TL;DR: CHED prescribes most, but not all, Philippine science degrees through programme-specific memorandum orders. Biology (CMO 49, s. 2017), Marine Biology (CMO 46, s. 2017), Chemistry (CMO 47, s. 2017), Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (CMO 48, s. 2017), Statistics (CMO 42, s. 2017), Physics and Applied Physics (CMO 20, s. 2007), Environmental Science (CMO 35, s. 2005) and Geology (CMO 35, s. 2008) each have one. Biochemistry and molecular biology do not — those are school-designed. And of the whole group, only chemistry and geology lead to a PRC licence. If you are choosing a science course expecting a board exam at the end, that is the sentence to read twice.
This is a routing post. It maps the field, names the governing document for each degree, flags where a licence exists, and sends you to the full guide for whichever one you are actually considering.
The Map
| Degree | CHED policy | PRC board exam |
|---|---|---|
| BS Biology | CMO No. 49, s. 2017 | None |
| BS Marine Biology | CMO No. 46, s. 2017 | None |
| BS Chemistry | CMO No. 47, s. 2017 | Yes — Chemist Licensure Examination, RA 10657 |
| BS Mathematics and BS Applied Mathematics | CMO No. 48, s. 2017 | None |
| BS Statistics | CMO No. 42, s. 2017 | None |
| BS Physics and BS Applied Physics | CMO No. 20, s. 2007 | None |
| BS Environmental Science | CMO No. 35, s. 2005 | None |
| BS Geology | CMO No. 35, s. 2008 | Yes — Geologist Licensure Examination, RA 10166 |
| BS Biochemistry | No dedicated CMO | None |
| BS Molecular Biology | No dedicated CMO | None |
Two structural things are worth noticing before the individual entries.
CHED reissued much of the science shelf in 2017. Statistics, marine biology, chemistry, mathematics and biology all received new Policies, Standards and Guidelines in that one batch, aligned to the post-K-to-12 general education curriculum. Physics and environmental science were not part of that round, and their orders still sit on the pre-K-to-12 general education structure. That is not a quality judgement about the degrees; it is a warning that the unit totals in the older orders will not match what a current curriculum actually looks like.
Two sciences are regulated professions; the rest are not. This is the practical fork in the road, and it is covered properly below.
The Life Sciences
BS Biology is the volume programme and the standard Philippine pre-med route, governed by CMO No. 49, series of 2017. Its content overlaps heavily with what medical school entrance and first-year medicine expect, which is why the degree is often chosen as a stepping stone rather than a destination. There is no biologist licensure exam.
BS Marine Biology became a standalone programme under CMO No. 46, series of 2017, separated from BS Biology rather than run as a specialisation inside it. If your interest is genuinely marine, the distinction matters: the prescribed curriculum, thesis and practicum are specific to the field rather than bolted on as electives.
BS Biochemistry and BS Molecular Biology are the two entries with no CHED order of their own. Each school builds its own curriculum, which means comparing two programmes requires reading two curricula rather than checking both against a shared standard. For biochemistry there is a second reason to read the curriculum closely, covered in the licensure section below.
The Physical and Mathematical Sciences
BS Chemistry is governed by CMO No. 47, series of 2017, which replaced the earlier 2007 standard and was benchmarked against international chemistry programme frameworks. It is the only pure science on this list where the degree itself is the direct route into a regulated profession.
BS Physics and BS Applied Physics are handled together in CMO No. 20, series of 2007, "Policies and Standards for the Undergraduate Physics Programs." Read its unit tables with the date in mind: its general education component is built on the pre-K-to-12 curriculum, and unlike chemistry, biology, marine biology and statistics, physics was not reissued in CHED's 2017 round.
BS Mathematics and BS Applied Mathematics share CMO No. 48, series of 2017, with a common core in calculus, linear algebra, abstract algebra and analysis, and electives that diverge toward computation and modelling on the applied side.
