Every entry on this page is a two-year associate degree in biology at an American community college, and almost all of them exist for one purpose: to be the first half of a bachelor's degree taken somewhere else. Used properly that is one of the cheapest routes into a science degree in the country. Used carelessly it costs two years.
How this list is ordered: Ordered by each university's QS World University Rankings position where it has one, then by research citations recorded by OpenAlex; one programme per university, and universities with neither measure are left out.
Same 35 records.
Counted from the intake stated on 17 of 35 records. A programme listing more than one intake is counted under each.
Science with a biology focus at CUNY Bronx Community College — a two-year associate degree covering the first-year and second-year science core.
That means general biology with laboratories, general chemistry and mathematics, taken at community college prices rather than university ones.
CUNY Queensborough Community College
Biology at CUNY Queensborough Community College, covering the standard science core at a much lower cost than a four-year university.
In a large public university system, the route into that system's own senior colleges is usually the smoothest.
An Associate of Science in biology at Barry University, a private university in Florida rather than a community college.
No length is recorded. A private institution costs more than a community college, and the usual advantage is a guaranteed route into its own bachelor's degree.
Jobs graduates go into
An Associate of Science in biology at Sul Ross State University, in west Texas, running two years.
Taking the credential at a university rather than a community college usually makes moving into that university's own bachelor's degree simpler. Texas also runs a statewide transfer framework.
Jobs graduates go into
Pellissippi State Community College
Biology at Pellissippi State Community College, in eastern Tennessee, covering the standard two-year science core.
Tennessee runs statewide pathways between its community colleges and public universities, which makes the credit position more predictable than in many states.
Jobs graduates go into
North Central Michigan College
Biology at North Central Michigan College, listed at two semesters — a year of full-time study rather than the usual two years.
That means fewer credits than a full associate degree, closer to a certificate in weight, which affects how much carries into a bachelor's degree.
Also named for this programme
Southern University at Shreveport
Biology at Southern University at Shreveport, a historically Black institution in Louisiana, running two years.
Taking the credential at a university rather than a community college usually means a clear internal route into its own bachelor's degree.
Jobs graduates go into
San Jose City College teaches the biology core — cellular biology, genetics, ecology and evolution — as the foundation a degree builds on.
California has the most developed transfer machinery in the country, with formal documented pathways into both state university systems. That makes two years here a genuinely cheap route into the same bachelor's degree.
Jobs graduates go into
Lamar State College-Port Arthur
Lamar State in Port Arthur delivers the two-year science core with its laboratory work attached, covering cellular biology and ecology.
Laboratory hours are the part that cannot be skipped or substituted later, so getting them here saves repeating them. Texas runs a statewide field-of-study framework that moves credit between public institutions on fixed terms.
Coastline is known for distance and flexible teaching, which creates one specific problem in biology.
The taught content covers cellular biology, genetics, ecology and physiology well enough. The laboratory component is the constraint, since it cannot be completed at a distance, so how and where those sessions run matters more here than anywhere else on this subject.
Jobs graduates go into
Springfield Technical Community College
The title says it plainly: a biology transfer programme at Springfield Technical Community College, built to move into a bachelor's degree rather than to stand alone.
That labelling usually means the course list has already been matched against the universities students go on to.
Jobs graduates go into
Mt. San Jacinto Community College District
Biology at Mt. San Jacinto College, a Californian community college district, running two years.
California's statewide transfer pathways are the strongest argument for starting at a community college there. The chemistry sequence is the part most worth confirming in any agreement.
Green River states the size of this award precisely: 90 credits across six quarters, which is two years in a quarter system.
That credit figure decides both the cost and how much transfers, which is more useful than a length in years.
The track sits inside the science, technology, engineering and mathematics group, and Washington holds a direct transfer agreement with its state universities.
Harford in Maryland runs the general biology and chemistry sequence with laboratories, which is exactly what a bachelor's degree assumes you arrive with.
Students spend real time at the bench learning practical technique rather than reading about it. Maryland's community colleges hold credit agreements with the state university system, so the transfer terms are published rather than negotiated.
Warren County Community College
Biology at Warren County Community College, a small institution in New Jersey, running two years.
Small colleges mean smaller laboratory sections and more contact with instructors, and fewer courses on offer. A course taught only in alternate years can delay a transfer.
Northwest Mississippi Community College
Northwest Mississippi covers the life sciences core that the first two years of a degree would otherwise take up.
Cellular biology sits among the named topics, taught as an introduction broad enough to support any later specialism. Mississippi operates a statewide articulation framework between its colleges and universities, which fixes how the credit is counted.
Western Oklahoma State College
Biology recorded as an option at Western Oklahoma State College, which suggests biology is a track within a broader associate degree rather than a standalone course.
That matters for transfer, because a general degree with a biology emphasis carries fewer science credits than a dedicated one.
Jobs graduates go into
Biology at Little Priest Tribal College, in Nebraska. Tribal colleges are accredited institutions chartered by and serving Native American communities.
They are usually small, with support built around their students, and their credit transfers like any other accredited college's.
South Central College names the purpose in the title: this is a transfer pathway, matched to what receiving universities expect.
A named pathway is the most reliable transfer credential available at this level, because the course list has already been aligned rather than assessed afterwards. The biology foundation itself is broad, covering the main areas before the move to a four-year institution.
It depends on the agreement between the two institutions, not on the credential itself. Confirm with the receiving university that an agreement covers biology, that the credit counts towards the major rather than only general education, and specifically that the laboratory sciences transfer — those are the courses most often refused.
Generally not with this credential. Biology technician roles usually want a bachelor's degree, and the clinical laboratory professions have their own accredited programmes and certification examinations. If immediate employment is the aim, look for a named technical programme such as clinical laboratory technician or biotechnology technician instead.
It works, and it is far cheaper. Two cautions: check that the specific prerequisite courses each professional school requires are satisfied by the community college versions, and be aware that some admissions committees prefer prerequisites completed at a four-year institution. The common solution is to transfer and complete upper-level science there.
The total credit count, which is recorded for only one entry here — 90 credits over six quarters. Ask every college for that figure, then ask the receiving university how many of those it would accept and how many towards the biology major specifically. Get the answer in writing.
Not completely. Every entry here is recorded as on campus and full time, and the laboratory component is both essential and the part universities scrutinise on transfer. Many colleges teach lectures online with on-campus laboratories — ask whether that hybrid version transfers identically before enrolling in it.
