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Why Pursue a Biotechnology Master's Degree

The Biomedical/Biotechnology industry is one of the largest industries in San Antonio. As this industry continues to grow, UTSA is the only local university offering post-graduate training in Biotechnology. Master’s students are offered hands-on laboratory training in techniques widely used in academic and biotechnology research labs.

Research

The Integrative Biology Department has approximately 50 tenured and tenure track faculty conducting research in a variety of research areas. Faculty conduct research in a wide range of subjects such as neurobiology, molecular microbiology, immunology, developmental biology, botany and stem cell biology. Biotechnology students also have access to several research centers on campus. Graduating students have been accepted into doctoral programs at Institutes such as the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Carnegie Mellon University.

Internships

The biotechnology master’s program offers supervised internship opportunities with off-campus biotechnology companies. The goal of the internship is give graduate students practical experience working in the industry. The experience can encompass any of the day-to-day operations and activities that take place in the industry, from translational research to clinical trial design and management.

Admission & Application Requirements

Applications are submitted through the UTSA Graduate Application. Please upload all required documents (listed below) on your UTSA Graduate Application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure completion and submission of the application, a nonrefundable application fee, and all required supporting documents are on file with UTSA by the appropriate application deadline.

Biotechnology (MS)
  Required Degree Bachelor's Degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States or have proof of equivalent training at a foreign institution.
  Minimum GPA 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) Departments may consider GPA of last 60 semester credit hours
  Coursework 18 credit hours in an area related to this graduate degree and at least 12 hours must be at the upper-division level.
  Transcripts* Required from all institutions attended; international transcripts must be recorded/translated to English
  Credential Evaluation Required if you have earned university-level credit from foreign institutions. Submit an evaluation of your transcripts from Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) directly from the graduate admission application platform
  TOEFL/IELTS Score 550 TOEFL Paper / 79 TOEFL Internet / 6.5 IELTS scores for International applicants (exempt countries).
  Purpose Statement Required
  Letters of Recommendation 2 demonstrating your academic and personal attributes for success in this program (you will request these through the Graduate Admissions Application; let your recommenders know of your deadline to ensure submissions are on time)
*Unofficial transcripts will be taken into consideration for admissions; however, if admitted into the program, you must submit official transcripts to the University.
Apply using 2021-22 Graduate Application Apply using 2022-23 Graduate Application

Admission Deadlines

Applicants are encouraged to have their admission file completed as early as possible. All applications, required documents and letters of recommendation, if applicable, must be submitted by 5:00 PM U.S. Central Time on the day of the deadline. Deadlines are subject to change.

Biotechnology (MS)
Completed applications will be reviewed for admission on a rolling basis. Decisions generally will be made and sent to applicants within 4 to 6 weeks of receiving the application.
  Fall Spring Summer
Priority March 15 August 15 Not Available
International June 1 November 1 April 1
Domestic June 1 November 1 April 1

Funding Opportunities

Teaching Assistantships are available. For more information about graduate funding, click below.

Learn More

Career Options

UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. The possible careers below is data pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls information from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program.


This program is housed on UTSA’s Main campus. A handful of courses are offered in the evenings but most courses – especially the lab-based courses – take place during the day.

Graduate Advisor of Record

Valerie Sponsel, PhD

210-458-5929

valerie.sponsel@utsa.edu