Competitive Stipend
Our Ph.D. students receive a competitive stipend, full tuition remission and individual health insurance at no cost to the student.
Students are only responsible for paying the matriculation, educational resource, graduation and student services fees. International students pay an additional fee. More information available.
Stipend:
$38,625 for Academic Year 2024-25
$40,000 for Academic Year 2025-26
In addition to the stipend above, the graduate school pays for your health insurance ($6,264.00) as well as tuition ($22,000) each year and facilities fee ($5,000) each year.
Our competitive stipend will take you much further in the city of Houston, given that Houston is in the top quarter of low cost of living in the country. View the table below for a comparison of how much stipend it would take to match your BCM stipend in several major cities throughout the country:
| City | Stipend needed to match BCM stipend |
|---|---|
| Boston, Massachusetts | $60,668 |
| Chicago, Illinois | $44,538 |
| Dallas, Texas | $42,417 |
| New York, N.Y. | $70,142 |
| San Francisco, California | $73,907 |
| Seattle, Washington | $54,191 |
Data was calculated using www.salary.com/research/cost-of-living.
Additional U.S. cities are shown in the table below for a comparison of how much stipend it would take to match your BCM stipend.
| City | Stipend needed to match BCM stipend |
|---|---|
| Ann Arbor, Michigan | $44,009 |
| Atlanta, Georgia | $41,134 |
| Austin, Texas | $43,222 |
| Baltimore, Maryland | $44,318 |
| Berkeley, California | $66,180 |
| Chapel Hill, North Carolina | $41,227 |
| Denver, Colorado | $47,382 |
| Ithaca, New York | $40,694 |
| Madison, Wisconsin | $44,116 |
| Nashville, Tennessee | $40,895 |
| New Haven, Connecticut | $47,522 |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $45,342 |
| Princeton, New Jersey | $46,829 |
| Saint Louis, Missouri | $37,913 |
| San Diego, California | $59,601 |
Living in Houston
Discover the city of Houston and see how our competitive stipend will take you further than most major cities across the country!
The cost of living in Houston is 25.9 percent below the average cost of living in the 20 most populous U.S. cities. There are abundant options for affordable housing and entertainment. Cost of living calculators are available on our Housing webpage to help you take a look how far your stipend will stretch in America's fourth largest city.
Teaching or Research?
We are focused on the individual needs of our students. Therefore, teaching is not a requirement for earning a stipend. However, if you envision a future that includes teaching, you may choose to participate in any of our many resources designed to provide students with experience and training in teaching biomedical sciences, including volunteering as a teaching assistant in one of our graduate courses, applying for our Biomedical Educator Certificate of Added Qualification or participating in our ACTOR program.
Alternatively, if you are interested in teaching, you have the freedom to focus exclusively on your education and research as well as working with mentors to take advantage of other Baylor resources that match your interests.
Student Health Insurance
The Graduate School pays the cost of student-only coverage for graduate students. This cost covers both a Medical and Dental PPO plan*. Graduate students are responsible for the cost of their eligible family members’ coverage.
View the 2022-2023 Medical Plan Design and Benefits Summary.
For more information, visit the Blue Cross Blue Shield website for Baylor College of Medicine.
*If a student waives out of the student health insurance plan, they will not receive a stipend increase.