Stanford University Graduate Scholarships and Financial Aid

A combination of Tuition fellowships, government loans, and private loans is determined based on demonstrated financial need at the Stanford Law School.

• Aid is need-based and Approximately 75-80% of students receive some form of financial aid, with the average fellowship portion per student estimated at $25,000 to $28,000 annually.
• To apply for financial aid, the applicant must fill out FAFSA and CSS forms.
• Stanford Law School uses an age-based test to determine the dependency percentage from your parent contribution.  
• At this time, Stanford Law School is unable to provide scholarships or stipends to support graduate students except to an extremely limited degree and only for SPILS applicants. All applicants are encouraged to seek scholarships, grants and fellowships from their home countries, law firms or international programs.

Here are some of the scholarships and fellowships offered for graduate students by Stanford Law School.

Yellow Ribbon Program:

Yellow Ribbon Program is a type of financial aid which has majorly been available for military or the veteran community. This aid is specially designated in the memory of those who lost their lives in the 11th September 2001 terror attack. This is also known as chapter 33 which is the most commonly used VA educational benefits program at Stanford. With the help of this program students can achieve funding for tuition, required fees, books and housing. 

Usually the amount provided by Yellow Ribbon Program to Stanford Law College is $25,162.

If you qualify 100% of the chapter 33 benefits, then you will receive additional funding through Yellow Ribbon Program, which means an annual contribution in the chapter 33 base tuition benefit. Under this program, the VA addresses tuition and fees benefits to Stanford, after which the central financial aid office pays it to the student account. Although, the books and housing benefits are sent in a straight line to students monthly. The student might need to apply their housing benefits to the university bill in order to pay for on campus room and board.

Graduate Family Grant Program:

The graduate family grants are specifically appointed to those whose children are dependent upon them, A person with dependent children can apply for this program. This fund is granted while responding to their expenses such as childcare, healthcare and rent. You may receive the amount between $1,000 to 15,000 depending on your family’s financial situations. Family with children less than the age of 10 would be preferred more.

What is the eligibility requirement to fill this program?

• You must be a registered graduate student with a registered student status in any of the graduate program, Postdocs are not allowed to fill this program and if both the parents are graduates in that case only one application per family would be required.

What are the children criteria before filling this form?

• Children must be your legal dependents.
• New international students must submit alternative documents such as Date of Birth and dependent visas in case they have not filed a recent federal tax return.

What are the household income eligibility criteria to fill this form?

• If you make an annual income more than $1,25,000 you wouldn't be eligible for the program.
• You must also provide the necessary income proof, including any received child support, to prove your financial necessity.
• You should also reveal and submit the financial situation of your partner or the parent of your children if you are sharing a common household.

The Flywheel Fund for Career Choice:

Flywheel fund is a part of Stanford’s financial aid programs, It is basically a new 501(c)(3) non profit organization which will provide philanthropic contributions to Stanford law students who needs to take out loans through Income Share Loan (ISL) for their legal studies. The "Flywheel Income Share Loan" will be signed by Flywheel Fellows and handled by Stride Funding.

• Under the flywheel fellowship students would be provided with loans for their law school tuition and fees upto $1,70,000. 

LRAP:

Stanford Law School offers the Miles and Nancy Rubin Loan Repayment Assistance Program and the Anonymous Public Service Loan Repayment Assistance Program for graduates who pursue low-paying public interest employment and have significant student debt.

Loans provided by Stanford under this initiative will be 100% repaid.

FLAS fellowships for graduate students:

Graduate students are given Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grants, which are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and approved under Title VI of the Higher Education Act for the study of a Latin American LCTL.

Academic year fellowships provide a $20,000 subsistence allowance and $18,000 tuition assistance for eligible graduate students undergoing advanced training in designated foreign languages in combination with Latin American Studies and international aspects of professional studies (law, education). CLAS might provide additional assistance based on financial aid need. The term of a fellowship is for one academic year (autumn, winter, spring).

Who is eligible to apply for FLAS? 

• Professional schools graduate students, with the exception of medical and business institutions.
• Students with the necessary qualifications and proof of need.
• Students who speak Haitian Creole, Quechua, Portuguese, or Nahuatl at intermediate or advanced levels.

Opportunity Funds:

Basically, this type of fund is created to help those students who are facing short term financial challenge or maybe temporary financial challenges. For a student facing financial hardship the opportunity fund of Stanford aims to provide $1000 so that the student can easily come out of their financial summons.

Just a few examples of authorized expenses which can be paid by using these funds:

• Travel related to death or illness
• Essential household expenses due to an emergency situation
• Medical emergencies
• Professional development opportunities such as travel to a clerkship interview or purchasing professional attire
• Parent, guardian, family attendance at major campus events
• Other sudden, unexpected financial needs
• Participation in the life and community of the law school.

