The program is designed to acquaint students with the principles governing the structure and function of biological systems at every level of organization, from molecules to the biosphere. The curriculum emphasizes ecology and evolution as the context in which these principles can best be understood. In addition, the program places special emphasis on providing opportunities for students to understand the scientific method and to apply it to biological questions. The major program is designed to prepare students for graduate and professional schools and for entry-level biologist positions.

Students successfully completing a major in biology will exhibit a mastery of the basic subject areas of biology and important biological concepts; be able to perform library research on a topic in biology, read and analyze articles in biological journals and write in a style appropriate for the discipline; be able to formulate a testable hypothesis about a biological question, design experiments to test the hypothesis and effectively report the results of the investigation both orally and in writing.