The BS in Chemistry is the primary degree for entry into the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and also for graduate programs in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, biomedical engineering, and many other areas. This degree is especially suitable for potential applicants to professional schools in medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. Premed students usually take the MCAT exam in their junior years after completing organic chemistry. The curriculum is certified by the American Chemical Society.

Degree Plan

All students are required to complete the General Education Requirements of their campus in fulfillment of their Bachelor’s degree requirements.

Semesters 1 and 2

Semesters 3 and 4

Semesters 5

Semester 6

  • CHEM3242 Physical Chemistry II Lecture
  • CHEM3244 Physical Chemistry II Laboratory

Semester 7

Semester 8

Cognate Requirements

Semesters 1 and 2

Semesters 3 and 4

Major Requirements

Science Electives:  Any upper-level (3000 or 4000) undergraduate or graduate science course or Independent Study

Free Electives: May be chosen from any courses offered at the University after consultation with an advisor (student may not take BIOL1101 -1102). (Foreign language is recommended for students intending to go to graduate school.)

Advanced Mathematics Course: select one course, three credits, from the following:

Major electives: Take 1-8 credits of CHEM or BIOL. Please see an advisor for a list of courses.

A minimum of 120 credits is required for graduation.

QUEST Options available

  • BS in Chemistry-MAT, Secondary Ed and Special Ed Concentration
  • BS in Chemistry-MAT, Elementary Ed Concentration
  • BS in Chemistry-MAT, Secondary Ed Concentration
  • BS in Chemistry-MAT, Elementary Ed and Special Ed Concentration
  • BS in Chemistry-MAT, P-3 Certification
  • BS in Chemistry-MAT, Secondary Ed and ESL

Course Descriptions

  • BIOL1101 An introduction to the plant kingdom, physiology, anatomy and evolution. Origins of life, cells and basic genetics. Protists, monera and fungi also covered.

  • CHEM1201 The fundamental laws, theories and principles of chemistry, with emphasis on atomic structure, chemical bonding, periodic classification of the elements, solutions, equilibrium, reaction kinetics and the theory and practice of the qualitative chemistry of the common ions.

  • CHEM1202 Fundamental principles of chemistry, with emphasis on atomic and molecular structure, physical, chemical and periodic properties, stoichiometry, energetics, kinetics and equilibria of reactions, and descriptive chemistry of elements, including theory of qualitative analysis of common ions.

  • CHEM1203 Practical applications of the fundamental laws, theories and principles of chemistry through problem solving and laboratory experiments.

  • CHEM1204 Laboratory experiments emphasizing representative physical and chemical properties, synthetic and analytical techniques, and including an introduction to the qualitative analysis of the common ions.

  • CHEM2211 Principles of atomic and molecular structure, stereochemistry, periodicity and boding, with emphasis on the main group elements and their descriptive chemistry. Also covers topics such as hydrogen bonding, acid-based chemistry, inorganic polymers, geochemistry and metallic bonding.

  • CHEM2221 Principles of modern quantitative methods in chemistry, including the study of chemical equilibria, reaction kinetics, acidity and complex formation. The laboratory work involves practical applications of inorganic and organic biochemical analysis using volumetric, gravimetric, chromatographic and instrumental techniques.

  • CHEM2223 Lab: associated with CHEM 2221 - Analytical Chemistry

  • CHEM2261 Structure and chemical properties of aliphatic and aromatic compounds of carbon, with emphasis on electronic theory, mechanisms of reaction and principles of synthesis.

  • CHEM2262 Structure and chemical properties of aliphatic and aromatic compounds of carbon, with emphasis on electronic theory, mechanisms of reaction and principles of synthesis.

  • CHEM2263 A laboratory course taken concurrently with CHEM 2261- Organic Chemistry I, which illustrates important principles of structure and reactivity, synthesis and analysis and structure determination of organic compounds.

  • CHEM2264 A laboratory course taken simultaneously with CHEM 2262 Organic Chemistry II that illustrates important principles of structure and reactivity, synthesis and analysis and structure determination of organic compounds.

