Students who transfer to UMBC after Summer 2010 will register for either of the new BIOL degree programs. No newly matriculated student will be allowed to chose the old degree program. This will have little effect in terms of total credits but will impose an increased requirement in Math, Statistics or Computer Science. These extra requirements will be balanced by a change that will allow more transfer courses to count toward major requirements.

In the past, a large percentage of transfers from Maryland community colleges or other four-year colleges have transferred courses in microbiology and/or human anatomy & physiology. In the old curriculum, these courses did not count toward the major. In the new curriculum, they can. Either microbiology or human anatomy & physiology can count toward the BIOL B.A. degree but only microbiology can count toward the BIOL B.S. degree.