If you hold a master's degree in a discipline other than biology, you can meet HLC standards by completing the 18 credit hour Graduate Certificate in Biology.
• If you plan to pursue the IU Online MAT in Biology, you may apply the 18 credit hours from the Graduate Certificate in Biology toward the master's degree.

 Your IU Online Graduate Certificate in Biology prepares you for such careers as: 

• Biology dual-credit teacher (high school)
• Biology instructor (community college) 

This 100 percent online, consortial program is taught by IU Bloomington, IU East, IUPUI, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Southeast. This consortial model allows you to take coursework from several campuses and learn from a wide range of faculty. 

Certificate Requirements

To earn the Graduate Certificate in Biology, you must complete 18 credit hours.

Requirements are broken down as follows:

• Core course (3 cr.)
• Molecular-cellular-level electives (6 cr.)
• Organismal-level electives (6 cr.)
• Capstone course (3 cr.)

See courses that are being offered this semester

Admissions

Application Deadline

Rolling admissions. Application review will begin upon receipt of all required application materials.

NOTE: This program is authorized, exempt, or not subject to state regulatory compliance and may enroll students from all 50 states.

Courses

Sample courses for the Graduate Certificate in Biology include the following:

• BIOL-T 570 Evolution (3 cr.)
• BIOL-T 572 Cell Biology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-T 574 Immunology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-T 576 Bioinformatics: Theory and Application (3 cr.)
• BIOL-T 581 Neurobiology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-T 587 Ornithology (3 cr.)
• BIOL-T 591 History of Life (3 cr.)