Good Reasons to Get Your Master’s in Biology

An undergraduate degree in Biology may not be enough professional training for many students’ career goals.  If you wish to get a job in the field of biology that has more responsibilities and offers higher salaries, you will most likely need to pursue your master’s degree. 

A master’s degree opens up a much wider range of career options than an undergraduate biology degree.  Graduates have careers that include research, government services or as naturalists at county, state and national parks. Others find employment in the private sector as waste management or environmental consultants, at planning agencies or as teachers. 

M.S. in Biology programs vary from university to university.  At Governors State, we offer a graduate major in Environmental Biology that prepares students to work as professional biologists with a strong environmental emphasis. The application of quantitative methods and the design of field and laboratory studies are a large part of our dynamic program. 

Before you apply to a graduate school, you need to check out the requirements. At GSU we require applicants to have completed a bachelor's degree with a GPA of 2.75 or higher and maintained a GPA of 3.0 or higher for any graduate work attempted.  In addition there are several prerequisites that students must have successfully completed with a “C” or better.

Beyond the science prerequisites, we also expect our graduate students to be proficient in a Windows environment with file management, word processing, spreadsheet, graphing, and Internet skills.  For the full GSU requirements and program details, please see our website or talk with a department advisor. 

At GSU each college has stellar programs and world-class professors; all of which are focused on delivering academic excellence in a small-class setting.  For students interested in pursuing a career as a professional biologist with an emphasis on the environment, we offer our master’s in environmental science.