With a population of over a million, Austin is the second-most-populous state capital in the United States. The recent U.S. News & World Report recognizes it as the ninth-best place to live in the country. If you consider Austin the destination for your medical education, you might be disappointed to know there’s just one medical school in the city. However, other medical schools are within a hundred miles of the Texan capital. Below, you will find more information about the three medical schools in and near Austin.
Top Medical Schools in Austin
1. University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin, or UT Austin, was established in 1881 and was known simply as the University of Texas until 1967. It is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System, the most extensive university system in Texas. UT Austin’s main campus encompasses 431 acres. Its student population is nearly 52,000, representing all 50 states in the U.S. and 124 countries around the world.
The university offers 393 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs through its 18 colleges and schools. So far, the university has produced multiple Nobel laureates, including Don Thomas and John Maxwell Coetzee. UT Austin’s medical school is called the Dell Medical School, named after the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The non-profit organization has pledged $50 million over ten years to medical school.
Founded as recently as 2016, the medical school is the newest among all colleges and schools at UT Austin. It currently has a couple of hundred students from 24 U.S. states and 19 countries. The Undergraduate Medical Education, or M.D. program at DellMed, aims to provide students with the core competencies required to practice modern medicine and the knowledge and skills that enable them to become better leaders, communicators, partners, and caregivers. The four-year program’s “Leading EDGE“ curriculum comprises four key components: Essentials, Discovery, Growth, and Exploration.
The tuition for in-state students during the fall semester is around $9,503, while out-of-state and international students pay around $16,663. The medical school also offers various graduate medical education residency and fellowship programs, a continuing medical education program, and a Master of Science in Health Care Transformation program.
2. University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, commonly called U.T. Health San Antonio is located in San Antonio, around 82 miles from downtown Austin. It is an academic health science center belonging to the humongous University of Texas System. Although its different schools started in 1959, U.T. Health San Antonio officially began its journey as a health science center in 1972.
It consists of five schools: Long School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Dentistry, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and School of Health Professions. These schools offer 65-degree specialties. Its total enrollment stands at over 4,100, including residents and post-graduate trainees. This medical school in Austin offers its M.D. program guided by three competencies: altruism, knowledge, and skills.
Its curriculum integrates knowledge of basic and clinical science with early clinical experiences. As a result, students better understand the disease processes and management. It stresses active learning with formative checkpoints, allowing students to assess their progress on their own and develop self-directed learning and inquiry habits.
Tuitions for the M.D. program for the residents are around $21,823 during the 2024-2025 school year. Earning an M.D. degree with distinction in research, medical education, or medical humanities is possible. Additionally, dual degrees in M.D./MPH and M.D./Ph.D. are available here.
3. Texas A&M University
The Texas A&M University‘s Texas A&M Health Science Center began its journey in 1999 as an independent state agency of the Texas A&M University System. However, in 2013, it was transformed into an academic unit of Texas A&M University, one of the most populous universities in the country with nearly 70,000 students.
The university is organized into 17 colleges and schools. Five of them—the College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, College of Nursing, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, and School of Public Health—comprise the Texas A&M Health Science Center. This medical school in Austin has about 3,200 students enrolled in 26 academic programs. It consists of eight campuses scattered across Texas. The main campus, known as the Bryan-College Station campus, is around 100 miles from downtown Austin.
The College of Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center offers a Doctor of Medicine degree, or M.D. program, that has recently adopted a more innovative curriculum. This new curriculum aims to bring more flexibility and individualization to the education process by integrating primary science content more closely with clinical context, providing clinical exposure to students sooner, and reinforcing essential science content in clinical rotations.
For the M.D. program, in-state students pay about $19,700 in tuition annually, while out-of-state and international students pay about $32,800. The university also offers dual degree options, known as M.D. Plus Programs. These programs allow students to earn an M.D. degree along with a master’s degree in medical science (M.S.), business administration (MBA), education for healthcare professionals (EDHP), engineering (M.E.), or public health (MPH).
The College of Medicine runs these four or five-year-long integrated programs in collaboration with another school or college within the Texas A&M Health Science Center or at Texas A&M University. The college also offers a doctoral program in medical science.
While Austin may only have one school in the state providing medical programs, the University of Texas at Austin, prospective students still looking forward to attending medical school in Texas can choose from several excellent schools within an hour’s drive from Austin. These institutions include the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Texas A&M Health Science Center, offering high-quality education for international students pursuing medical degrees in Texas.
We hope this article on the best medical schools in Austin was helpful. If you are interested in studying in the United States, feel free to read our Study in the USA Page or check out the Available Programs for International Students in the USA!
