Admissions Information

Campus where offered

University of Arizona - Main - Tucson

 

Admissions Requirements

Admission to the BME PhD program is a highly competitive process. Our Admissions Committee does a holistic review of all of the following materials. 

Application materials needed:

• GRE scores are NOT required.
• A 1-2 page essay or statement of purpose describing your background, research interests and career goals. Include in your statement any information pertinent to your research experience, whether in course work, special projects or employment. Please explain why you want to obtain a graduate degree in Biomedical Engineering and what, specifically, led you to apply to our graduate program. Please upload via GradApp portal.
• Minimum of three letters of recommendation from former professors or individuals knowledgeable about your academic and scientific abilities. Students can submit/request additional letters of recommendation, if desired. Letters of recommendation should be uploaded via the Grad App portal.
• For initial application, Unofficial College transcripts required. If accepted into program, Official Transcripts will be required prior to matriculation. Applicants are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, or quantitative life sciences for admission into the program, with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (recommended 3.3). Previous coursework including two courses in calculus, ordinary differential equations, and at least one course in life science is required. Applicants lacking in some area at the time of application may provide a plan to gain competence in these areas.
• CV/Resume document/PDF uploaded.
• International Student from a non-English speaking country: 

  • English Proficiency

    • Proof of English proficiency is required for any international applicant born in a country where English is not the official language.  

    • Please check our English Requirement list to verify your need to submit an English proficiency test.  

      Individual departments may require higher scores than the Graduate College and all tests must be dated within 2 years of the enrollment term to be considered valid.  The University of Arizona's institution code for sending official electronic score reports from ETS is 4832. 

  • Acceptable English Proficiency credentials:

    • Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) - minimum score of 79 iBT (or 60 on the revised PBT with no section score lower than 15).  Individual MyBest scores must also be dated within 2 years of the enrollment term to be considered valid. 

    • International English Language Testing System (IELTS) - minimum composite score of 7, with no subject area below a 6

    • Pearson PTE Academic - minimum score of 60

    • Graduate English Language Endorsement from the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL)

    • CEPT Full Academic test - offered by our Center for English as a Second Language (CESL), minimum Total score of 110.

  • Exemptions

    • Those exempt from submitting English proficiency scores are:

      • Applicants from countries where English is the official language.
      • Applicants who have completed a bachelors or graduate degree at a regionally accredited institution in the United States, or an approved institution in an official English speaking country.  Students eligible for this exemption, who are awarded a graduate teaching assistantship from their department, must complete the mandatory English Speaking Proficiency Evaluation (ESPE.)  Refer to the GA Manual for more information:  http://grad.arizona.edu/funding/ga.
      • Applicants who have not yet completed a degree, but have two years of full-time academic study and have taken 48 upper division, graded undergraduate semester units or 30 graded, graduate semester units.  Units must not be older than two years from the term of enrollment.  Students eligible for this exemption, who are awarded a graduate teaching assistantship from their department, must complete the mandatory English Speaking Proficiency Evaluation (ESPE.)  Refer to the GA Manual for more information:  http://grad.arizona.edu/funding/ga.

 

Admissions Deadlines

We currently admit students to begin our program in Fall only. Applications are only accepted between October 1st and January 6th. All application materials must be submitted by December 1 of the year preceding entrance for international applicants, and January 6th of the entrance year for domestic applicants.

Domestic Applicants:

• Fall: January 6

International Applicants:

• Fall: December 1

 

Standardized Tests

International student requirement:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) - minimum score of 79 iBT (or 60 on the revised PBT with no section score lower than 15).  Individual MyBest scores must also be dated within 2 years of the enrollment term to be considered valid. 

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) - minimum composite score of 7, with no subject area below a 6

• Pearson PTE Academic - minimum score of 60

• Graduate English Language Endorsement from the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL)

• CEPT Full Academic test - offered by our Center for English as a Second Language (CESL), minimum Total score of 110.

 

Funding Opportunities

Graduate Funding

Support Throughout Your Degree Program

Teaching and Research Assistantships

All full-time BME doctoral students in good academic standing are supported financially during their graduate studies. This includes annual stipend, in-state tuition, out-of-state tuition (if applicable), and health insurance. First-semester support is typically provided by the department or the college in the form of fellowship or research assistantship.

Beyond the first semester, support is typically provided by the faculty adviser, using funds from the adviser's research grant or the departmentwide training grants (see following section), contingent upon the student's satisfactory academic progress and good standing in the BME program. Students can also be supported through teaching assistantships.

Teaching and research assistantships for master's students are handled on a case-by-case basis. Master's students may also be supported by a variety of fellowships and scholarships.

Detailed information about teaching and research assistantships is available in the UA Graduate College GA Manual.

Scholarships and Fellowships

The BME graduate program encourages all students to seek fellowship funding. The following resources simplify finding, applying for and managing fellowships and scholarships: 

• Graduate College search for funding
• UA graduate diversity programs 
• Scholarship Universe, UA scholarship database and search tool
• UA Office of Fellowships support for finding external funding
• UA Engineering’s deadline-driven list

Among fellowship sources for BME students are the following:

• American Heart Association
• ARCS Foundation (through department)
• BIO5 Institute
• National Institutes of Health Training Grants 
• UA Computational and Mathematical Modeling of Biomedical Systems
• Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research
• Flinn Foundation
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• NSF Graduate Research Program
• Whitaker Foundations

 

International Conditional Admission

International applicants will not be considered for conditional admission by this program.

Other Information

The GRE Institution Code for The University of Arizona is 4832

ETS Major Field Code(s) for this program: 4832

NRC Taxon(a) for this program: Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering

Additional Information About this Program

Program StatisticsInformation about these numbers

Program-level Information
Application Acceptance Rate	30.56%
Avg. Time-to-degree (years)	4.83
Department-level Information
Enrollment Percent Male	55.41%
Enrollment Percent Female	44.59%
Enrollment Percent International	28.38%
Enrollment Percent URM	21.62%

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