What Is BIO 101 at Danville Community College? (4 cr)

You're looking at your DCC degree plan and BIO 101 — General Biology I is on the list. You know it's a science course. You don't know whether it has a lab, how many credits it really is, whether it transfers cleanly to your target university, or whether you need to take a prereq first.

The catalog tells you the title and the credit count. The rest is the actual question.

#Quick answer

• Course code: BIO 101
• Title: General Biology I
• Credits: 4 (lecture + lab combined)
• Prerequisites: None
• Required for: Science gen-ed in most DCC degree programs; required prereq for nursing, biology, environmental, and most allied-health tracks
• Sections per term at DCC: ~13 (Spring 2026), mix of in-person and online
• Transfers as: Direct match at almost every Virginia public university — see the detailed table below

#What BIO 101 actually teaches

BIO 101 is the first semester of the VCCS general biology sequence. The content covers the foundational concepts every later biology and health-science course assumes:

• Cell structure and function
• DNA, genetics, and inheritance
• Cellular metabolism and energy (photosynthesis, respiration)
• Evolution and natural selection
• Basic ecology and biological diversity

The course is split between lecture (the conceptual material) and lab (hands-on microscopy, dissection, experimental design, lab report writing). The 4-credit designation reflects this: typically 3 credits of lecture + 1 credit of lab, packaged as one course. You can't take only the lecture.

BIO 101 is the prerequisite for BIO 102 (General Biology II), which covers organismal biology, anatomy basics, and ecosystems. The two together form a year-long general biology sequence that transfers as one block to most Virginia universities.

#Is BIO 101 required?

For most DCC associate degree programs, yes — either BIO 101 or another lab science satisfies the natural-science gen-ed requirement. For programs that explicitly require general biology (rather than allowing any lab science), BIO 101 is locked in:

• Health sciences (nursing, allied health, dental hygiene, etc.) — BIO 101 is a prereq for the program-specific prereqs (anatomy & physiology, microbiology)
• Biology and pre-med tracks — BIO 101 + BIO 102 are the first two courses in the major sequence
• Environmental science and agriculture programs — usually require BIO 101 + BIO 102
• Liberal arts and business degrees — BIO 101 satisfies the science requirement but isn't specifically required; you can substitute chemistry, physics, geology, etc.

If you're unsure whether your specific degree plan requires BIO 101, check the program checklist or run a degree audit through the MyDCC portal.

#Prerequisites: none

BIO 101 has no prerequisites at DCC or anywhere else in VCCS. You can take it as a first-semester course alongside SDV 100 and ENG 111. Most science-track and nursing-track DCC students do exactly that.

The flip side: because BIO 101 has no prereqs, it's a popular freshman course and fills early. The 13 sections per term at DCC (mix of in-person and online) usually have decent availability, but online sections fill fastest, especially in fall.

#Credits and grading

BIO 101 is 4 credits — 3 lecture + 1 lab packaged as one course.

• Roughly 60 hours of total classroom time over a 15-week semester (3 hours of lecture + 2-3 hours of lab weekly)
• Counts toward full-time status. A 12-credit semester with BIO 101 + ENG 111 + a math course + SDV 100 = full-time.
• Counts toward graduation hours. The 4 credits go toward your 60-65 credit degree total.
• Graded A through F. The grade includes both lecture exams (midterm + final, typically) and lab work (reports, practicals).

A B in BIO 101 is a typical outcome for students who attend regularly and complete the lab reports. Failures usually come from missing lab work — labs are hard to make up because they require physical attendance with equipment.

#How BIO 101 transfers (this is the big one)

BIO 101 from DCC transfers as a direct match to virtually every Virginia public 4-year university. This is one of the most cleanly portable courses in the VCCS catalog:

| Receiving university | BIO 101 maps to | Credits | Type | |---|---|---|---| | University of Virginia | BIOL 2100 | 4 | Direct | | Virginia Tech | BIOL 1105 + 1115 | 4 | Direct | | George Mason University | BIOL 105 & BIOL 103 | 4 | Direct | | Old Dominion University | BIOL 121N + 122N | 4 | Direct | | Virginia Commonwealth University | BIOL 151 + BIOZ 151 | 4 | Direct | | Virginia State University | BIOL 120 | 3-4 | Direct | | University of Mary Washington | BIOL 121 | 4 | Direct | | Virginia Wesleyan University | BIO 132 | 4 | Direct |

Almost every receiving university splits BIO 101 into a lecture course + lab course at their end (e.g., VCU's BIOL 151 lecture + BIOZ 151 lab). The credit count is preserved (4), and both halves count toward your degree.

What "direct match" means for you: if your major at the receiving university requires General Biology I — and most STEM and health-science majors do — your DCC BIO 101 satisfies that exact requirement. You don't retake it.

For private universities or out-of-state schools, check the institution's specific equivalency table. Most still accept BIO 101 as a direct match, but verify before registering.

For more on what direct match vs elective credit actually means for your timeline, see our transfer credit explainer.

#When to take BIO 101 in your plan

If you're a science or health-science major:

• First semester is ideal. BIO 101 has no prereqs, and BIO 102 has BIO 101 as a prereq. Starting BIO 101 in fall means you can take BIO 102 in spring, finishing the sequence in your first year.
• For nursing: BIO 101 + BIO 102 are prereqs for anatomy & physiology (BIO 141, BIO 142), which is the gateway to clinical courses. Plan backward from your intended program start.

If you're a non-science major using BIO 101 to satisfy a gen-ed:

• Take it any semester. The 4 credits can balance out a lighter math semester or fill a needed credit gap.
• Online sections work well for non-majors but require self-discipline to keep up with lab work.

#How BIO 101 compares across VCCS

DCC's BIO 101 is the same VCCS-system course offered at all 23 Virginia community colleges. The credit count (4), title, and learning outcomes are standardized. Practical differences across colleges:

• Section count varies — large urban colleges (NOVA, TCC, Reynolds) run 40+ sections per term; smaller rural colleges run 5-15.
• Mode mix varies — DCC offers more online sections (9 of 13 in Spring 2026) than most VCCS colleges, reflecting Southside Virginia's geography.
• Instructor and lab format vary by college, but the curriculum and transfer equivalency are identical.

If you're considering taking BIO 101 at a different VCCS college (e.g., for a summer term while you're back home), the credit transfers within VCCS automatically and counts the same toward your DCC degree.

#The bottom line

BIO 101 at Danville Community College is the first semester of general biology — 4 credits, lecture + lab combined, no prereqs, ~13 sections per term. It satisfies the natural science gen-ed for most associate degrees and is the required entry point for biology, nursing, allied health, and most STEM tracks.

The big win is transfer: BIO 101 lands as a direct match at every major Virginia public university we track. That makes it one of the highest-value courses you can take at DCC if you plan to transfer.

To browse current BIO 101 sections at DCC — days, times, modes, seat counts — visit the BIO 101 course page. And if BIO 101 is part of a longer transfer plan, our Virginia GAA transfer guide walks through which Virginia universities offer guaranteed admission and how community college credits map into their programs.