Tuition, Funding, and Financial Support

The tuition of PhD graduate students is paid for by the Medical School in year 1. As you transition into your research mentor's laboratory, they then pay your tuition through the remaining years of your academic training. The average time to graduation for predoctoral training is 5.5 years.

The general graduate tuition rate includes a 6-14 credit band for full-time registration. Each credit above or below the plateau is assessed on a per-credit basis. More information can be found at the One Stop Student Services Website

PhD graduate students within the Medical School receive annual base stipends. The total yearly amount varies slightly among the graduate programs, but the average is currently $34,000. Similar to the tuition model, the Medical School pays your stipend in year 1 and, upon selection of a faculty mentor, they will then pay your annual stipend.  The stipend is deposited electronically in the student’s bank of choice every two weeks. Students will receive a 1099 form from the the University of Minnesota for federal and state tax purposes. The receipt of 1099 is because stipends are not considered wages, however they are a form of income that must be reported to the IRS. 
 

All enrolled students are required to be covered by a medical insurance plan while enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Minnesota.  The Medical School, graduate program and/or your faculty mentor will pay for your insurance. Graduate Assistants Health Plan (GAHP) is the student health plan eligible for PhD and MS graduate students at the U. To be eligible for the GAHP, you must work 195 hours per semester in an eligible position and you must be properly registered for the number of credits required for your job class or appointment. Dependents are eligible for coverage. Health plan network and claims administration services are provided by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross), giving you access to thousands of providers in their worldwide network.

For more details of the health insurance coverage plans, please see the Student Health Benefits Website. 

The Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS), individual graduate programs, and Council of Graduate Students (CGS) each have funding mechanisms earmarked to supporting graduate student recruitment, retention and research education efforts. Through several mechanisms, students are eligible to apply for research awards, travel support (to scientific conferences), and career development funds. On an annual basis, approximately $375,000 in funds is provided for graduate students in the Medical School to support these initiatives. To inquire about the various internal awards available to graduate students, please e-mail [email protected] for more information. 

Medical school graduate students are provided financial support for stipends, tuition costs and heath insurance. During graduate student training, the selected faculty advisor often pays for these expenses during years 2 and beyond of the students' graduate career. In rare circumstances, faculty research advisors may leave the University, lose their extramural funding support or retire abruptly. In the event that occurs, graduate students are protected by the Medical School through bridge funding.  The Associate Dean of Graduate Education will provide bridge funding to support currently enrolled graduate student in good standing who requires financial support during the gap period of finding and transitioning mentorship and training to another faculty advisor. This ensures that there is no loss of financial support and the student can continue to remain focused on research education and training.

Graduate students in the Medical School are classified as either graduate assistants or graduate fellows. Graduate assistants receive financial support in the form of assistantships from the Medical School, graduate programs and elected faculty research advisors in the form of stipends, paid tuition and health insurance coverage. No enrolled graduate student  in good academic standing pays for these expenses.  Graduate fellows receive financial support in the form of fellowships through funding sources external to the University in the forms of grants or awards. In the Medical School, graduate students often receive prestigious fellowships from the National Institutes of Health or National Science Foundation.

The Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies encourages and works with our graduate students to competitively submit these fellowship applications. They provide extensive experience in scientific writing and grantsmanship, help solidify thesis proposal aims and objectives and strengthen the research education activities of recipients. A common mechanisms at the National Institutes of Health is the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award, colloquially referred to as the F31 grant award. The purpose of this Kirschstein-NRSA program is to enable promising predoctoral students with potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientists, to obtain mentored research training while conducting dissertation research. The F31 is also used to enhance workforce diversity though a separate program. For more information about the F31 Fellowship, please visit the NIH F31 Website.