PhD Financial Aid Overview

PhD Students

All SoE PhD students who are in good standing relative to their PhD program requirements will be funded through thesis submission. In all departments, this is at least equivalent to Stanford’s 20-hour RA salary plus tuition to cover enrollment requirements (summer enrollment requirements vary by department) and Cardinal Care health insurance. Arranging for this funding is the responsibility of the admitting department and faculty PhD advisor, and can include fellowships, research assistantships, training grants and teaching assistantships. Students may not choose the specific form of funding in a given quarter. If a student elects to turn down a particular source or type of funding an alternative may not be provided.

Often, our PhD students apply for and may receive individual fellowships which can reduce the department’s or advisor’s cost of funding. In these cases, the commitment of funding to the student will include the fellowship award and additional support from the department/advisor to reach the department’s standard level. For educational and training purposes, departments and advisors may encourage - and even require - their students to apply for external fellowships. However, no department or faculty member may require students to obtain external individual funding or to “self-fund” as a condition of admission, entry to, or continuation in the PhD.

Faculty PhD advisors are expected to plan a combination of research assistantships, teaching assistantships, local and external fellowships to support all of their PhD advisees at the hiring department's standard level of funding. When funding sources become unavailable or inadequate, advisors should first contact the admitting department and, if different, their own department chair for assistance. If departmental resources cannot address the shortage, the advisor and department chair can contact the SoE's Office of Student Affairs to request support.  In many cases, a combination of departmental, SoE, and VPGE funds are gathered to support students while the advisor seeks additional funding. Faculty advisors (not the PhD students) are responsible for seeking assistance at the appropriate level when needed.

In cases where a PhD student who is otherwise in good standing in a SoE department but does not have a faculty PhD advisor who has committed to providing funding, it is the department’s responsibility to define, communicate and support the process of identifying and assigning a suitable faculty PhD advisor.