Mission Statement
The Accelerated Master of Arts in Biology program is designed to provide Citadel undergraduate students an accelerated route to obtain a Master’s degree in Biology. The purpose of this program is to offer advanced undergraduate students the opportunity to begin taking graduate-level courses during their senior year, and have those courses be applied toward an M.A. in Biology degree.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree, students in this program will continue their graduate course work until completing the requirements for the M.A. in Biology program. It is expected that students in this program would complete the requirements for both the Bachelor’s degree and the Master’s degree in a total of 5 years. Undergraduates in this program will acquire a broader and deeper education in modern biology through additional advanced coursework. An advanced degree in Biology can provide employment opportunities that the Bachelor’s degree alone cannot provide. This program will also provide students looking to strengthen their application credentials to professional schools, including medical and dental schools, an opportunity to pursue an advanced degree in an accelerated time frame.
Admission Requirements
The program is available to Citadel undergraduate students majoring in any discipline as long as they have successfully completed a minimum of 8 credit hours in biology coursework. Students interested in this program should apply during their junior or senior year. However, students are encouraged to apply by the end of their junior year to help ensure that they have the full subsequent year, including the summer, to begin taking courses for graduate credit. This program is not available to undergraduates enrolled at other institutions, or who those have completed a Bachelor’s degree or advanced degree at another institution.
- Complete and return an online application form along with the non-refundable application fee to The Citadel Graduate College.
- Undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or higher in either the B.S. in Biology or B.S. in Biology, Secondary Education degree programs at The Citadel.
- Senior (1A) classification.
Program Requirements
Program requirements for the Accelerated Master of Arts in Biology are identical to that of the Master of Arts in Biology program. A student enrolled in the Accelerated Master’s Program can register for up to 2 graduate level courses during the Summer and 1 graduate level course during each of the Fall and Spring semesters. Undergraduate students enrolled in graduate classes will be held to The Citadel Graduate College policies in those classes, including Academic Standards, Grades, and Attendance. Cadets in graduate classes will continue to be subject to the honor system as prescribed by “The Honor Manual of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.” Following successful completion of the requirements for the Bachelor’s degree, students would be classified as graduate students by The Citadel Graduate College and follow all of their policies and procedures.
Graduation Requirements (non-credit bearing)
- Darkness to Light Training
- The Citadel Principled Leadership Seminar
Courses
BIOL-502—Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
BIOL-505—Biometry
BIOL-506—Ecology
BIOL-508—Genetics
BIOL-509—Marine Biology
BIOL-510—Vertebrate Natural History
BIOL-512—Descriptive Histology
BIOL-518—Ornithology
BIOL-519—Economic Botany
BIOL-526—Freshwater Biology
BIOL-532—Developmental Biology
BIOL-601—Evolution of Animals
BIOL-602—Morphological Survey of the Plant Kingdom
BIOL-603—General Physiology
BIOL-604—Marine Invertebrates
BIOL-605—Laboratory Methods in Biology
BIOL-606—Field Methods in Biology
BIOL-607—Microbiology
BIOL-609—Seminar in Environmental Studies
BIOL-610—Special Topics in Biology
BIOL-611—Graduate Research
BIOL-612—Cell and Molecular Biology
BIOL-621—Aquatic Toxicology
BIOL-624—Molecular Genetics and Recombinant DNA:
BIOL-625—Tropical Rainforest and Reef Ecology
BIOL-631—Environmental Physiology
Total Credit Hours: 32