Outside (non-Stanford) Support

Students are encouraged to actively seek and apply for outside fellowships. Per University policy, depending on the amount of the external funding, it will substitute in part or entirely the GSE’s support; outside awards are supplemented up to the level of support the student would normally receive from the GSE during their five years of guaranteed funding (this includes working a research or teaching assistantship). Students who receive outside awards must contact the Doctoral Programs Officer to discuss the details and structure of the award, especially if it requires institutional contributions.

In some cases, outside agencies and companies may want to pay the cost of attendance for a GSE student. Arrangements for the payment to be made directly to Stanford should be made by the company with Student Financial Services through the University’s third party billing system. Students should contact the Student Services Center for more information. Students can submit a HELP SU ticket for assistance.

In all cases of external (i.e., non-Stanford) funding, the Doctoral Programs Officer must receive a copy of the award letter outlining the terms, amount, and duration of the award. This award letter enables Stanford to pay the student the University health insurance subsidy, when eligible, even if the external funds are not handled in any way by Stanford. 

As is the case with other Stanford departments, the GSE requires its doctoral students to participate in faculty research activities and groups, usually as paid research assistants. GSE doctoral students who are not paid via an assistantship because they are funded by an external source are nonetheless required to participate in research activities at the GSE. This participation (i.e., apprenticeships) ensures that the student is receiving adequate academic preparation to be a doctoral level researcher and scholar. When fully funded by an external source, students have the opportunity to pursue research as an apprentice with a faculty member whose project is most interesting to the student regardless of that faculty member’s ability to fund the student. An apprenticeship becomes part of the student’s progress towards the degree; the student is expected to discuss his or her apprenticeship experiences during the First- and Second-Year reviews. Apprentices must discuss with their faculty advisor and the principal investigator (if different) the expectations, scope of work, and time commitment that the student will be expected to make. At the dissertation stage, students fully funded by external sources are expected to focus primarily upon dissertation research and writing, not apprenticeships.