San Diego State University

The Biology department at San Diego State University has excellent degree programs with courses taught by over 40 full time, research active faculty members. We serve and mentor approximately 1600 undergraduate majors in Biology and Microbiology, 80 minors, 200+ graduate students, and thousands of students from other departments. SDSU offers a rich variety of coursework in cellular and molecular biology, ecology, evolution, and related fields. In a typical semester, undergraduates have access to over 50 courses. Nearly all of these have class sizes less than 30, or have associated laboratory sections with less than 25 students. We have a large number of laboratory and field-based courses compared with Biology departments at other institutions. The lower division laboratories are taught by graduate students (rather than undergraduates), and many of the upper division laboratories are taught by the professors themselves.

There are significant opportunities for our undergraduates to conduct research with an internationally recognized faculty. Within SDSU, the department of Biology has one of the strongest research programs, with undergraduate, Master's and PhD programs in the areas of Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology. The SDSU student body is tremendously diverse. See a summary of student diversity and graduation rates on our Frequently Asked Questions page, FAQ #19.

Because of our emphasis on laboratory courses, hands-on activities and research opportunities, our graduates are uniquely prepared for a career in biology or the health professions, or postgraduate education.