Because students and professors place different values on syllabi components, perceptions of course objectives vary. Previous studies investigated the relationship between students' and instructors' expectations and syllabi content, but do not address the role of explicitly stated course objectives in syllabi. Our study used qualitative methods to investigate relationships among student-reported perceptions of course objectives, professor-reported intended course objectives, and explicitly stated course objectives from syllabi. We used interviews from two professors who taught introductory biology courses for non-majors, course syllabi, and student responses to an open-ended questionnaire about course objectives. After using a deductive approach to code students' responses, we found only 21% of students accurately identified a course objective listed in the syllabus. We identified three main themes in student reported course objectives: Knowledge (n=539), Practice (n=30), and Performance (n=41). Two of these (Knowledge and Practice) aligned with professor intended course objectives but did not align with explicitly stated course objectives. Based on our findings, we conclude that students poorly identified explicitly stated course objectives but correctly identified their professors' intended objectives. Therefore, we recommend professors better connect their intended course objectives with those explicitly stated in the syllabus.