Incoming Graduate Students

Please visit the below separate pages for these topics:

Academic Advising: contact information for the Bioengineering graduate academic advisors
Career Advising: career advising resources and professional and career development opportunities
Current Students: Graduate Student Handbook and current student resources
Degree Programs: information about each degree program offered by the Department of Bioengineering, including curricular and courses requirements for each program
Financial Support: information about PhD financial support, departmental and university financial support policies, and masters students obtaining funding for their graduate education
Teaching Resources: information about Teaching Assistant (TA) positions in the department, including how to apply, responsibilities, and the PhD teaching requirements
Bioengineering Graduate Society (BEGS): engage with other students in the department through social and professional events organized by BEGS

Orientations

New graduate students are expected to attend two to four orientation sessions:

Division of Graduate Education of Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) New Graduate Student Orientation & Resource Fair (information to be updated for FA26)
- GEPA has an online orientation that newly admitted students are expected to complete. More information about it will be provided to new admits directly by GEPA.
- GEPA typically hosts an in-person Resource Fair at the beginning of September.
Bioengineering Department New Graduate Student Orientation
- Bioengineering will host an in-person main orientation on September 15th and a research orientation on September 16th for the Fall 2026 cohort.
- The main orientation will have a morning general session covering multiple topics and individual breakout sessions in the afternoon for each degree aim.
- The research orientation will have faculty lightning talks and networking opportunities for newly admitted students to meet with faculty.
Campus-wide Fall 2026 UAW/ASE Orientation and Students of Concern Training
- IMPORTANT: This is for students who will TA in FA26. The UAW will reach out directly to first time TAs who have been assigned a TAship in FA26, so if you are offered a TAship for FA26, please make sure you receive the orientation information from them. It is offered every quarter, and you would only attend in the quarter in which you do your first TAship.
International Students only: The International Services & Engagement Office’s New Student Orientation
- New International Student Orientation is designed to help orient international students to the UC San Diego campus community, inform you of your F1/J1 rights & responsibilities, and give you an opportunity to connect with other new international students

UC San Diego Email Accounts

Your Triton Student Number, or TSN, can be found in your applicant portal. If you accepted your admission prior to May 15, you can activate your student account by following the instructions on the What to Do Immediately website.

All official email accounts are “[user name]@ucsd.edu.” These accounts are Google accounts and are set up and managed by Educational Technology Services (ETS) under Information Technology Services (ITS).

Contact ETS if you have questions about your email account or are experiencing login issues.

All communication beginning Fall quarter will be sent to your UCSD account, so make sure that the account is working and you are checking it regularly.

Enrolling in Courses

The Schedule of Classes for Fall 2026 will be made available in July.
Please note that courses are in-person only unless otherwise designated as “Remote” (the course number will have an “R” after it to show it is remote).
To assist you in enrolling in courses for Fall 2026, please find below some course recommendations by degree aim. The curriculum for each degree aim and more information about requirements can be found on the Graduate Degree Programs on our department website. Graduate student enrollment may not exceed 20 units in any given quarter.
For your reference, UC San Diego is on the quarter system, and 12 units is the minimum required number of units in order to maintain “full time status.” Full time status is often required to live in on-campus housing, maintain a visa (if you are an international student), and receive financial aid/ loans. Please keep this in mind when planning your courses.

PhD Students

One to two core courses based on the PhD curriculum
Two to three elective courses
BENG 281: Seminar in Bioengineering- 1 unit (required seminar)
BENG 282: Seminar: Faculty Research- 1 unit (required seminar)
BENG 298L: Laboratory Research Rotation- 4 units (under faculty member you will be rotating with for the quarter)

MS Plan I - Thesis Students

One to two core courses based on the MS Plan I curriculum
Two to three elective courses
BENG 281: Seminar in Bioengineering- 1 unit (required seminar)
BENG 282: Seminar: Faculty Research- 1 unit (required seminar)

MS Plan II - Comp Exam Students

BENG 230A: Biochemistry- 4 units (required core course)
BENG 226: Foundations of Bioengineering I : Cell and Tissue Properties (required core course)
BENG 221: Mathematical Methods for Bioengineering (required core course)
BENG 281: Seminar in Bioengineering- 1 unit (required seminar)
BENG 282: Seminar: Faculty Research- 1 unit (required seminar)
One additional course, either additional core course or elective based on the MS Plan II curriculum

NOTE: The MS Plan II program can be completed in 3 or 4 quarters. If you plan to graduate in 3 quarters, you should take 4 courses (16 units) per quarter. If you plan to graduate in 4 quarters, you should take 3 courses (12 units) per quarter.

MS Med Students

Enroll in BENG 294A: Patient Centered Clinical Medicine in Bioengineering- 4 units (required core course)
Take a look at the MS Med Curriculum available on our department website and choose accordingly for your remaining courses

NOTE: The MS Med program can be completed in 3 or 4 quarters. If you plan to graduate in 3 quarters, you should take 4 courses (16 units) per quarter. If you plan to graduate in 4 quarters, you should take 3 courses (12 units) per quarter.

MEng Students

Take a look at the MEng Curriculum available on our department website and choose accordingly

NOTE: The MEng program can be completed in 3 or 4 quarters. If you plan to graduate in 3 quarters, you should take 4 courses (16 units) per quarter. If you plan to graduate in 4 quarters, you should take 3 courses (12 units) per quarter. All MEng students will take a 2-unit professional topics seminar in addition to their 12 or 16 units in Winter quarter.

