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Biology

What Will I Learn?

By successfully completing an associate degree with emphasis in biological sciences you will be able to:

  • Observe, hypothesize, experiment, and form conclusions in various settings.
  • Integrate knowledge from multiple biological disciplines and apply to unfamiliar or challenging situations .
  • Communicate about ideas coherently and logically.

What Is The Occupational Outlook?

Employment as biological scientists will increase by 9-17 percent over the 2004-14 period, since biotechnological research and development will create new jobs. Increase in the need for research related to health issues such as cancer will also create new jobs. Biological scientists will need to assess harmful effects on the environment and how to correct such effects. Specialized fields such as zoology or botany or marine biology need biological scientists. Instructors are always needed. 1

There are many good places to learn about specific career paths for those with a biological sciences degree (available in PDF format).

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Further training and specialization may be required for employment in labs, universities, federal government, agriculture, sales, and conservation.

What Are My Options?

The associate degree with emphasis in biology is designed for students planning to complete the first two years of study leading to a baccalaureate degree and major in physics at a four-year college or university.

Advantages to taking classes at Heartland Community College include:

  • Small class sizes: Small classes allow for more interaction between students and the instructor. At a large university, lecture sections can be as large as 500 students.
  • More access to a dedicated, highly qualified instructor: Most large universities employ graduate students as teaching assistants who have little or no experience teaching.
  • Well-designed courses: Heartland courses include aspects of critical thinking, problem solving, and communication.
  • Lower costs: Tuition and fees are considerably less at Heartland Community College.
  1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Biological Scientists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos047.htm