by our College Data Analytics TeamThe main focus area for this major is Biology Studies. For more details on this concentration, visit its profile page.
General Biology is a major offered under the biological and biomedical sciences program of study at Western Carolina University. We’ve pulled together some essential information you should know about the bachelor’s degree program in biology, including how many students graduate each year, the ethnic diversity of these students, whether or not the degree is offered online, and more.
You can jump to any section of this page using the links below:
If you're having trouble deciding which school is best for you, you may want to check out our many college rankings. The bachelor's program at WCU was ranked #711 on College Factual's Best Schools for biology list. It is also ranked #23 in North Carolina.
Here are some of the other rankings for WCU.
During the 2019-2020 academic year, part-time undergraduate students at WCU paid an average of $332 per credit hour if they came to the school from out-of-state. In-state students paid a discounted rate of $173 per credit hour. The following table shows the average full-time tuition and fees for undergraduates.
| In State | Out of State | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $1,000 | $5,000 |
| Fees | $3,285 | $3,285 |
| Books and Supplies | $616 | $616 |
| On Campus Room and Board | $10,954 | $10,954 |
| On Campus Other Expenses | $3,019 | $3,019 |
Learn more about WCU tuition and fees.
You may also want to consider how much in student loans you’ll need when thinking about the overall cost to attend a school. Students who received their bachelor’s degree at WCU in Biology walked away with an average of $23,250 in student debt. That is about the same as the national average of $23,366.
The median early career salary of biology students who receive their bachelor’s degree from WCU is $24,730 per year. That is 11% lower than the national average of $27,753.
WCU does not offer an online option for its biology bachelor’s degree program at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the WCU Online Learning page.
Women made up around 68.0% of the biology students who took home a bachelor’s degree in 2019-2020. This is higher than the nationwide number of 66.0%.
Around 16.5% of biology bachelor’s degree recipients at WCU in 2019-2020 were awarded to racial-ethnic minorities*. This is lower than the nationwide number of 43%.
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| Asian | 2 |
| Black or African American | 6 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 5 |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 0 |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0 |
| White | 80 |
| International Students | 0 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 4 |
General Biology students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.
| Focus Area | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biology Studies | 97 |
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
