Degrees type: Bachelor

Main Campus

With a Biology degree from Mount Aloysius College your career options are exciting, varied and compelling. You may want to teach, delve into research, study medicine, dentistry or other areas of the health sciences.

Your professors are scientists who take you from concept to application by being supportive and accessible. Biology students have opportunities to immerse themselves in research in the lab and in the field, participate in internships, and apply classroom concepts directly to the natural world.

Discover. Connect. Learn. Launch.

Find a successful, rewarding career in Biology with MAC!

The topics that fall under Biology are immense, and we want to do our best to cultivate students’ interests in the vast world of biology. This includes exposure to a diverse variety of fields from Agronomy to Zoology, and everything in between. Through our new study structure within the Biology department, students will discover the vast number of opportunities available to work in the field of math or biology.

Discover

Freshman Year

Freshman biology students will take the time to discover more about Biology and to really learn about what is available to them. Students will have the opportunity to explore different topics and cultivate a love for science and learning.

Club fairs

Workshops

Peer mentoring

Meet with faculty advisors

Create a digital portfolio

Connect

Sophomore Year

Sophomore students take the skills they learned freshman year and begin to apply them to the research process. They start to take their first steps into creating their own projects, and learn how to synthesize and analyze information to benefit their work.

Primary literary analysis and synthesis

Develop projects and write a hypothesis

Write grant proposals

Learn

Junior Year

Through working with a faculty mentor, junior biology students will begin to repeat existing biological experiments, while learning more about how to properly research and perform tests and studies.

Work with faculty mentor

Repeat known experiments

Practice research ethics

Develop methodologies to test hypotheses

Research and keep lab notes

Launch

Senior Year

In their final year at MAC, senior biology students will present their work to faculty and peers. Students will learn how best to display their findings and how to communicate about their projects with their contemporaries, all with the goal of finding their perfect job upon graduation.

Present works

Complete 20-page research paper

Perform poster and oral presentation

Career survey

Program Highlights

  • Growing job-market
  • Multitude of career paths
  • Research-based and hands-on learning

  • Minor Available

Student working in the lab with a professor

As a biology graduate, your potential career choices are endless and include:

  • Research
  • Medicine and Other Areas of Healthcare
  • Environmental Conservation
  • Education
  • Forensic Science

Research enables you to learn hands-on skills, answer scientific questions, and fulfill the scientific method.

  • Do you want to identify diatoms in Abandoned Mine Drainage? We’ve got it!
  • Want to measure the bone size of dinosaur fossils? We’ve got it!
  • Want to understand the role of proteins in human placenta? We’ve got it!

Research is a rewarding part of your undergraduate degree.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the following employment growth from 2021-2031:

  • Physicians/Surgeon employment rate will grow by 3% with a median pay of $208,000.
  • Zoologists/Wildlife Biologists employment rate will grow by 1% with a median pay of $64,650.
  • Environmental Scientists employment rate will grow by 5% with a median pay of $76,530.
  • Biological Technicians employment rate will grow by 9% with a median pay of $48,140.

*Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Biology major at Mount Aloysius College prepares students to enter careers in biology or to pursue graduate or professional education with a foundation in the liberal arts. The goals of the program include:

  • Scientific Method – Students will be able to effectively define and use the scientific method to answer biological questions;
  • Reasoning and Analysis – Students will be able to critically analyze scientific data and its interpretation both in the literature and in their own experimental work;
  • Core Biological Knowledge – Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of core biological subjects;
  • Research Skills – Students will be able to identify and utilize appropriate resources for both primary and secondary research. In addition, students will be able to identify and utilize the appropriate experimental design, methodology, and equipment to conduct field and laboratory research in an ethically sound manner; and
  • Communication Skills: Students will demonstrate respectful communication and collaboration within groups to function cooperatively in a team setting. In addition, students willl be able to organize and express scientific knowledge and their own ideas clearly and coherently both in written and oral formats.

Mount Aloysius College Biology students may aspire to become a physician, surgeon or other medical professional–advancing their education by attending medical school or studying in another health-oriented graduate program. The Mount Aloysius Biology Department also prepares students for a variety of health professions including physician assistants, physical therapists, chiropractors, occupational therapists and other professional occupations in healthcare. Students typically complete a four-year degree at Mount Aloysius College in Biology and then take the appropriate entrance exam (MCAT, GRE, etc) for their chosen field. A Mount Aloysius advisor assists students in the application process and helps them stay on track to reach their goals.

Mount Aloysius College has three articulation agreements with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) for Dental Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, and Pharmacy. Students may also have the opportunity to apply for the LECOM Early Acceptance Program. This enables them to apply to LECOM once they have been accepted at Mount Aloysius College and, if successful, gain a conditional early acceptance letter for their graduate studies.

Learn more about the cooperative programs by visiting the pages below.

A Wide Variety of Post-Graduate Options

With a Bachelor of Science in Biology, your post-graduate options include: employment, medical & podiatry school, veterinary school, optometry school, dental school, and pharmacy school.
With a Bachelor of Arts in Biology, your post-graduate options include: employment, occupational therapy school, high school biology teacher, chiropractic school, physicians assistant school, physical therapy school.

Mountie Spotlight

Ready for Pharmacy

Amanda, ‘18, feels her success is because of her experiences at MAC.

Mountie Spotlight

It’s in their DNA

Three Mounties find their fit in a DNA-based independent research project

Mountie Spotlight

Name That Plant

Leanne appreciated the beauty of MAC’s campus and wanted to educate her peers on the environment that surrounds them!

Mountie Spotlight

A New Look for Science

Pierce Hall has new labs and a new look, and students are loving it.

Watch Dr. John Whitlock, a professor in the science and mathematics department, discuss sauropods.

Watch a video with alum Zara Apakoh talking about the biology program.

Watch a video with alum Patrick McKee talking about learning sustainability at the Mount.

Watch a video with Dr. Merrilee Anderson, a professor in the science and mathematics department, talking about the living classroom.

See the latest on the Biology Program’s Instagram

@biology_mac

Student Voices & Success Stories

  • Kris Hansen, ‘09, currently furthering his education at Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
  • Patrick McKee, ‘11, is a Sustainability Manager and works as adjunct faculty at Eastern Kentucky University.
Students standing in white jumpsuits outside observing nature

The faculty are really involved in your progress and development as a person, and not just as a biologist.

Zara Apakoh
Class of 2017

Upcoming Admissions Events

Still have questions?

A member of the admissions team would love to get connected with you!

Admissions Office

Main Administration Building
7373 Admiral Peary Highway
Cresson, PA 16630