Bar exam loans: 

Loans for the bar test are designed to help graduating law students pay for bar-related costs like application and exam fees as well as living expenses while they are studying for the bar.

• As these loans are not government loans, hence the lenders do not certify a significant amount for these loans though the maximum limit of bar loans can be around $16,000.

Joint degree financial support:

Stanford law school also provides joint degree financial support. For example: JD/MBA: Suppose you study law in your first year and pay the amount a first year student needs to pay, and in the second year you study MBA and pay the asked amount, and then in your third and fourth year you get to attend both the programs by filling joint degree fee, that’s how the joint degree financial support works. 

Advanced degree financial support

American Association of University Women

Women who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States are eligible to apply for full-time study or research fellowships from the American Association of University Women. For the academic year 2014–2015, the Foundation distributed more than 244 fellowships and grants. At approved institutions, graduate and postgraduate study is supported. By the time of application, candidates must have submitted an application to their desired institution of study. Outstanding academic achievement, professional potential, and the potential for the subject of study to benefit the lives of women and girls in the nation of origin are some of the selection criteria. Women who are still living in their native countries at the time of application are given preference.

The Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund - Grants For Women From Developing Countries

The grant's objective is to assist women from developing nations who are dedicated to enhancing the lives of women and children in their own nations in their educational pursuits. Agriculture, architecture and urban planning, civil engineering, education, forestry, journalism, nursing, nutrition, pediatrics, public administration, public health, social sciences, and social work were among the subjects covered by previous award recipients.

• Five grants totaling around $11,000 are given out year by the MMMF; they are non-renewable.

The Institute for the study of world Politics

The Institute for the Study of World Politics (ISWP) supports doctoral students' research into issues that affect global environmental, political and economic integrity and stability. These intricate and interrelated issues whose resolution requires detailed knowledge and analysis, to which scholars contribute importantly include arms control and conflict resolution; international environmental and population pressures; political and economic disorders that lead to conflicts between and within developing countries and between the North and South; and the complex processes of democratization, protection of human rights and alleviation of destructive ethnic rivalries.

Americans Council for International Education

More than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students and researchers from across the NIS are placed by the American Councils every year in dozens of fields at hundreds of schools and universities around the US. Competition is used to choose the host institutions. 

The sources of funding are:

Fulbright-Hays Fellowships

Fellowship awards range from $3,100 to $5,800 for online programs and $5,000 to $9,000 for overseas programs. 

The Stanford School of Medicine Financial Aid Office will prepare comprehensive need-based financial aid packages to assist students in making a Stanford School of Medicine education possible. There are a variety of funding options for Stanford graduate students based on academic merit, financial need, course of study, or type of degree program. Most fellowships and grants are secured through academic departments, outside agencies, or governments. M-TRAM has limited funding/financial aid available for Master’s students.

Here are some of the financial aid and scholarships offered for graduate students by Stanford University, College of Medicine.

Scholars of Knight-Hennessy:

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program aims to create a multidisciplinary community of graduate students at Stanford who are committed to developing original answers to some of the biggest problems facing humanity. Up to 100 deserving students get complete financing each year through the program to attend Stanford for a graduate degree, including a Master's or PhD at the School of Medicine. 

Program for Medical Scholars' Research:

Since 1980, both on- and off-campus medical student research has been supported by the Stanford Medical Scholars Research Program. Under the guidance of faculty members from the medical school, hospital, clinics, and other departments within the University, students conduct academic research.

Who is eligible to apply for this program?

• MD students enrolled at Stanford are eligible.
• MD students who obtained a PhD prior to matriculation may apply for MedScholars for research that has focus substantially different from that of their prior doctoral studies.
• Student pursuing a dual degree is not eligible for this program.

SMSA funding for students groups:

Stanford medical student association is a yearly funding for those students who have registered through the office of students engagement. Every scheme coming under this has to be first agreed by the SMSA treasure.

• In this only those organizations are eligible to apply who have signed up with cardinal engage or the office of student engagement, all OSE registered student organizations at medical school of students are eligible to apply for SMSA program.
• It is to be noted that Specialty interest groups do not receive any funding from SMSA instead they receive money every year from the SOM’s or hospital departments that belongs to them.

Here are some of the financial aid and scholarships offered for graduate students by the Stanford Graduate School of Engineering.

