Penn State Schuylkill will offer a bachelor of science degree in biology starting summer 2015, school officials announced.

The school has been approved to offer a bachelor of science degree in biology, general biology option beginning in summer 2015. The program will be available to current students, as well as to those pursuing acceptance beginning summer and fall 2015.

Students who enroll in the program are able to tailor their program for careers requiring broad backgrounds and diverse skills in the biological sciences, or for graduate study in many fields of biology. Students can select courses from a variety of areas of contemporary biology.

"The ability to offer a bachelor's degree in biology is one of the most exciting things that has happened in the science division during my twenty-five years as a member of the faculty at Penn State Schuylkill," Rod. M. Heisey, biology professor and program coordinator, said in a statement. "Having students at the junior and senior level participating in our classes, and with our research projects will be a great asset both for the campus and the science faculty."

Career opportunities for graduates of the program can include environmental consultants, water quality specialists, teachers and professors, pharmaceutical administrators and chemical technicians. There is also the opportunity for students to secure advanced degrees through graduate study, and prepare for careers in medicine or other health-related professions.

The biology degree is the third baccalaureate degree program that has been added within the past year. At the beginning of the fall 2014 semester, the bachelor of arts in corporate communication and the accounting option in the bachelor of science in Business were added to the list of degrees that students could pursue at Penn State Schuylkill.