Funding Overview
Biomedical engineering at Texas A&M University provides multi-year funding offers to all admitted doctoral students. Master’s level students can be considered for assistantships at any point in their degree. All applicants are evaluated for funding opportunities using their EngineeringCAS application.
Students who receive funding for graduate school generally receive one or more types of financial assistance: assistantships, fellowships, and competitive scholarships. All offers of admission and funding require that students identify a research supervisor.
Assistantships
All assistantship funding offers include:
- Monthly stipends starting at $30,000 per year
- Full payment of resident tuition and allowable fees
- Health benefits (medical, dental, vision)
Graduate Assistant - Research is a paid appointment to work on a specific research project with a dedicated faculty member. Incoming students are automatically evaluated for GAR positions using their EngineeringCAS application. Students can contact faculty members with whom they would like to work at any point during the application process.
Graduate Assistant - Teaching is a paid appointment to support one or more lecture- or lab-based courses. These positions are available to current students of the department and are offered on a semester-by-semester basis.
Graduate Assistant - Lecturer is a paid appointment to serve as the primary instructor of record for a lecture- or lab-based course. These positions are limited to doctoral students in the department who have passed their preliminary exam.
Training Grants
Biomedical engineering participates in the National Institutes of Health T32 Grant, the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program. This funding is dedicated to supporting the training of a diverse and highly trained workforce to assume leadership roles in biomedical research at the doctoral level. Students receive one year of grant funding, followed by paid assistantship positions for the remainder of their degree.
Fellowships
A fellowship provides students with a direct stipend that leaves them open to select their research project and supervisor. Many students in the department are supported by fellowships from outside agencies (NSF, NIH, etc.). Fellowships from the university support others.
BME National Excellence Fellows
The department will consider highly qualified undergraduate and master's students planning to pursue a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering. Applicants should intend to pursue translational research that impacts the biomedical engineering industry. Candidates eligible for external fellowships from organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) will be most competitive for this award.
More information on BME National Excellence Fellows
College and University Fellowships
Fellowships are available to U.S. Residents and permanent residents whose complete application is received before December 1. Students must be seeking fall admission to be eligible for these fellowships. (Once students have begun graduate studies at Texas A&M University, they are no longer eligible for this award.)
External Fellowships
Several external entities offer highly prestigious and competitive awards. Each varies greatly in funding amount, duration and degree progress requirements. Although not an exhaustive list, the most common sources of external fellowship funding for current and admitted students come from the organizations listed below.
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Department of Defense (DOD)
- American Heart Association (AHA)
- Hertz Foundation
- National research labs (Air Force National Research Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, etc.)
Search national fellowship opportunities on the Texas A&M University LAUNCH website.
Competitive Scholarships
The Department of Biomedical Engineering provides several competitive scholarships yearly to high-achieving students. This scholarship provides students a $1,000 per year award, which also carries an out-of-state tuition waiver, reducing a student's tuition to the in-state rate.
Information on other university scholarships.
Other Resources
Additional funding options can be found at the below links: