MRI Technologist Training

MRI Tech Programs in Houston

6 in-person or regional programs plus Tesla MR's hybrid option, compared side by side below. 2 local programs and Tesla MR admit you without a prior X-ray credential.

Comparing programs nationally? See MRI tech school formats, costs, and certification paths. Checking accreditation? See every accredited MRI tech certification program.

View Program Details Compare every program near you
MRI technologist student training at a clinical site
$103K Avg. Salary
0 Affiliated Sites
12-18 mo Program Length
Starting at $11,500 Tuition
Your options

MRI programs available to Houston residents

6 in-person or regional programs plus Tesla MR's hybrid option. 2 of them train you in MRI directly without a prior X-ray credential. Facts come from each school's published pages. Confirm with the school before you apply.

Published cost is what each school states on its own site. Some schools publish tuition only; others include fees, books, or uniforms; public colleges often distinguish in-district from out-of-district rates. Each row says which. For the national list with accreditor and entry requirement for every program, see accredited MRI tech certification programs.

Program Path Credential Length Prior X-ray? Format Published cost
Tesla MR Online coursework, clinicals near you
MRI direct
Certificate (ARMRIT exam eligibility)ARMRIT
12 to 18 months
No
Hybrid: online lectures, in-person clinicals
$11,500 to $13,400 by payment plan
San Jacinto College, Central Campus Pasadena, TX Selective admission; program is seeking JRCERT accreditation
MRI direct
AAS in Magnetic Resonance ImagingARRT (MR)
About 4 semesters after 17 credits of prerequisites
No
In-person; 20 to 39 hours a week between 7 AM and 7 PM
About $7,390 in-district or $11,050 out-of-district, all-in
Galveston College Galveston, TX (about 50 mi) Prerequisite science courses within 5 years; details still thin
MRI direct
AAS in MRI (launched fall 2025)ARRT (MR)
Not stated
No
Classroom, lab, and clinical rotations at affiliated sites
Not published
Lone Star College, CyFair Cypress, TX Requires a current ARRT, NMTCB, or state radiation therapy license
MRI after X-ray
MRI Advanced Technical Certificate (19 credits)ARRT (MR) post-primary
3 semesters
Yes
Hybrid: one Saturday class a month plus two clinical days a week
$2,109 in-district or $4,218 out-of-district plus about $595
San Jacinto College, MRI Advanced Technical Certificate Pasadena, TX Requires ARRT or ARDMS certification
MRI after X-ray
Advanced Technical Certificate (30 credits)ARRT (MR)
About 1 year
Yes
Classroom plus clinical practicum
Not published
UT MD Anderson School of Health Professions Houston, TX JRCERT accredited; the 3-year track takes students with no credential
MRI after X-ray
BS in Diagnostic Imaging, MRI emphasisARRT (MR)
1 year with a prior registry, or a 3-year radiography-first track
Yes
On-campus hybrid or distance with synchronous sessions; full-time
Texas residents about $7,500 to $15,400 (school-wide estimate)
Houston Community College, Coleman College Houston, TX JRCERT accredited; no MRI program
X-ray first
AAS in Radiography (X-ray)ARRT (R)
2 years, full-time
No
In-person; clinicals up to 50 miles across Greater Houston
Not published

Verified against each program's own website between Sep 2, 2026 and Oct 31, 2026. Tuition, length, and admission rules change; the school's page is the authority. Tesla MR is not a degree-granting institution and does not participate in federal financial aid. See accreditation. The schools named here are not affiliated with Tesla MR and do not endorse it; their names belong to their owners. Spot an error? Email info@teslamr.com and we will review it within 10 business days.

The path

How to become an MRI tech in Houston

Five steps, the same in Texas as anywhere else. Where you do step four is what changes by city.

  1. Confirm you are eligible

    A high school diploma or GED is the floor. You do not need a prior X-ray, radiography, or healthcare credential for the ARMRIT route. Some of the in-person programs in the table above do require one.

  2. Pick the credential you are aiming for

    Employers in Houston hire both ARRT (MR) and ARMRIT technologists. ARRT usually means a two-year degree or a prior radiography license. ARMRIT is the certificate route for career changers.

  3. Choose a program format that fits your life

    Full-time campus programs are faster if you can stop working. Hybrid programs put the coursework online and the clinical hours at a facility near you, which is how most working adults finish.

  4. Complete supervised clinical hours

    Every path ends at a scanner. Clinical training is the part that depends on local capacity, so ask any program how placement works before you enroll. Ours is explained below.

  5. Pass the registry exam and get hired

    Texas does not license MRI technologists; employers require ARRT (MR) or ARMRIT certification. Once certified, you can apply to the hospital systems and imaging groups listed further down this page.