Stanford graduate fellowship in Science and Engineering (SGF) 

• The standard three-year (12 quarter) SGF provides support for four quarters each year. Fellows receive a stipend and tuition support for minimum full-time enrollment (8 to 10 units).  
• The 2023-24 annual stipend is set at $52,920 annually, $13,230 per quarter.
• About 100 fellowships with stipends and tuition assistance are given out annually by SGF to deserving students pursuing doctorates in science and engineering.
• The degree program must nominate students for the SGF. The majority of nominees are freshmen in doctoral programs in science or engineering who qualify.
• Fellows are selected each year by the Graduate Fellowships Faculty Advisory Committee, made up of faculty from many eligible degree programs.

GEM fellowship program: 

The main function of GEM is to offer MS and PhD graduate fellowships together with paid summer internships. Through its GEM University and Associate Fellowship programs, GEM also provides fellowships without associated summer internships that are compensated.

• The GEM funding can range from $0 to the maximum one-time $20,000 award for graduate students. It can eventually reward your complete university fees.

Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity (GFSD):

A collaboration of government organizations, academic institutions, private businesses, and research facilities called Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity has a strong partnership with the University of Southern California. 

• GFSD is open for application by all U.S. citizens regardless of race or gender. The GFSD fellowship supports full-time graduate study only. GFSD’s goal is to increase the number of American citizens with graduate degrees in STEM fields, emphasizing the recruitment of a diverse applicant pool.
• It was founded in 1989 and was previously known as the National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC).

Wade Scholarship Program:

The Wade Scholarship Program aims to address the lack of African Americans in STEM fields. They look for students who have been admitted to the School of Engineering and who want to become diverse, multidisciplinary emerging leaders, and they mentor them in working together, coming up with new ideas, and communicating so that they can tackle the difficult problems facing society. The Stanford School of Engineering offers full scholarships to Wade Scholars.

How much does it cover? 

For master's-level study (3.3 semesters under the semester system or 5 quarters under the quarter system), scholars are fully funded. The scholarships cover everything listed on the school's website, including the full cost of tuition, on-campus lodging, a food allowance, educational supplies, additional academic fees, a small stipend, and round-trip transportation.

Who is eligible to fill the wade scholarship program? 

• A person with independent thoughts exhibiting mental sharpness, original ideas, sense of ambiguity, intellectual curiosity, who extracts knowledge and new experiences and holds a contrarian Or
• A person whose undergraduate achievements includes Evidences of extra curricular activities, compelling letter of recommendation and statement of purpose. 
• A person who is good at embracing differences, humble and kind, supportive and accountable and concerned for and helpful to others. 
• A person whose leadership qualities includes self improvement, ambition, self awareness, persistent and resilient, and has the capacity to being others along. 

School of Engineering Teaching and Course Assistantships (TA’s and CA’s)

School of Engineering Teaching and Course Assistantships aims to enhance the undergraduate curriculum while giving graduate students financing and teaching experience. Stanford Engineering collaborates with a number of departments to provide teaching and course assistantships to students who are underrepresented in the engineering discipline. 

Teaching assistants (TAs) and course assistants (CAs) serve in the introductory engineering fundamental courses such as Introduction to Electronics, Programming dissenting point of view. 

• Methodology, Introduction to Science of Materials, Dynamics, Applied Mechanics: Statics, Engineering Economy, Introduction to Chemical Engineering, Introduction to Optimization, Bioengineering, Engineering Thermodynamics, etc.
• Each TA/CA is obligated to spend 20 hours per week and uses the award as part of their graduate support. Due to the lack of separate teachers for undergraduate and graduate courses at Stanford, TAs, and CAs are under the supervision of faculty members who may eventually place them in their research labs.

Additional Calculus for Engineers:

ACE is a type of hourly work-in which you can earn substitute money by teaching small groups in a week, under this program you have to teach the undergraduates some basic topics such as maths, computational and mathematic engineering, and computer science. 

• Those students whose application shows the greatest need or who lack access to institutional resources, exposure to the subject or training in calculus or computer science will have the highest chances in getting enrolled in this. 

STEM K-12 Education Initiatives

Fee Waiver: 

• Fee waiver is basically an application fee granted to those who can not afford an application fee. Permanent residents or US students from systematically marginalized background are especially welcomed to apply for this.
• If your application fee waiver is approved, then you will be sent a code to enter in the online application’s payment section but if you apply for a fee waiver and pay the application fee rather than using your application fee waiver code, there will be no return issued so, filling the application form with a lot of attention is must. 

GRE Fee reduction:

GRE Fee reduction is also a fee reliever, you are only applicable to apply for a GRE fee reduction waiver if you receive a GRE fee reduction voucher but you need to know that to apply for a voucher, you must be a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States . It is interesting to know that even if your graduate program does not ask for GRE scores, you will still be allowed for a GRE fee reduction waiver.  

• For anyone who proves that they have a financial need, for example unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits, and federal programs that support underrepresented groups, ETS offers GRE Fee Reduction Vouchers.