  • CHEM2314 Lab associated with Inorganic Chemistry II

  • CHEM3241 The principles of physical chemistry from the molecular and microscopic aspects, kinetic theory, quantum mechanics, spectroscopic studies and statistical concepts, thermodynamics, chemical phase equilibria, electrolytes and electrochemistry.

  • CHEM3242 The principles of physical chemistry from the molecular and microscopic aspects; kinetic theory, quantum mechanics, spectroscopic studies and statistical concepts; thermodynamics, chemical phase equilibria, electrolytes and electrochemistry.

  • CHEM3243 Laboratory experiments demonstrating fundamental laws, concepts and mathematically derived relationships involving selected physico-chemical properties of matter and energy.

  • CHEM3244 Laboratory experiments demonstrating fundamental laws, concepts and mathematically derived relationships involving selected physico-chemical properties of matter and energy.

  • CHEM3281 Chemistry of substances of biological significance, with particular emphasis on proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids, sugars, lipids, hormones and vitamins.

  • CHEM3389 The preparation, separation and identification of biochemicals using modern extractive, chromato- graphic and spectroscopic techniques. Corequisite: CHEM 3281 - Biochemistry I.

  • CHEM4215 Advanced bonding theories, structures, stereochemistry and reaction mechanisms with emphasis on transition metal coordination and sigma and pi bonded organometallic compounds. Also covers topics such as nonaqueous solutions, catalysis, descriptive chemistry of the transitional metals, solid state chemistry and bioinorganic chemistry.

  • CHEM4233 Theory and applications of absorption, emission and inter- pretive spectroscopy, electrochemistry and chromatography to problems of chemical analysis. Introduction to interfacing, data acquisition and data manipulations.

  • CHEM4234 Practical laboratory experiments in absorption, emission and interpretative spectroscopy electroanalytical methods, chromatography and elementary interfacing.

  • CHEM4401 Chemical literature is reviewed through lectures, library assignments and student seminars. Graduating seniors are required to take a non-graded assessment test.

  • MATH1201 Slope, equations of lines, slope of a curve, rate of change of a function, derivatives of algebraic and transcendental functions, maxima and minima, the Mean Value Theorem, indeterminate forms,the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, basic techniques of integration.

  • MATH2202 Differentiation and integration of transcendental functions, methods of integration, indeterminate forms, infinite series. Taylor series. Conic sections.

  • MATH2203 Lines and planes in 3-space. Vectors, functions of several variables, partial derivatives, multiple integrals, line integrals, vector analysis.

  • MATH2337 An introductory course covering both probability and statistics, intended primarily for undergraduate biology students. It includes a section on design of experiments as well as the usual tests of hypotheses, estimation, regression, etc. Mathematics and computer science majors receive no credit for this course.

  • PHYS2201 Applications of PHYS2101 General Physics I. Experiments from mechanics, heat, sound and fluids. Measurement and data analysis.

  • PHYS2202 Applications of PHYS2102 General Physics II. Experiments from electricity, magnetism, circuits, waves, optics, light, modern physics. Measurement and data analysis.

  • PHYS2203 The first half of a two-semester calculus based physics course for science and engineering majors. Topics normally covered include: units and dimensions, forces and motion in one and two dimensions, vectors, momentum and center of mass, work, kinetic energy and the work-energy theorem, potential energy and the conservation of energy, rotation and moment of inertia, torque and angular momentum, gravitation, oscillations, elasticity, fluids, heat, kinetic theory of gases, thermodynamics. Co-requisite: Physics Laboratory I and Calculus I. Lecture: 3 credits, 4 hours.

  • PHYS2204 The second half of a two-semester, calculus based physics course. Topics normally covered include: waves and sound, geometrical and physical optics, electrical forces and fields, electric potential, current and resistance, circuits, capacitance, magnetic forces and fields, force on a moving charge, magnetic field of a current, electromagnetic induction, electromagnetic oscillations and waves, alternating currents, special relativity, quantization and modern physics. Prerequisite: University Physics I Corequisite: Physics Laboratory II Recommended: Calculus II. Lecture 3 credits, 4 hours.