Where you would train and work

MRI employers in Houston, and which ones are in our clinical network

We are still building our network in the Houston area. An affiliated site is a facility in our clinical network where students can be placed. The others are places MRI techs work in Houston that we have not affiliated with yet.

Affiliated site Employer, not yet affiliated

We have not mapped Houston employers yet. Tell us where you live and our site team will do it for your application.

Pulled from Tesla MR's site database on October 31, 2026. Affiliations are added and change over time; the assessment you receive during admissions is the one that applies to you.

Clinical placement

How clinical placement works

Our Clinical Sites team leads placement. You are not expected to find or negotiate your own clinical site. We look for a facility within a reasonable commute of your home and widen the search only if we need to.

Timing depends on facilities having capacity when you reach clinicals. If your area is thin, we tell you during admissions, not after you enroll, and we talk through the options with you.

Growing here · Houston

We are still building our network in Houston. If you apply, the site team maps your area first and tells you what to expect before you commit.

  1. We look at your area during admissions

    If you already have a facility in mind, maybe where you work, we reach out and see whether you can train there. If not, our site team maps the hospitals and imaging centers near your home and starts the conversation.

  2. You get a straight answer before you enroll

    Clinicals are still months away at this point, so a site's answer is usually "we expect so, check back closer to the date." We tell you what we heard and what it means for your timeline.

  3. You start the coursework while the site work continues

    Most students begin Phase I and Phase II before a specific facility is named. That is normal, and the site team keeps working your area in the background.

  4. Your site is confirmed as clinicals approach

    Once clinicals are weeks away rather than months, facilities can commit to dates. We work to have your placement set before Phase III begins. Which facility and which shift depends on who has capacity at that time.

MRI licensing in Texas

Texas licenses radiographers through the Texas Medical Board’s Medical Radiologic Technologist program, but MRI is exempt from that requirement because it does not use ionizing radiation. Houston employers, from the Texas Medical Center hospitals to outpatient imaging groups, hire on ARRT (MR) or ARMRIT certification. Read each posting, because some hospital roles still ask for ARRT.

Where MRI techs work in Houston

Job postings often say MRI technician; the credentialed title is MRI technologist. The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical complex in the world, and MD Anderson, Memorial Hermann, Houston Methodist and HCA Houston Healthcare all staff MRI around the clock. Outside the medical center, RadNet’s Houston Medical Imaging centers, Capitol Imaging Services, Origin MRI and Diagnostics and independent orthopedic groups run outpatient MRI across Katy, Sugar Land, The Woodlands and Pasadena. The employer cards above show which of these are affiliated with Tesla MR today.

What MRI techs earn in Houston

The BLS reports a median of $102,570 for MRI technologists in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro (OEWS, May 2025), above the Texas median of $96,780 and the national median of $95,480. Entry-level pay sits below that, with shift differentials and specialty work pushing experienced techs above it. See the MRI technologist salary guide for the full breakdown by state.

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Key Takeaway

A site count on a web page is not the number that matters. What matters is what the site team finds when it looks at your specific location, and that happens during admissions, before you commit.

ARMRIT Accredited Nationally recognized certification
334+ Clinical Sites Partner network in 38 states
Starting at $11,500 Payment plans available

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Clinical Sites team leads placement. You are not expected to secure your own site. If you know a facility, you can propose it, but we review it, confirm capacity, sign the agreement, and approve it.

The site team keeps working your area, looks at nearby facilities and any leads you bring us, and talks through the options with you, which can include a farther site or adjusting your timeline. Placement timing depends on facilities having capacity, so we give you our read on your area during admissions rather than after you enroll.

Each student is matched to a facility with capacity for their dates. If one facility cannot take everyone, the site team works the other affiliated sites listed on this page and adds new ones as needed.

Yes. San Jacinto College and Galveston College admit MRI students with no imaging credential, and so does Tesla MR's hybrid certificate. The post-primary certificates in the comparison table require an existing ARRT, NMTCB or ARDMS registry, so check that column before you apply anywhere.

The BLS median for MRI technologists in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro is $102,570 a year (OEWS, May 2025), the highest of any Texas metro and above the national median of $95,480. Entry-level pay sits below the median; Texas Medical Center hospitals and shift differentials push experienced techs above it. Texas has no state income tax.

Lone Star College CyFair runs a hybrid post-primary certificate with one Saturday class a month, and MD Anderson offers a distance option with live sessions, but both require a prior registry. For career changers, Tesla MR puts every lecture online and places the clinical hours at an affiliated Houston facility, which is how most working adults finish. No program can put the clinical hours themselves online.

MRI tech schools in nearby cities and states

TexasArlington, Texas65+Austin, Texas4+Dallas, TexasFort Worth, Texas25+Frisco, Texas65+Katy, Texas15+Killeen, Texas1Lubbock, Texas4+LouisianaNew MexicoOklahoma
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MRI Training in Houston 12-18 months · No prerequisites
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