Degree Requirements

Molecular Biosciences

KU Edwards Campus

The undergraduate program in molecular biosciences is offered in its entirety only at the KU Edwards Campus, 12600 Quivira Rd., Overland Park, KS 66213. This program is designed for students who have earned an associate’s degree or equivalent hours and wish to complete the upper-level courses necessary for a bachelor’s degree.

Requirements for the B.S. Degree in Molecular Biosciences

The program offers students a strong background in genetics, microbiology, cell biology, and biochemistry, as well as laboratory skills in genetics and microbiology. Graduates have entered medical school, dental school, and graduate school with high success rates. Contact the CLAS undergraduate advisor on the Edwards Campus, Dan Mueller, dmueller@ku.edu, 864-8659 (from Lawrence) or 913-897-8659 (outside of Lawrence) for more information.

General College Requirements

General education offers opportunities for the development of core skills and critical inquiry, an understanding of the human condition, the natural world, and society, and the exploration of one's own and diverse cultures, all leading to greater civic engagement.

Written Communication - Core Skills and Critical Inquiry.  

• Composition. Satisfied by ENGL 101, ACT English score of 27 or above or SAT English score of 600 or above, AP English Literature and Composition score of 3 or above, or equivalent transfer course. Requirement must be completed within the first academic year at KU.
• Critical Reading and Writing. Satisfied by ENGL 102, or ENGL 105 (Honors), AP English Literature & Composition score of 4 or above, or an equivalent transfer course. Requirement must be completed within the first academic year at KU.
• Sophomore Reading and Writing. Satisfied by ENGL 203, or ENGL 205 (Honors), ENGL 209, ENGL 210, ENGL 211, ENGL 362, AP English Literature & Composition score of 5 or above, or an equivalent transfer course.

Argument & Reason - Core Skills and Critical Inquiry Satisfied by completing COMS 130, COMS 131 (Honors), COMS 230, PHIL 148, PHIL 149, PHIL 310, or one year of high school Speech or Debate with B level performance or above. Entering freshmen should consider 100 level options.

Western Civilization - Exploration of One's Own and Diverse Cultures. Satisfied by HWC 204, or HWC 114 (Honors), and HWC 205, or HWC 115 (Honors). Advising Alert: Requires sophomore-level standing. Courses at other universities may have the same title but may not meet this requirement.

Principal Course and/or Second Language Requirements. Satisfied by 5 courses with a minimum of 1 course in social sciences (i.e., SC/SF/SI) and a minimum of 1 course in the humanities (i.e., HL/HR/HT). (No more than 1 course may be taken in each topical subgroup from the Principal course list.) Three additional courses selected from the social sciences (i.e., SC/SF/SI) or humanities (i.e., HL/HR/HT) principal course list and/or second language courses.

Major Course Requirements

This degree is offered at the Edwards Campus ONLY. Junior/Senior level BIOL courses for this degree must be completed at the Edwards Campus. Declaration of Major forms for Molecular Biosciences must be signed by an Edwards campus advisor. Contact Dan Mueller at 913-897-8659 (x48659) for more information.

General Science Requirements. (36-38 hours) Majors must complete the following general science requirements that serve as foundational courses for this major.

• Chemistry I. Satisfied by CHEM 130 (formerly CHEM 184) or CHEM 190 (formerly CHEM 185).
• Chemistry II. Satisfied by CHEM 135 (formerly CHEM 188) or CHEM 195 (formerly CHEM 189).
• Organic Chemistry I. Satisfied by CHEM 330 (formerly CHEM 624) or CHEM 380 (formerly CHEM 628).
• Organic Chemistry I Laboratory. Satisfied by CHEM 331 (formerly CHEM 625).
• Organic Chemistry II. CHEM 335 (formerly CHEM 626) or CHEM 385 (formerly CHEM 630).
• Organic Chemistry II Laboratory. Satisfied by CHEM 336 (formerly CHEM 627).
• Calculus. Satisfied by MATH 115 and MATH 116 or MATH 121.
• Statistics. Satisfied by BIOL 570, MATH 365, or PSYC 210.
• Physics. Satisfied by PHSX 114 and PHSX 115 or by PHSX 211 & PHSX 216 and PHSX 212 & PHSX 236.

Molecular Biosciences Course Requirements. Satisfied by completing 29 hours from courses below.

• Molecular & Cellular Biology. Satisfied by BIOL 150 or BIOL 151.
• Principles of Organismal Biology. Satisfied by BIOL 152 or BIOL 153.
• Principles of Genetics. Satisfied by BIOL 350 or BIOL 360.
• Fundamentals of Microbiology. Satisfied by BIOL 400 or BIOL 401.
• Fundamentals of Microbiology Laboratory. Satisfied by BIOL 402.
• Laboratory in Genetics. Satisfied by BIOL 405.
• Cell Structure & Function. Satisfied by BIOL 416 or BIOL 536.
• Molecular Biology Laboratory. Satisfied by BIOL 430.
• Introductory Biochemistry. Satisfied by BIOL 600.

Senior Seminar in Molecular Biosciences. Satisfied by BIOL 599. Must be taken in senior year.  Offered only at the Edwards Campus.

Molecular Bioscience Required Electives (11 hours required.) Satisfied by completing 11 hours of BIOL courses numbered 400 or higher, including at least 2 hrs. of lab credit and 2 hrs. of a seminar/topics course (BIOL 419, 420, 701). No more than 3 hrs. of BIOL 423 Non-Lab Independent Study and/or BIOL 424 Independent Study (combined) can be applied towards the elective requirement with no more than 2 hours of BIOL 424 being applied towards the laboratory requirement.

Major Hours & Major GPA

While completing all required courses, majors must also meet each of the following hour and grade-point average minimum standards:

Major Hours
Satisfied by 40 hours of major courses.

Major Hours in Residence
Satisfied by a minimum of 15 hours of KU resident credit in the major. 

Major Junior/Senior Hours
Satisfied by a minimum of 32 hours from junior/senior courses (300+) in the major.

Major Junior/Senior Graduation GPA
Satisfied by a minimum of a 2.0 KU GPA in junior/senior courses (300+) in the major. GPA calculations include all junior/senior courses in the field of study including F’s and repeated courses. See the Semester/Cumulative GPA Calculator.