• Learn to work as a team to create new products and technologies. Graduates have many options for professional practice and advanced study.
• Pursue opportunities to participate in faculty-led, hands-on research projects.
• Gain an edge from caring, knowledgeable faculty who are geared toward student success and are available to advise students.
• WSU’s program benefits from strong ties to veterinary medicine on the Pullman campus and human medicine in Spokane.
• You can join a math, science, and engineering community residence hall at WSU Pullman—share classes with your neighbors, study together, get free tutoring, and use the hall’s computer lab.
• In addition to the core bioengineering courses, students select elective courses from bioengineering as well as other engineering and science fields, offering a strong integration in both areas.

Bioengineering is a rigorous engineering degree program that incorporates biological sciences into engineering problem solving and design.

By appropriately choosing electives, bioengineering students can focus their bioengineering education in any of a variety of areas that fit their particular interests, including molecular or cellular bioengineering, biomechanics, bioinstrumentation and device design, transport phenomena, bioengineering analysis, or computational algorithms to improve the lives of individuals.

A major in bioengineering, together with the University's pre-medical or pre-veterinary medicine advising, can serve as ideal preparation for medical or veterinary school.

Sample courses

A few examples of the bioengineering courses you could take:

Bioengineering Analysis

Mechanics of Biological Materials

Bioinstrumentation

Unified Systems Bioengineering

Cellular Bioengineering

Transport Phenomena

Nanobiotechnology

Biomechanics

Bioelectric Phenomena and Devices

More information about the bioengineering program

See the WSU Catalog for degree requirements and talk with your academic advisor about planning and scheduling your courses. All students must meet requirements as outlined in the catalog in order to graduate.

Plan ahead

To certify your major in the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, you will need to complete specific prerequisite courses. Use our list of transfer equivalencies to make sure you take the right transfer courses at your current college.

Also check out the University's transfer student guide for more information on transferring to WSU.

A strong preparation in mathematics, physics, and chemistry is strongly recommended prior to transfer to minimize the time required at Washington State University to complete the bachelor's degree requirements.  Students who have taken statics, differential equations and circuits at their previous institution will be able to proceed through the curriculum in a timely manner.  In particular, transfer students are encouraged to complete statics before transferring to WSU and to complete material and energy balances during summer session at WSU, in order to stay on track to complete the degree in two years after transferring to WSU.

Bioengineering is a rigorous engineering degree program that incorporates biological sciences into engineering problem-solving and design. Successful students in this program have typically earned a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher and scored 1200 or higher on the SAT (Math and Verbal).

If you have strengths and interests like these, bioengineering could be a good fit for you:

• Find life sciences intriguing
• Enjoy being innovative
• Seek to enhance quality of life for humans, animals, and other living systems
• Have a high aptitude in math and natural sciences; enjoy applying math and science to solving problems
• Interest in a medical profession but want additional attractive career options
• Enjoy working with others to address important issues
• Inquisitive-minded and motivated to learn and contribute to societal needs

A variety of state, federal, and university-sponsored programs are available to help students with educational costs. 

For bioengineering majors

The College of Engineering and Architecture offers more than 300 scholarships a year to first- and second-year students. The Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering awards approximately $85,000 annually to students who show leadership and academic promise.  Bioengineering students are encouraged to apply for scholarships offered by the Voiland School.

For all students

Washington State University awards millions of dollars in financial aid and scholarships to students every year based on financial need, academic merit, or a combination of the two.

To get all the financial help WSU can provide, start by doing these two things:

• Complete the University's general scholarship application so you can be eligible for scholarship consideration.
• Complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) so WSU can consider you for aid (scholarships, grants, loans, etc.) based on financial need.

More about WSU scholarships and financial aid

Careers available to graduates span engineering, biomedical, and other biologically based careers. Employers of graduates include medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, biotechnology product manufacturers, government agencies, research laboratories, universities, and product testing laboratories.

Graduates with strong engineering interests are employed as design engineers, quality engineers, sales engineers, and product development engineers.

Many graduates enter advanced study in biomedical engineering or other engineering disciplines or apply for professional schools in human or animal medicine. With advanced degrees, graduates frequently enter research careers. Moreover, bioengineering provides a successful pathway to careers in medicine.

The Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering occupies approximately 75,000 square feet in Wegner Hall, which is adjacent to the College of Veterinary Medicine, enabling close collaboration with health-care researchers and professionals at WSU.

The bioengineering teaching laboratory, which is also located in Wegner Hall, includes state-of-the-art equipment and computers to enable students to test ideas, prove concepts, and interactively learn.