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2010 Graduate Nursing Program (MSN, PhD)

New Student Information

Congratulations on your acceptance to the graduate Nursing program at the UT-Austin School of Nursing. We are sure that you have many questions about what will happen over the next few months and what steps you should take to make sure your transition into the program is smooth. Please read the following information very carefully, as it will likely answer many of your questions and help direct you to the appropriate campus offices you will need to utilize.

Orientation and Advising

Departmental Orientation and Advising are scheduled for Monday, August 23rd, from approximately 8:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Attendance is mandatory. Classes for the fall term begin on August 25th. A course schedule for Fall 2010 will be available online at the School of Nursing Course Schedules web page.

Parking Information

During semester breaks, permit-free parking is available in the UT student parking lots ("Longhorn Lots" or "C permit" lots). Since classes do not begin until June 3rd, you may park without a permit in the student parking lots on the day of new student orientation. The student parking lots closest to the School of Nursing are located south of the Frank Erwin Center on 15th Street between Red River and the I-35 Frontage Road (Lot 108) and at the northwest corner of MLK Blvd. and Red River Street (Lot 80).

After you are registered for your summer class, you can go to the Parking and Transportation Office in the Trinity Parking Garage (MLK Blvd. at Trinity St.) to purchase a student parking permit for summer. When you register for your fall classes in June, you will have the option of purchasing a parking permit for the entire 2009-2010 academic year. Please visit the Parking & Transportation Services website for parking information.

Registration

Following your advising session, we will lift your advising bar and you will be cleared to register for classes on August 20-21. There is no earlier registration date. Tuition and fee bills are due by 5:00 pm on September 1. This first semester is the only time you must pay so quickly after you register. In the future, advising and registration periods will occur approximately two months before the beginning of the next semester with payment due a couple of weeks prior to each semester's start date. Students will be responsible for registering themselves for the spring semester and all subsequent semesters of the program. You will register online using your UT EID and password.

Payment of Fee Bill

Payment of all tuition and fees must be made by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, September 1, or your registration will be cancelled. You can pay by: cash, check, or money order, credit card (Mastercard or Discover with a 1.75% convenience charge), electronic funds transfer from your bank account, financial aid, or tuition loan.

If you apply and get approved for a guaranteed federal student loan (Stafford, for example), you can defer your tuition payment to your student loan. Also, students may take out a tuition loan to pay their fee bill. Please see the Student Accounts Receivable website for more information.

Compliance Information

All Nursing students are required to be "in compliance" prior to beginning courses each semester. The only exception to this requirement is for doctoral students who will not be enrolled in any clinical courses. Students who fail to be in compliance will be dropped from all clinical courses.

In your admission packet from Nursing, you received a "compliance sheet" that outlines the compliance requirements. You may begin submitting compliance information to the Student Affairs Office any time between now and July 26.

Please direct any and all compliance-related questions to the Student Affairs Office, not the Graduate Student Affairs Office. This office is located in the Nursing Building, room 2.104A and can be reached at 232-4780.

Please go to this the School of Nursing Compliance web page for more information, including the training modules and a background check request form.

Official UT ID Card

You may get your "high assurance" UT ID card anytime. The ID center is located on the first floor of the Flawn Academic Center near the Main Building (Tower). Office hours are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Visit UT ID Center website for more information.

School of Nursing ID Card

You may have your picture taken for your School of Nursing ID card any time after orientation. Once the ID card has been produced, it will be placed in your mail folder in the 3rd floor Graduate Student Lounge. You will be given directions on how to get your School of Nursing ID card at orientation.

Estimate of Costs

Tuition rates vary depending upon the number of hours taken per semester and residency status. Here is an ESTIMATE of the average tuition and fees, based on 12 hours:

Texas residents will likely be charged $2,993 for tuition, $652 in University fees, and $306 in School of Nursing fees. Total = $3,951 for 12 hours of courses. This does not include books, supplies, etc.

A tuition and fee rate table for the 2009-2010 academic year will be available online in the near future. Please see the Office of Accounting website to view Graduate Tuition Rates.

Financial Aid, Scholarships, etc.

Please visit the School of Nursing's Scholarship and Financial Aid information website.

Also, please visit the University's Student Financial Services website.

Health Insurance

Students who are interested in purchasing health insurance should contact University Health Services.

Housing

The following websites can be of assistance to students seeking housing:

The University's Division of Housing and Food Services (limited housing available to Graduate Students).

Classified section of local newspapers:
Austin American-Statesman
Austin Chronicle
The Daily Texan

Office of Graduate Studies Orientation

The Office of Graduate Studies (aka "The Graduate School") has a web page that lists several important University resources and provides information about finances, academics, and living in Austin.  We encourage you to visit this page to help you navigate the many facets of graduate studies at the University and to learn about ways to be a successful graduate student at UT.

We will post more information here as it is available. Please contact the Graduate Student Affairs Office at (512) 232-4701 if you have any other questions.