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Biology 4+1 Program

Undergraduate students with a minimum of 80 hours of completed course work in their undergraduate program of study (Biological Sciences or Biomedical Sciences) can apply for admission to the Biology 4+1 Program through the Graduate School Application process (see Admission Requirements for Biology - Master of Science), but must do so no later than the second semester of their junior year. The Biology 4+1 Program requires the student applicant to be conditionally accepted into the Graduate School and to the Master of Science Biology degree program prior to their bachelor's degree being awarded.

Admission Requirements

  • Only students who will complete both a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences or Biomedical Sciences and a Master of Science in Biology at Morehead State University are eligible to enroll in the Biology 4+1 Program.
  • Students already enrolled in a graduate program may not retroactively enroll in the Biology 4+1 Program.
  • Only students with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or above and a minimum earned grade of "B" or better in all 300- and 400-level biology (BIOL) courses completed are eligible to enter the Biology 4+1 Program.

Once accepted, the Biology 4+1 student will be assigned a second academic advisor, the Biology Graduate Coordinator, who will carefully monitor the student's progress toward the M.S. in Biology degree completion.

Eligibility to Continue in the Biology 4+1 Program

  1. To continue in the Biology 4+1 Program after admission, the student must earn a grade of "B" or better in each of the three 600-level graduate BIOL courses (totaling 9-12 credit hours) approved for both the B.S. and the M.S. degree plans.
  2. Students must also maintain a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.25.
  3. Students enrolled in the Biology 4+1 Program will take 9-12 credit hours of 600-level graduate BIOL courses. The 600-level graduate BIOL courses will count for both undergraduate and graduate credit, will be posted on each student's undergraduate and graduate transcript and will be calculated in the student's cumulative GPAs for both the bachelor's degree and the master's degree on each of their respective transcripts.
  4. Students must be unconditionally accepted to the Graduate School to continue on to the fifth year, which requires:
    1. Completion of all B.S. Biological Sciences or Biomedical Sciences degree requirements, and
    2. Earning a minimum GRE score of 286 for verbal plus quantitative sections.


Students who do not continue to meet these requirements will be released from the Biology 4+1 Program. Any eligible biology (BIOL) courses the student took for graduate credit and earned a passing grade will still count towards meeting their undergraduate program's degree requirements; and the student will be eligible to apply to the regular Master of Science in Biology degree program after earning the bachelor's degree. The graduate credit taken by a student released from the 4+1 program will also count towards the requirement of any subsequent graduate program in Biology if a grade of "C" or better is achieved.