As a biology major at Dominican University, you’ll receive the extensive benefits of gaining a broad-based liberal arts education while choosing a specialization that will prepare you for the science-related career of your dreams. Our biology degree will channel your passion for life sciences into a solid foundation for advanced study of the sciences or for a rewarding and fulfilling career in any discipline involving plants, animals, people, or the earth.

You can choose to pursue a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts with a minor or major in biology, a teaching degree with a major or minor in biology, or even a business degree with a biology component. And if you’ve got your heart set on further study, we have articulation agreements with the following institutions:

American University of Antigua School of Medicine
New York Medical College Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences
St Elizabeth University, NJ, for the Physician Assistant program
Ross University, St. Kitts, West Indies, for Veterinary Medicine

With a degree in biology you might also pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Dominican University.

3+3 B.A. in Biology + Doctor of Physical Therapy

Traditional means of graduating with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy can take an average of 7-8 years between a bachelor’s degree, prerequisite requirements and the Physical Therapy Program. Identifying an early interest in the Physical Therapy profession while in high school can help you complete two degrees in 6 years.

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A unique biology degree that gives you in-demand hard and soft skills to increase your employability and potential salary or prepare you for grad school

The highest levels of personal support

Staff who are committed to your success

The finest small-university athletic program in the region

A spirited campus environment

Close proximity to New York City and three major airports

The Dominican Difference

It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what sport you play, or what club you’re in, everyone in this school is a family and we all love to live together and be a part of this campus.
Jonathan Brown, ’14

15k+

Alumni

76

Full-time Faculty

17

Miles from NYC

100% of First Time

Full-Time Freshman Receive Financial Aid

Job Opportunities

As a result of the coursework and research experiences that you’ll have throughout our biology program, when you graduate, you’ll be qualified to enter the STEM workforce in any of a wide variety of fields (e.g. biomedicine (drug and vaccine development), plant biology, or environmental sciences) or to continue on to post-graduate studies. For example, you might choose to go to medical school, pursue a post-graduate professional degree in a health field (like physical therapy, dentistry, veterinary science, or pharmacy), or pursue a post-graduate research degree (masters and PhD).

Here are some examples of where our alumni have gone on to work and study:

Jovan Bertrand — Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Nikita Patel — Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship recipient
Tahinah Lamour — Regeneron
Rebecca Birmingham — Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc.
Yunia Alvarez and Lauren Drake — Nathan Kline Institute
Samantha Fitzgerald — Cary Institute
Tara Carney — SUNY Upstate Medical College PhD Biomedical Sciences
Dylan Ferraro — American University of Antigua Medical College
Kimberly Acevedo — UMass Amherst PhD Food Science/Organismal and Evolutionary Biology
Darian Fernandez, Andrea Zuluaga, Michael Mezzio and Michael Bauer — Dominican University DPT program
Arianna Medina — Pfizer
Amanda Saab — Fairleigh Dickinson College of Pharmacy
Gabrielle Schneider — New York University
Linda Dantico — Pfizer; University of Florida, MSP in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a concentration in Forensic Science
Naija Rodriguez — Vitalant
Shanna Wood — Mercy College PA program
Eric Valdes — Temple University School of Dentistry
Chet Kleynowski — TRADEBE, Lab chemist
Jamie McGinn — Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine PA program
Alina Panchychyn — MS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pace University; Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc.

What You’ll Learn

Throughout your biology program, you’ll develop extensive content knowledge, learn proper laboratory techniques, drastically improve your critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills, as well as:

Use basic and advanced laboratory equipment
Use relevant computer applications and information technology
Design and conduct a scientific experiment to reach a logical conclusion
Learn and work collaboratively
Prepare and present scientific results to general audiences as well as to fellow scientists
Promote science in the service of the larger community
Have ownership of an authentic research project
Get the chance to publish and contribute to the scientific community
Use regular milestones to measure your progress
Make a meaningful contribution to scientific progress

At Dominican University, you’ll pursue and publish new scientific knowledge through inquiry-based instruction and original research, gaining valuable transferable skills in both your biology major (or minor) courses and through your research experiences. As a result, our biology degree will ensure you’re well-qualified to pursue a wide range of careers and post-graduate fields of study.

Our programs are incredibly hands-on and will give you significant real-world skills that will set you apart from your competition. For example, we’ve set aside a plot of land on our campus for students to study. If you take courses in chemistry, ecology, botany, or general biology you’ll get to analyze the soil and conduct biological surveys of the plants, microbes, and other soil fauna. You’ll then amend the soil with compost and/or commercial fertilizers, collaborate with your fellow students to choose and transplant plants into the soil, conduct follow-up testing, and analyze the changes that result from your soil treatments and addition of plants. This project will give you valuable technical skills across a range of disciplines as well as help you build the vital collaboration (including cross-disciplinary collaboration) and communication skills that are so in demand in all industries.

As a Dominican University biology major, you’ll also be supported and encouraged to pursue a research internship. Our students have secured prestigious research internships at:

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
Johns Hopkins University
New York University
The Jackson Lab
Clemson University
University of Nevada Las Vegas
Florida Atlantic University

Degree Details

Tuition

The cost of attendance is an estimate of what it will cost to attend Dominican University for an academic year.

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Curriculum

Course Credits

As a Biology major, you will earn a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. In this program, you’ll take the following courses:

Courses in biology (11-12 courses)
Courses in math, statistics, chemistry, and physics (6-7 courses)
3 research-focused courses

The research-focused courses consist of:

Research design — You’ll design a research project from conceptualization through to implementation
Research funding — Through Beta Beta Beta, you’ll learn how to apply for research funding by seeking independent funding for your research project
Research presentation — You’ll present the findings from your research project at our Liberal Arts Research Symposium and Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Sciences as well as on our Liberal Arts Research webpage

In addition, you’ll also participate in the first-year-biology SEA-PHAGES program (sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute) within which you’ll isolate and genetically characterize bacterial viruses, some of which may hold the key to combating human illnesses. Your work will be showcased in a national database of actinobacteriophages and shared among researchers interested in evolutionary biology.

Concentrations

Pre-Med — If you’re planning on pursuing a graduate medical degree, this is the track for you
Neuroscience — Building off of coursework in biology, chemistry and psychology, a concentration in neuroscience creates a variety of pathways for you in either clinical research or medicine.
Adolescent Education (Biology) — If you dream of teaching biology at the secondary school level, this is the track for you
Childhood Education (Natural Sciences) — If teaching science to primary school children is more your thing, this track is for you

We offer courses in: