MTC and Georgetown teamed up to help Marylanders interested in biotech

Maryland residents with a penchant for the sciences now have a new option in furthering their education.

The Maryland Tech Council (MTC) and Georgetown University’s Medical Center have partnered to offer MTC members a 15% tuition discount on courses in the university’s Biomedical Graduate Education program.

The tuition discount is good for:

• master’s programs in biotechnology, clinical and traditional research, health informatics and data science;
• an executive master’s in clinical quality, safety and leadership;
• certificates in Biotechnology BioBusiness, clinical and translational research, and clinical quality, safety and leadership.

Doctorate programs do not qualify.

MTC CEO Kelly Schulz said the cost of tuition is often a roadblock for folks who would otherwise be interested in graduate education, which can change careers tremendously.

“We don’t want cost to be a deterrent for professionals wanting to pursue continuing education that could otherwise be a career game-changer,” Schulz told Technical.ly in an email. “Programs like this can strengthen our whole life sciences ecosystem by ensuring more professionals are equipped with the most in-demand skills employers value most. This can only enhance Maryland’s reputation as a home for world-class life sciences talent.”

A master’s in biotechnology at Georgetown costs approximately $60,000 in tuition annually for 30 credits. With the MTC discount, the cost would go down to $51,087 each year. A graduate certificate, meanwhile, costs $2,370 per credit, and the tuition discount would bring it down to $2,014.

Employees of MTC-associated companies and organizations are eligible for the discount. The scholarship is good for the length of the academic program, so long as individuals continue to be employed by an MTC member.

People who are members of MTC through Georgetown, however, are not eligible.

“We are happy to provide these educational opportunities for MTC members to advance their professional skills and propel their careers,” said Caleb McKinney, an interim assistant VP at Georgetown University Medical Center, in a written statement. “We hope that this collaboration will have a lasting impact on our regional life science and technology workforce.”

This is the latest in MTC’s collaborations to build tech careers across the state. This year alone, it’s launched programming to get military vets into life sciences and partnerships with OneTen, the Baltimore Digital Equity Coalition and the Federal Lab Consortium to add jobs. In May, the organization teamed up with Mount St. Mary’s to offer another tuition discount.