Why Biomedical Engineering Graduate Study?
Increasing possibilities brought about by new biomedical engineering technologies, medical equipment, devices and procedures point towards increased employment opportunities. As an advancing field, a graduate degree in biomedical engineering can provide you with a competitive advantage for these opportunities.
Our graduate-level degree programs teach students to initiate, to integrate, to imagine and to develop new processes and new products that will improve human health. Our faculty members are committed to developing our students’ intellectual, technological and professional skills that will allow them to thrive in industry, medicine or academia.
Programs of Study
The Biomedical Engineering Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree focuses on research. The Ph.D. is essential for biomedical engineering faculty positions in higher education, as well as for many research and development occupations in industry and government laboratories. Our Biomedical Engineering graduate degrees also include the Master of Science (M.S.), which includes research and a thesis and the Master of Engineering (M.E.), which does not include a research component.
All biomedical engineering graduate programs include core courses in four areas:
- Modeling and Simulation of Biomedical Systems
- Human Cell and Molecular Biology for Biomedical Engineers
- Transport Phenomena in Biomedical Systems
- Anatomy and Physiology for Biomedical Engineers
Elective courses can be tailored to your specific interests, providing opportunities to further strengthen your technical expertise or to gain additional knowledge in project management or entrepreneurship.
Visit Graduate Handbooks and Curricula for additional detail.
Students in our Ph.D. program in biomedical engineering develop expertise on the quantitative methods characteristic of engineering that are not a primary focus of traditional medical or biological education. Faculty in the College of Engineering and Computing and the UofSC School of Medicine provide research opportunities and teach the core curriculum. We strive to provide you with an advanced foundation in advanced biomedical engineering topics, electives to complement your research area, as well as training in professional development skills to prepare you for your high-level research and development industrial or academic career.
A total of 60 credit-hours are required for the Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. The program includes:
- Research resulting in a dissertation proposal, a dissertation, a dissertation defense and publications, including 30 hours of research and dissertation preparation credit
- 12 hours of core biomedical engineering courses
- 15 hours of biomedical engineering and other approved electives
- 3 credits of biomedical engineering seminar
- Qualifying and comprehensive exams
Ph.D. students develop and apply a broad knowledge of biomedical engineering, including the tools and techniques associated with mathematical modeling and simulation of biomedical systems, concepts in molecular, cell, and systems level biology, and transport phenomena. Additional knowledge is gained through the judicious selection of elective courses that best complement their research area and may include biomechanics, microfuildics, biomaterial design and evaluation and tissue engineering.
Our M.S. program in biomedical engineering also focuses on the quantitative methods characteristic of engineering that are not a primary focus of traditional medical or biological education. The core courses of the curriculum are taught by College of Engineering and Computing as well as School of Medicine faculty. You may choose between a variety of electives tailored to your specific interests. In combination with research, this program will provide you with the necessary skills for obtaining a job in an advanced industry or a position in research and development.
A total of 30 credit-hours are required for the M.S. in Biomedical Engineering. This degree includes:
- Research resulting in a thesis, thesis defense, publication, and 7 hours of thesis credit
- 12 hours in core biomedical engineering courses
- 9 hours in biomedical engineering and other approved electives
- 2 hours of biomedical engineering seminar
- A comprehensive exam
The Biomedical Engineering M.S. program provides advanced knowledge in core areas of biomedical engineering and prepares students to design and conduct research studies and to engage in life-long learning and professional development.
Our Master of Engineering (M.E.) degree in biomedical engineering is a professional master’s program for students who are focused on a career in the health care industry. Students will develop deep technical skills through advanced coursework at the interface between engineering and biology. We strive to provide you with an advanced foundation in the basic and applied sciences, as well as opportunities to broaden your skill sets in technology development, project management and commercialization.
The 30 semester-hour M.E. in Biomedical Engineering can be completed in as little as one year of full-time study. The 30 credit-hours include:
- 12 hours of core biomedical engineering courses
- 18 hours of biomedical engineering and other approved electives
- A comprehensive exam
The electives may be chosen by the student from an extensive list in a variety of areas to enable development of a specific area of expertise.
Areas of Specialization
Course work and research can generally be conducted in any sub-discipline of biomedical engineering coinciding with the research interests of our faculty, which include these topics:
- Tissue Engineering
- Biomaterials and Drug Delivery
- Biomechanics
- Biomolecular Engineering and Drug Development
- Computational Biology and Computational Medicine
- Bioinstrumentation and Bioimaging
Visit the Biomedical Engineering Program page for more information on our faculty and research areas.
Graduate Admissions
All applications must be submitted to the Graduate School of the University of South Carolina. The Graduate School provides helpful information on the admissions application process and even lets you know what to do before you apply.
Admission to biomedical engineering graduate programs is competitive. Admission decisions are based on the quality of the applicant's previous university-level academic work, letters of recommendation, GRE scores and other evidence of past accomplishments. GRE General Test scores are required for all applicants.
Test Scores:
GRE General Test scores are optional for admissions through 2025 for all applicants. Minimum scores are generally a GRE-V of 150, a GRE-Q of 155, and a 3.0 on analytical writing. Students whose native language is not English must submit a satisfactory score on an English proficiency test. The Accepted English proficiency tests include the TOEFL exam (minimum score of 80 on the internet-based test), IELTS International Academic Course Type 2 exam (minimum score of 6.5), and the PTE Academic (minimum score of 53).