Students entering the department with a B.A. or B.S. will complete a minimum of coursework equivalent to that required for a master's degree. Courses numbered below 500 may not be included in graduate degree programs. The distribution of coursework and dissertation credits will vary among students and will be based on evaluations by their Research Committees and the Graduate Committee. Financial Support Students are supported financially throughout their graduate career. This support typically comes in the form of teaching assistantships during the academic year, with the student free to conduct their research full-time during the summer.
Students also receive a tuition scholarship.
Many students may also be supported by their faculty research advisor's external grants or by Syracuse University Fellowships, and applying to local and national programs for graduate fellowships is strongly encouraged. Like most graduate programs in the Biological Sciences, we believe our graduate students should be concentrating on their research, not on trying to pay the rent. In addition, tuition is paid in full, and Syracuse University provides excellent health insurance options. Given Syracuse's low cost of living, this is a comfortable income. Although not required, a year of biochemistry is desirable for students interested in cell and molecular biology, while training in statistical analysis is useful for students interested in population biology.