School based Fee Waiver:

Those who do not qualify the GRE or diversity program waivers can apply for this type of fee waiver. A diversity program waiver are for those who apply for McNair, Amgen or leadership Alliance.

Here are some of the most popular scholarships offered for International graduate students by Stanford University.

JN Tata Endowment Scholarship - Indian students only

The merit-based J. N. Tata Endowment loan scholarship is awarded one-time to Indians for full-time Postgraduate/Ph.D./Postdoctoral/Research fellowships studies overseas, in all fields, irrespective of caste, creed, gender, or community.

• This scholarship is applicable for master's programs, one needs to have At least 60% in UG for this, The loan scholarship's award can be between $1,204-$12,055. Not all chosen scholars automatically qualify for the maximum award.
• Students may also be recommended for partial travel support from their affiliated Trusts up to ($601.27) and a gift reward, as determined at the sole discretion of the relevant Trusts' Trustees. The amount of the gifted reward, which ranges from $2,405- $9,019, is determined by how well candidates performed academically in the course for which they were given the JN Tata loan scholarship.
• The selection process is highly competitive and based on academic merit, extracurricular achievements, and the candidate’s capability and potential to contribute to their field of study. A panel of experts and scholars evaluates the applications and conducts interviews.

Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship

His Highness the Aga Khan created the International Scholarship Program (ISP) of the Aga Khan Foundation. The ISP wants to help talented, exceptional students from poor nations who lack other financial support to pursue full-time postgraduate study at respectable higher education institutions of their choice. The Aga Khan Foundation scholarships are awarded on a 50% grant and 50% loan.

Graduate students, who can be eligible for the Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship at Stanford University are:

• Candidates must be residents of nations where the Aga Khan Foundation has a presence. To get scholarships, Candidates usually need to be really good at school, have done some impressive things, and should have the will to make their community and country better. Scholarships are given for Ph.D. degrees, advanced studies, and bachelor's degrees. The amount of other grants, loans (if any), parental contribution, and student work income must all be subtracted from the student expenditures in order to calculate the specific award funding requirement. All students should keep on looking for other funding options in an effort to lower the amount they ask the Foundation for.
• Strong professional experience, extracurricular achievements, volunteer contributions, and leadership skills are needed.

KC Mahindra Scholarship for Postgraduate Students 

Deserving students have been given interest-free loan scholarships by the K. C. Mahindra Education Trust since 1956 so they can pursue post-graduate studies overseas in a variety of subjects. It is designed to support Indian students who wish to pursue postgraduate education at reputed international universities. 

KC Mahindra Scholarships provide financial assistance to cover tuition fees, living expenses, and other educational costs for the entire duration of the postgraduate program.

• A maximum of $12,055 per scholar, is awarded to the top 3 K.C. Mahindra Fellows. 
• A maximum of $6,026 per scholar, is awarded to remaining successful applicants.
• Applicants must have a First Class degree or equivalent diploma of similar standard from a recognized University
• Eligible for Indian students with more than 65% in UG.

OPEC Fund for International Development Scholarship

The OPEC Fund Scholarship Award helps deserving young people from underdeveloped nations continue graduate studies in a discipline that relates to development. Basically, The primary goal of the OFID Scholarship is to foster the educational and professional development of young individuals from developing countries who are committed to making a positive impact in their home countries.

Those who get selected for this scholarship receive the awards covering full tuition fees upto $50,000

• Candidates must be residents of developing nations, as designated by OFID.
• Candidates should have already been admitted to a master's degree program at a reputable university or institution, or be in the process of doing so.
• Typically, during the selection process, factors like academic achievement and a strong dedication to the advancement of their own nation are taken into account.
• Tuition, test costs, and other educational costs related to the master's degree program are all covered by OFID Scholarships.
• Along with financial assistance, participants may also be given a monthly stipend to help with living costs, books, and research supplies.

Fulbright Nehru Scholarship

The Fulbright-Nehru Master's Fellowships are special opportunities for outstanding people from India to pursue a master's degree program at select U.S. colleges and universities in the fields of Economics, Environmental Science/Studies, Higher Education Administration, International Affairs, International Legal Studies, Journalism and Mass Communication, Public Administration, Public Health, Urban and Regional Planning, and Tourism.

• These fellowships are for highly motivated individuals who hold leadership qualities, have completed the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree, have at least three years of professional work experience, and are committed to returning and contributing to their communities. The fellowships are for one to two years.
• Applicants need to be well-rounded in their academic and/or professional endeavors, depending on the program's concentration.
• Programs in the United States usually include English language proficiency requirements, even though programs in other countries may have distinct language requirements.
• The amount of this scholarship is $150.