The department offers the Bachelors of Science, Bachelors of Arts, and Masters of Science degrees.
Class sizes are generally small and emphasize a hands-on approach to biology.
Members of the faculty teach all classes and upper-level laboratories, and are readily available to assist students with courses, advising, and research. The Biology Department had been one of the leading departments in extra-mural funding. Much of the outside funding has been used to purchase equipment and involve both graduate and undergraduate students in research. The department also maintains a live animal facility, an herbarium, and a vertebrate animal collection. Additionally, the department operates a Biological Station on the only coastal hypersaline bay in the United States.