
Biology
A degree in biology from Wartburg College is well-recognized around the nation.
The Wartburg Department of Biology prepares students for a variety of careers, including health professions, research, teaching, biotechnology, and fields involving global and environmental issues. We teach what science is, not just the knowledge it has produced, with inquiry-based learning. While the curriculum of the biology department is rigorous, students also gain an appreciation of how studying biology can be fun, exciting, and rewarding. The success of the biology program is grounded in its inquiry-based emphasis where students facilitate their learning by experiencing science rather than merely reading about it.
Outstanding Graduate Outcomes
Wartburg’s medical school acceptance rate is extremely high and the college has one of the highest rates of students accepted into the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Graduates applying to dentistry, optometry, podiatry, occupational therapy, nursing, medical technology, and chiropractic medicine programs have had similar acceptance rates. Students in pre-health programs who are double majoring in Spanish will have the opportunity to participate in a unique Spanish for Health Professions program at the University of Oviedo, Spain, which includes an advanced Spanish for Health Professionals course and a one-week clinical field experience in Oviedo at the end of the course.
Program Tracks

Biology Teaching
If you enjoy sharing your knowledge and preparing students for success in the sciences, consider becoming an educator.

Dentistry
Dentistry goes beyond great smiles. Dentists are often the first to recognize and identify many different diseases, including high blood pressure and cancer.

Graduate School
Graduate students in the sciences have a passion for specialized knowledge and research and data analysis in hands-on laboratory environments.

Occupational Therapy
OTs help people who have mental, physical, or developmental disabilities often caused by birth defects, injuries, illnesses, or aging.

Medicine
Explore Wartburg’s four dining locations, hours of operation, and meal plan options to accommodate your needs.

Medical Laboratory Science
This field combines the challenges and rewards of basic science, medicine and technology to uncover clues to disease.

Nursing
Registered nursing programs prepare people to work as RNs. Students learn techniques and procedures of caring for patients and helping doctors.

Optometry
Optometrists examine patients’ eyes to diagnose vision problems. They prescribe corrective lenses or other treatments.

Physical Therapy
Physical therapists treat patients to relieve their pain and increase their strength and mobility. Physical therapists care for patients with disabilities, injuries, or pain.

Veterinary Medicine
Doctors of Veterinary Medicine are medical professionals whose primary responsibility is protecting the health and welfare of animals and people.
Graduate Outcomes
Experience more at Wartburg.
- Incredible opportunities are available for both on-campus and off-campus field and lab research experiences in biology.
- Hands-on projects are an integral part of the courses throughout your four years.
- Most biology majors conduct independent research under the guidance of a faculty member.
- Small-college environment with more personal attention and greater opportunities to excel without the pressure of impersonal large classes.
- Wartburg faculty teach ALL classes, unlike larger colleges and universities

For anyone leaving high school right now, if you want to grow into the best version of yourself that you could possibly be, then I’d definitely recommend coming to Wartburg.”
Owen Grover ’24
Current Medical Student, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Ready for more?