BS Statistics has its own standard in CMO No. 42, series of 2017, which is unusually explicit about employment destinations and frames the programme in data-science language rather than as a classical mathematics offshoot. If you are weighing statistics against a computing degree, our computing courses comparison covers the other side of that decision.
The Earth and Environmental Sciences
BS Geology runs under CMO No. 35, series of 2008 and is the second of the two licensed sciences here.
BS Environmental Science runs under CMO No. 35, series of 2005 — note that this is a different order from the geology one despite sharing a number, because CHED numbers restart each year. It is one of the older standards still in force and, like physics, is built on the pre-K-to-12 general education structure.
Do not confuse BS Environmental Science with BS Environmental Planning, which is a separate CHED programme with its own standard, CMO No. 60, series of 2017. They are different degrees with different destinations.
The Licensure Question, Properly
This is where most of the wrong advice about science courses lives.
Chemistry. Republic Act No. 10657, the Chemistry Profession Act of 2015, sets the Chemist Licensure Examination. Its scope is Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Inorganic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, with the law providing that the relative weight of any subject "shall not exceed thirty percent (30%) or be less than fifteen percent (15%) of the total." To pass, an examinee must obtain a general average of at least 70 percent with no rating below 50 percent in any subject. There is a provision worth knowing: an examinee who passes any two subjects "shall automatically qualify as a chemical technician," a separate registration the same law creates, for which the entry requirement is at least 30 units of undergraduate chemistry.
Eligibility for the chemist exam is where allied-degree holders need to be careful. RA 10657 admits a holder of a BS Chemistry degree "or an allied degree," but only where the applicant "must have earned at least sixty (60) university units in chemistry which shall include all of the professional chemistry courses," and where "the allied degree and its curriculum shall have passed the evaluation of the Board." That is a curriculum-by-curriculum determination made by the Board of Chemistry. If you are enrolling in a biochemistry programme partly because you intend to sit the chemistry board, get that question answered by PRC and the Board before you enrol, not after you graduate.
Geology. Republic Act No. 10166, the Geology Profession Act of 2012, sets the Geologist Licensure Examination, covering General Geology, Petrology and Mineralogy, and Applied Geology. The law requires a general weighted average of no less than 70 percent and a rating of no less than 50 percent in any subject to pass. Eligibility is straightforward: a graduate of a recognised institution conferred a BS in Geology, a BS in Geological Engineering, an MS in Geology or an equivalent degree.
Everything else on this list has no board. No biologist licence, no physicist licence, no mathematician licence, no statistician licence, no marine biologist licence, no environmental scientist licence. That is neither good nor bad in itself, but it changes how you should plan. Without a licensure gate, your employability rests on the specific work you did — thesis, laboratory experience, internships, published or presented output — rather than on a certificate everyone in the field holds.
If You Want to Teach Science
A pure science degree does not by itself make you a licensed teacher in Philippine basic education. Teaching requires a licence from the Board for Professional Teachers, and the usual routes are an education degree with a science major or a science degree combined with the required education units. Our guides to the Bachelor of Secondary Education and Bachelor of Elementary Education cover the teaching-degree side. Confirm current eligibility rules directly with PRC before building a plan around a specific route, because the rules on non-education graduates have been revised more than once.
How to Compare Two Science Programmes
Since most of these degrees end without a licensure exam, the usual proxy for programme quality does not exist. Use these instead.
- Read the CMO, then the school's curriculum, side by side. Where the order sets minimums, see how far above them the school actually sits.
- Ask about laboratory access, not laboratory existence. Hours of hands-on time per student per week is the number that matters.
- Ask what recent thesis topics were, and who supervised them. In a research-shaped degree this is the single most informative question you can ask an admissions officer.
- Ask where the last three graduating batches went. Graduate school, industry, government agencies, or nowhere in the field.
- For biochemistry specifically, count the chemistry units against RA 10657's 60-unit threshold if licensure is any part of your plan.
And if the reason you are looking at pure sciences is that you are avoiding something rather than choosing something, our list of courses without math is a more honest place to start.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools and compare science programmes across the Philippines on SchoolFinderPH.
