The Department of Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina was established in 1906, awarded its first master's degree in 1923 and first Ph.D. degree in 1955. The Department currently offers Undergraduate (B.S.) and Graduate (M.S. and Ph.D.) degrees in Biological Sciences, with about 1600 undergraduate majors and 70 graduate students representing many states and foreign countries.

With a faculty of more than 45 teaching and research professors, as well as adjunct faculty, the department provides the expertise, the modern facilities, and the flexible curriculum needed to train students in many fields of biology. The department fosters a mutual respect among faculty and students which enables each student to share knowledge and experience with fellow students, and to draw on the expertise of any professor in the department. Graduates of the department are pursuing careers in academic institutions, research institutes, governmental agencies, health facilities, industry and public education.