MEng MDE Students

As the MEng MDE is a newer program, we want to provide additional clarification about how the BENG 261A-C series will be handled for this academic year. To this end, it has been determined that the below course sequence will be adopted for this year:

BENG 261A: this course has been replaced, so students should enroll in BENG 294A in FA26
BENG 261B: students should enroll in BENG 207 - MDE Design 1 in WI27 (with Sean Collignon)
BENG 261C: students should look to enroll in BENG 207 - MDE Design 2 in SP27 (with Aylssa Taylor-Amos)
BENG 262: students should look to enroll in BENG 207 in SP27 (with Brian Aguado) For Fall 2026, please enroll in BENG 294A: Patient Centered Clinical Medicine in Bioengineering- 4 units (required core course) Take a look at the MEng MDE Curriculum available on our department website and choose additional courses accordingly

NOTE: The MEng MDE program can be completed in 3 or 4 quarters. If you plan to graduate in 3 quarters, you should take 4 courses (16 units) per quarter. If you plan to graduate in 4 quarters, you should take 3 courses (12 units) per quarter.

Additional Enrollment Information

Course descriptions for BENG courses are available via the General Catalog. You can find course descriptions for other departments also on the General Catalog under “courses” for each department: https://catalog.ucsd.edu/front/courses.html. You can also find past syllabi for courses on this website: http://courses.ucsd.edu. The Bioengineering Tentative Graduate Course Offerings list can be found on our Current Students page under General Topics.

We are happy to provide advising on courses, but would prefer to respond to incoming students after June 12th (the end of Spring Quarter). Spring is an exceptionally busy time for the Student Affairs Office due to the volume of students graduating. There will be plenty of time to make changes to your enrollments for the Fall, so we thank you for your understanding in this matter.

The deadline to enroll in courses and pay tuition/fees for Fall is TBD but will be available on the enrollment and registration calendar once posted; this is the date to initially enroll without a late fee, though, you may still enroll and change your enrollments after this date.

Fall Quarter 2026 begins on Monday, September 21st, and instruction (classes) begins on Thursday, September 24th.

Tuition/ Fees & Health Insurance

Tuition/Fee Payment

The deadline to pay tuition/ fees is TBD but will be available on the enrollment and registration calendar once posted.
The department will pay fees directly to the university for students receiving departmental financial support (most PhD students).
Make sure to enroll by early August 2026 (but ideally sooner) so that this direct payment can be made.
Registration fees for Fall 2026 have not been officially proposed yet, but once posted they will be available here on TritonLink.

Establishing Residency for Tuition Purposes

Domestic, non-California residents are recommended to look into establishing residency for tuition purposes. More information about the process as well as the criteria can be found on TritonLink.
Any residency related questions should be sent directly to the Residence Deputy (residencedeputy@ucsd.edu) as no other University personnel are authorized to supply information relative to residence requirements for tuition.
If you are an MS Plan I- Thesis student who is looking to eventually petition to transition to the PhD program please note that Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition is not covered if you transition after the first year, so you may want to look into establishing residency as well if you are a domestic, non-California resident.

Health Insurance

Fees include health insurance (UCSHIP/ GSHIP).
For information about student health insurance and the insurance waiver, please visit Student Health Services’ website. The website should be updated this summer to reflect information for 2026-27.

Funding & TAships/ GIAships

We will be scheduling appointments with PhD students receiving financial support through employment and MS students hired as TAs for the department after the departmental orientation in September. Students awarded financial support are required to maintain full-time enrollment status (12 graduate units per quarter) and a minimum GPA of 3.4.

Masters Students

The department does not offer funding for Masters students.

Students who do not have department support and are looking for job opportunities on campus can find information on the GEPA’s employment website.
Paid TA positions in the Bioengineering Department are limited, but Masters students may apply for TA positions in other departments on campus as well. The above link also contains contact information of hiring departments.
Masters students can also visit the Financial Aid website for additional information, and review the different resources for fellowships listed on GEPA's website.

International Students

International students must have had a TOEFL speaking score of at least 26, IELTS speaking score of at least 8, or have passed the English Language Certification Exam (ELCE) to be hired as a TA.
International students who were exempt from the TOEFL due to studying at an English institution will also be required to be English certified.

NOTE: the certification via the ELCE will only take place if a TA offer has been made; we do not pre-certify students

Campus ID Card

As a graduate student, you should make sure to obtain a UCSD Campus ID Card. You can find information about How to Get Your First ID Card on the UCSD Campus Card Office website.

In order to obtain your ID card, you will need to provide a picture (instructions at the above link) and then pick up your ID card from the Campus Card Office when you arrive on campus.

The department will not be distributing cards, so you must pick up the ID card directly from the Campus Card Office yourself. You will need to provide your campus ID card at the GEPA Resource Fair in September, so you should plan to pick up your ID card before then if you plan to attend the event.

Housing

You may want to begin to arrange your housing as soon as possible. Please visit the HDH Grad Housing website to assist your search for on-campus housing. You can also go to the Off Campus Housing website for a listing of off-campus options.

We recommend moving to San Diego by late August or early September in order to be able to attend the different orientations in September and get settled in before you begin your program.

International Services & Engagement Office

For international students who have questions about their visa, CPT, OPT, etc., we encourage you to speak with ISEO as they are the visa experts on campus. You can find their contact information on the ISEO website.

Other Information

Please visit the "Welcome to UC San Diego" website for a guide for incoming graduate students. The website contains a complete guide that provides extensive information to assist with your arrival on campus.

Thank you for taking the time to read this important information. If you have any questions, please contact the appropriate coordinator:

PhD Students: be-phdadvising-g@ucsd.edu	MS and MEng Students: be-mastersadvising-g@ucsd.edu	Funding: be-gradfunding-g@ucsd.edu
Sandra Marqas Graduate Affairs Manager & PhD Advisor	Maddie Clement MS/MEng Coordinator	Justine Garcia Graduate Financial Support Administrator