Microbiology: General Microbiology Emphasis Bachelor of Science

4 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

University of Arizona

Program Overview

If you're captivated by how the invisible world of bacteria, viruses, and fungi shapes everything from human health to the planet's ecosystems, this is your program. The General Microbiology Emphasis gives you the broadest possible foundation in the field — letting you explore medical, environmental, food safety, and plant pathology angles before choosing your specialty, all while training you in the same rigorous lab and research skills that make University of Arizona microbiology graduates so sought-after.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1 is where you build your scientific backbone. You'll dive into MCB 181R/L – Introductory Biology I, CHEM 151/152 – General Chemistry I & II, and get your first taste of the microbial world through your major's foundational coursework — all while easing into university life with a first-year seminar option like Careers in Microbiology.

Year 2 is when things get exciting — you officially enter microbiology territory. You'll take MIC 285R/L – Principles of Microbiology, work through CHEM 241A/B – Organic Chemistry I & II, and start BIOC 384 – Foundations in Biochemistry, giving you the chemical and biological toolkit you'll lean on for the rest of the degree.

Year 3 is where the major core kicks into high gear. You'll take MIC 350 – Molecular Microbiology, MIC 419 – Immunology, and MIC 421B – Microbial Techniques — a hands-on lab course that puts real diagnostic and research methods in your hands. This is also the year you can apply for the accelerated Master's pathway if you want to fast-track a graduate degree.

Year 4 is where the General Microbiology Emphasis really shines. You'll finish core requirements like MIC 428R/L – Microbial Genetics, then customize your final year with electives pulled from across the discipline — think MIC 420 – Pathogenic Bacteriology, ENVS 425 – Environmental Microbiology, or MIC 433 – Medical and Molecular Virology — building a personalized breadth that few other emphases allow.

Focus areas: Medical and infectious disease microbiology, environmental microbiology, food safety and biotechnology, plant pathology, and microbial genetics — with the freedom to sample across all of them rather than committing to one narrow track.

Learning outcomes: Graduates can apply scientific reasoning to analyze and develop explanations for microbial phenomena, perform and interpret results from real microbiology lab testing, and communicate complex scientific ideas clearly and with strong command of evidence.

Professional alignment (accreditation): The program is delivered through the University of Arizona's School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, part of a university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and its curriculum is built around the core competencies and lab-based training standards recognized across the microbiology profession — giving you a rigorous, well-rounded scientific foundation whether you're headed to grad school, med school, or straight into the workforce.

Reputation (employability rankings): The University of Arizona tied for No. 68 overall and No. 29 among public universities in QS's U.S. University Rankings, placing it in the top 8.8% of nearly 770 U.S. institutions considered — and on the career side, microbiology-related roles carry a median pay of $85,470 with faster-than-average job growth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

You won't just read about microbes at the University of Arizona — you'll be running assays, sequencing genomes, and troubleshooting real diagnostic problems inside working research labs from your very first year in the major. The General Microbiology Emphasis is built around hands-on coursework like MIC 421B – Microbial Techniques and MIC 428L – Microbial Genetics Lab, and because the emphasis is intentionally broad, you can rotate through medical, environmental, and food-safety-focused labs to figure out what excites you most before committing to a career path. Beyond the classroom, the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences (ACBS) connects students directly to active, industry-facing research facilities and the campus-wide BIO5 Institute — so the tools and mentors you need for a real research project are never far away:

Infectious Disease Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (Enterics Research Consortium): Get exposure to Biohazard Level 1 and 2 bacteriology work, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and multi-omics techniques like whole genome sequencing, proteomics, and metabolomics.
Food Testing Laboratory (Ravishankar Lab): Work alongside scientists conducting shelf-life testing, foodborne pathogen screening, and food quality analysis for real industry clients.
Sequencing and Food Safety Consulting Service (Cooper Lab): Learn next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic analysis tools used for microbiome characterization and foodborne pathogen tracking.
Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory: Gain diagnostic and quarantine experience working on microbial disease in the global shrimp industry.
BIO5 Institute & Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP): Land a mentored, paid or for-credit research internship in a working bioscience lab as an undergraduate.
Accelerated Master's Program: Apply as a junior to start earning graduate credit toward an M.S. in Microbiology during your senior year — finishing your master's within a year of your bachelor's.
Internship and independent study credit: Courses like MIC 493 (Internship), MIC/ACBS 492 (Directed Research), and MIC 399/499 (Independent Study) let you turn outside lab or industry experience into major credit.
Microbiology Club: Connect with peers, faculty, and career-focused programming built specifically for microbiology majors.
Arizona Experiment Station: Take classes and conduct fieldwork across 11 real-world research locations statewide, from incubation studies to large-scale agricultural trials.
Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library: Access science- and engineering-focused collections, technology-rich study spaces, and a dedicated learning studio to support your coursework and research writing.
CALES Career Center: Get direct support finding, applying for, and landing microbiology-related internships and jobs.

Progression & Future Opportunities

A microbiology degree from the University of Arizona sets you up for real, in-demand careers protecting human, animal, and environmental health — not a vague "science degree" with no clear direction. Whether you head straight into the workforce or continue toward graduate or professional school, you'll graduate with lab skills and research experience that employers and admissions committees actively look for. Typical roles graduates step into include:

Clinical or research microbiologist
Food safety and quality assurance specialist
Public health or environmental laboratory technician
Biotechnology or pharmaceutical research associate

Here's what makes that path realistic and well-supported at the University of Arizona:

Career services built for this exact major: The CALES Career Center offers one-on-one appointments (booked through CatCloud), resume and application document review, and access to the College's dedicated job and internship board — all tailored to agriculture and life sciences careers like microbiology.
Strong salary and demand data: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, microbiology-related careers carry a median pay of $85,470 per year, with job growth projected faster than the average for all occupations.
University-wide career outcomes: Across the University of Arizona, about 9 in 10 students engage in at least one career-related experience — internship, research, or similar — before graduating, and the university tracks a 74% knowledge rate on where recent graduating classes land within six months.
Real university–industry partnerships: Programs like the Enterics Research Consortium (Infectious Disease Research and Diagnostics Laboratory) work directly with academic, clinical, and commercial partners on drug development and diagnostics, while the Ravishankar Food Testing Lab and the Cooper Lab's Sequencing and Food Safety Consulting Service partner with food companies and agencies on real safety and genomics work — giving students direct exposure to industry problems.
Long-term accreditation value: Because the program is delivered through a Higher Learning Commission–accredited institution and built on a rigorous, lab-heavy core curriculum, your degree carries recognized weight with employers, licensing bodies, and graduate/professional admissions committees for the long haul.
Scholarship and funding support: CALES offers over $1 million in exclusive scholarships to help make this degree — and everything that follows it — more affordable.

Further Academic Progression: If you want to keep going after your B.S., the University of Arizona makes that transition seamless. As a junior, you can apply directly into the Accelerated Master's Program in Microbiology, earning dual undergraduate/graduate credit and finishing your M.S. within a year of your bachelor's. From there, the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences also offers a full Ph.D./M.S. in Microbiology, where you'll work alongside core research faculty in immunology, food safety, and infectious disease while pursuing thesis or dissertation research. And because the degree builds such a strong science foundation, it also serves as a natural launchpad toward professional programs in medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, or public health for students who want to take their microbiology training even further.