2025-2026 Academic Catalog

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Biology Minor

General Requirements

Students must satisfy all requirements as outlined below and by the department offering the minor.

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Program Requirements

  1. Students must complete a minimum of 27 credit hours, including a minimum of 18 BIOL credit hours and nine credit hours in approved ancillary coursework.
  2. Students must complete a minimum of nine upper-division (3000-level and above) BIOL credit hours.
  3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the minor and must achieve a minimum cumulative minor GPA of 2.0. Students cannot complete minor or ancillary course requirements using P+/P/F or S/U grading.
  4. Students must complete a minimum of nine upper division level BIOL credit hours with CU Denver faculty.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

  1. Upper division BIOL courses more than ten years old will not count automatically to the Minor, but can be evaluated individually for their current relevance to the degree program through a petition process with the Department of Integrative Biology Curriculum Committee. Approval for courses older than ten years is not guaranteed so students may be required to update their knowledge by taking additional courses when past courses are outdated. 
Complete the following required courses:8
Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio)
Honors Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio)
Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio)
Honors Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio)
Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio)
Honors Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio)
Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio)
Honors Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio)
Complete a minimum of six credits from the following upper division level BIOL courses:6
Principles of Ecology
Introduction to Evolution
General Cell Biology
General Genetics
Complete a minimum of four credits from at least two upper division (3000 level or higher) BIOL elective courses. At least one of the courses must be from the following approved list: 14
Advanced Special Topics with Lab
Human Physiology Lab
Human Anatomy Cadaver Lab
Virtual Human Anatomy Lab
Ecology Laboratory
General Microbiology Lab
Molecular Biology Laboratory
Plant Structure and Development
Flora of Colorado
Advanced Human Anatomy Laboratory
Field Studies
Complete all of the following ancillary course requirements:9
General Chemistry I
Honors General Chemistry I
General Chemistry Laboratory I
Majors General Chemistry I Laboratory
Honors General Chemistry I Laboratory
General Chemistry II
Honors General Chemistry II Lecture
General Chemistry Laboratory II
Majors General Chemistry II Laboratory
Honors General Chemistry II Laboratory
Total Hours27
1

Note: BIOL 3020 Practical Laboratory Skills will not satisfy the upper division level elective requirement. 

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.