Information regarding a BS in Biology online

[geezcrise]

This is my first post. I want to obtain a BS or BA in Biology or Natural Sciences. I really want to take Physiology, Cell Bio, Immunology, Genetics, etc. How can I do that online? It would be nice to take the "virtual labs," but I can't go to a local college and do so. It's not mandatory. I have already had a first semester General Bio lab and a first semester General Chem lab also. I'm currently looking at Excelsior's BS in Bio. Would I have to take classes elsewhere? What's the least expensive way of doing that? Sorry for all of the questions.

[sanantone]

If you're looking to have all that you need in one place, Excelsior would be the best option. They will offer all of the courses you'll need at $390 per credit hour, however. COSC accepts the Biology GRE to cover the Biology electives, but I don't think they offer all of the courses you'll need. TESC only offers 2 or so biology courses, but it does have a general Natural Sciences program that's easier to complete through non-traditional methods and so does Excelsior. If I would have known that the capstone was coming, I would have quickly knocked out the Natural Science & Mathematics degree at TESC because you can use CBEs (credit-by-exam), Straighterline, and other cheap options to almost complete the whole degree.

I'm most familiar with TESC. I'm sure NAP or someone else can give you more information on Excelsior. I made a hypothetical natural science plan for TESC.
Sanantone's BA in Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Degree Forum Wiki

Berkeley offers a lot of biology courses online, but they are about $700-800 each. University of New England offers some biology courses, but those are about $1100-1400 each. You can take courses like Anatomy & Physiology and Microbiology pretty cheaply at New Mexico Junior College or Clovis Community College. If you dig deep, you might be able to find some excellent options at in-district or in-state community colleges. On the Virtual College of Texas website, I found that one Texas CC offers parasitology/mycology. TESC will count CC courses as UL as long as their course descriptions match those of UL courses offered by TESC or listed in their PLA database. Excelsior and COSC will not give UL credit to CC courses, but COSC will give 9 UL credits for the Biology GRE if you score at least in the 40th percentile and they will also give you 3 UL credits for the Pathophysiology ECE.

Check out Edukan too. It's a consortium of CCs in Kansas. They aren't the cheapest for out-of-state students, but I think they're cheaper than Berkeley.
eduKan Online University | College Online | Degree Programs | Innovating Education
Also, Ohio University offers some biology CBEs, but they only offer 2 or 3 per semester. Straighterline offers several science courses with labs, but they're all LL (with the exception of TESC possibly counting Microbiology as UL). Ocean Community College offers online science courses with labs that are done in your home, but they're also just LL courses and can get kind of expensive.

[cookderosa]

If you're looking to have all that you need in one place, Excelsior would be the best option. They will offer all of the courses you'll need at $390 per credit hour, however. COSC accepts the Biology GRE to cover the Biology electives, but I don't think they offer all of the courses you'll need. TESC only offers 2 or so biology courses, but it does have a general Natural Sciences program that's easier to complete through non-traditional methods and so does Excelsior. If I would have known that the capstone was coming, I would have quickly knocked out the Natural Science & Mathematics degree at TESC because you can use CBEs (credit-by-exam), Straighterline, and other cheap options to almost complete the whole degree.

I'm most familiar with TESC. I'm sure NAP or someone else can give you more information on Excelsior. I made a hypothetical natural science plan for TESC.
Sanantone's BA in Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Degree Forum Wiki

Berkeley offers a lot of biology courses online, but they are about $700-800 each. University of New England offers some biology courses, but those are about $1100-1400 each. You can take courses like Anatomy & Physiology and Microbiology pretty cheaply at New Mexico Junior College or Clovis Community College. If you dig deep, you might be able to find some excellent options at in-district or in-state community colleges. On the Virtual College of Texas website, I found that one Texas CC offers parasitology/mycology. TESC will count CC courses as UL as long as their course descriptions match those of UL courses offered by TESC or listed in their PLA database. Excelsior and COSC will not give UL credit to CC courses, but COSC will give 9 UL credits for the Biology GRE if you score at least in the 40th percentile and they will also give you 3 UL credits for the Pathophysiology ECE.

Check out Edukan too. It's a consortium of CCs in Kansas. They aren't the cheapest for out-of-state students, but I think they're cheaper than Berkeley.
eduKan Online University | College Online | Degree Programs | Innovating Education
Also, Ohio University offers some biology CBEs, but they only offer 2 or 3 per semester. Straighterline offers several science courses with labs, but they're all LL (with the exception of TESC possibly counting Microbiology as UL). Ocean Community College offers online science courses with labs that are done in your home, but they're also just LL courses and can get kind of expensive.

This is excellent info. I wonder about the wiki. My microbiology through Ocean was only 200 level (not 300/400) and I'd be cautious about using SL micro expecting UL. Is there confirmation that the ECE Microbiology doesn't duplicate credit?

**EDIT** I mis-read what you wrote. I see that you've listed both micros as options, not that both would be taken together. Sorry!

I always found the choices in online biology far and away exceed those in any other science, making it hard to get the right ratio of subjects to fit. I will tell you that I know for a fact, TESC will back fill your upper levels with graduate credit not part of a degree plan. I know this because I've got graduate credit in science through Harvard Extension that I took but was never "degree seeking" so it's legit. HES offers graduate credit in MANY sciences with no prereqs and no red tape- just sign up. The problem? It's expensive tuition and 16 week semesters.

[sanantone]

I put up a disclaimer because it's not verified that any of those courses will count as UL natural sciences except for the MIS DSST and a couple of people have had success with the Networking TECEP. Microbiology is listed as UL in the PLA database. I don't know if one could argue for UL credit based on that. I asked TESC for a list of how ECEs will transfer. I was told that they were researching an answer about two or three weeks ago!

[sanantone]

Oh, Microbiology for Health is a 200-level course. So if the course says anything about allied health and maybe even medical professionals in the course title or course description, then there is a good chance it will not be UL. So, try to find a Microbiology for majors course.