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Financial Information
2018-2020 Student Handbook

Optional and Mandatory Fees Application Fees Tuition Fees and Charges
Graduation Fee Laboratory Fees Student Service Fee Technology Fee
Student Records Fee Optional Fees Professional Liability Insurance Competitive Academic Scholarship Awards

Optional and Mandatory Fees

Certain mandatory and optional fees should be anticipated for enrollment at SBMI. Mandatory fees are required of all UTHealth students. Optional fees are not required, but the student may elect to subscribe to any of the services listed under optional fees. Tuition and fees are subject to change and become effective on the date enacted. The Texas Legislature does not set the specific amount for any particular student fee. Student fees are authorized by state statute; the specific fee amounts and the determination to increase fees are made by the university administration and The University of Texas System Board of Regents.

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Application Fees

Application Fee
Any prospective student submitting an application to the school for consideration must also submit a non-refundable $60 application fee. This fee is assessed to cover the cost of processing the application.

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Tuition

Beginning Fall 2018, Texas resident tuition is $248 per semester credit hour. Non?resident tuition is $864 per semester credit hour. All tuition and fees charged are authorized by statute and by regental approval and can be found on the Office of the Registrar’s website: https://www.uth.edu/registrar/current-students/registration/tuition-fee-schedule.htm.

A resident doctoral student who has a total of 100 or more semester credit hours of doctoral work at an institution of higher education is required to pay nonresident doctoral tuition rates. For more information contact the Office of the Registrar.

A student whose hours may no longer be submitted for formula funding because it is the same or substantially similar to a course that the student previously attempted for two or more times at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston will be charged a higher tuition rate of $864 per semester credit hour or nonresident tuition rates.

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Fees and Charges

Application Fee (non-refundable) $60
Graduation Fee (see below) $100
Installment Use Fee $20
Late Payment Fee $25
Late Registration Fee $25
Returned Check Fee $25
Credit Card Service Use Fee 2.5%
Student Liability Insurance Fee (fall semester) $5.25
Student Liability Insurance Fee (spring semester) $5.25
Student Liability Insurance Fee (summer semester) $4.00
Student Health Insurance Fee (annual rate) $2,504
Student ID Replacement Fee $10/card
Laboratory Fee $30/applicable course
Student Services Fee (see below)  
Information Technology Access Fee $36/semester
Computer Resource Fee $100/semester
Technology Fee $100/semester
Alternative Instruction Delivery Fee  
(In and Out of State) for Web Courses $110/semester credit

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Graduation Fee

A graduation fee of $100, payable at registration for the student’s final academic term, is required of all degree-seeking students. This fee covers expenses associated with graduation but does not cover rental of the cap and gown. This fee is charged whether or not the student participates in graduation. Certificate students do not pay the graduation fee.

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Laboratory Fees

Laboratory fees are assessed in an amount to cover the cost of laboratory materials and supplies used by the student.

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Student Service Fee

The Student Services Fee is a mandatory fee assessed per semester credit hour to all students. The annual fee for academic year 2018-2019 is $566.25* with a maximum charge of $218.25 per fall and spring semester and $129.75 for the summer semester. The fee provides funding towards student governance activities, Student Health & Counseling Services, shuttle service, and recreational facilities. Optional family coverage for most student services is available. The 2018-2019 schedule of fees is as follows:

FULL-TIME STUDENT RATES (REQUIRED) $512.00 ANNUALLY
Service Fall/Spring Summer 9-Month 12-Month
Recreation $93.90 $62.65 $187.80 $250.45
Health $73.25 $33.20 $146.50 $179.70
Shuttle $30.25 $20.10 $60.50 $80.60
Counseling $14.20 $9.50 $28.40 $37.90
Government $6.65 $4.30 $13.30 $17.60
TOTAL $218.25 $129.75 $436.50 $566.25

*This fee is subject to increase as approved by the UT System Board of Regents.

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Technology Fee

A Technology Fee will be assessed to all students at $100 every fall and spring semester to cover the expenses associated with the software, hardware, programming, maintenance fees and technical support used by students. The fee will support SBMI’s goal in achieving to be the best publicly supported biomedical informatics school in the US by conducting the highest quality programs in education, biomedical informatics applications and research. The fee will also allow SBMI in using the most current technology to train students and help attract the best and brightest students to our quality graduate programs.

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Student Records Fee

The Student Records Fee provides students with unlimited transcripts and enrollment verification documents. The charge is $15.00 per academic year ($5 per semester).

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Optional Fees

  • Audit Fee: SBMI does not allow auditing of classes. For a fee of $25 per course, a student may elect to audit a course, i.e., attend the course without receiving academic credit at other UTHealth schools.
  • Transportation Expenses: Students are required to provide their own transportation to practicum sites.
  • Academic Regalia Rental: The charge for rental of the cap and gown is approximately $45 for master’s students and $70 for doctoral students. Information on ordering academic regalia is sent to students several months before annual commencement exercises. Additional information for graduates can be found here: https://sbmi.uth.edu/current-students/graduation/.

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Professional Liability Insurance

Every student enrolled in the School of Biomedical Informatics must have professional liability insurance coverage in force throughout each semester enrolled in the minimum policy amount of $100,000 per claim. The professional liability insurance must include coverage for breach of confidentiality of protected health information in electronic or other patient records. Advance written notice or posting may change the minimum amount required by the Office of the Dean. The premium for this insurance is due at the time of initial registration and each fall and spring semester. The annual premium is prorated based on the student’s date of entry. The annual premium is approximately $14.50 per year.

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Competitive Academic Scholarship Awards

Competitive Academic Scholarship awards are designed to facilitate the scholastic development of students who are in high academic standing.

The benefits of this award are two-fold: (1) a direct financial award, and (2) if the recipient is not a resident of Texas, the change in status to resident tuition for the semester the award was earned and the two subsequent semesters. The residency waiver is applied for the aforementioned semesters regardless of the student’s enrollment in those semesters. All SBMI students are eligible to compete for these scholarships. The number of Competitive Academic Scholarships awarded each year is dependent on the availability of funds. Students are notified via email when scholarship applications are being accepted. Students must submit all applications and required application materials to be considered.

The criteria for selection are:

  • Grade point average documented by the Director of Student Affairs
  • Pattern of academic achievements, such as scientific papers, posters and/or presentations or any relevant honor, recognition or awards earned
  • Relevant Biomedical Informatics community or volunteer experience including any Student Governance Organization (SGO) or Student InterCouncil (SIC) involvement
  • Success in overcoming adversity

The SBMI Scholarship and Awards Committee considers all submissions. The SBMI Scholarship and Awards Committee is composed of SBMI faculty and a representative from the SBMI Office of Academic Affairs. The recommendations of the SBMI Scholarship and Awards Committee are submitted through the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for submission to the Dean. Notification of awards will be made by email.

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