Graduate fellowships from Stanford-based funds generally are controlled by the school and administered by the department, which determines the requirements and restrictions as well as the level of support - ranging from partial tuition to full tuition and a living stipend.
This section includes:
Fellowship tuition and stipend payments are entered in the Graduate Financial Support system (GFS) and processed by the Student Financial Services Department. Fellowship tuition support is credited against tuition charges on the student's University bill; it is not paid in cash, nor is it convertible to cash. The default for disbursement of the stipend is "standard charges," i.e., after other University charges such as room and board have been deducted, the remaining fellowship stipend is paid as a refund check to the student. If a student prefers to receive the fellowship check for the entire amount and pay the other charges with personal funds, the student must request the home department to issue the stipend as a "check only - no deductions" (use "stipend" charge priority).
Credit balances on student accounts may result from aid awards that exceed charges and/or aid awards intended to be disbursed entirely to the student (not for the payment of tuition or fee charges). Some student aid has restrictions placed on it by the donor or sponsor that preclude the aid from paying specific types of charges. Therefore, students may receive credit balance checks that include excess aid and/or stipend. Also, a student may still have unpaid charges on his/her student account that his/her aid is not eligible to pay, but still receive a credit balance check from his/her student account.
Students may review check disbursement data under the "View your Account" window. Refund checks are listed as "Refund/Stipend." Checks will be deposited or mailed on the next business day after the checks are printed.
Should a student withdraw during a quarter, the department/school determines whether a prorated amount of stipend must be repaid. To have the charges reduced, and thus be able to recapture any non-applicable tuition from the fellowship, the student should file a request for a Leave of Absence as soon as they know it will be needed.
Established in 1997, the SGF program awards full fellowships to graduate students in the sciences and engineering. The fellowships are funded through gift and endowment accounts, and they are administered for the University through the office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.
SGF awards are allocated by a program Steering Committee each year to departments. Those departments then submit nomination forms to the SGF Program Officer. The Program Officer, jointly with the Financial Aid Office, distributes information each year regarding GFS data entry for awarded fellowships. This information also includes tables for students holding nationally-competitive fellowships which are supplemented by SGF funds (see below).
The Contacts page in this manual includes contact information for the SGF Program. Additional information can be found on their web site (http://sgf.stanford.edu). Resources for those administering SGF Fellowships can be found at that web site.
The Financial Aid Office is responsible for administering nationally-competitive external fellowships that:
Each fellowship has its own policy guidelines: most require enrollment and matriculation, some require supplementation while others allow tuition only for the amount of a tuition shortfall, some allow part-time assistantships while others disallow any additional support or employment, and some prohibit concurrent receipt of other federal funds. With such a diversity of policy rules and regulations, department administrators are advised to contact the FAO with any questions regarding such fellowships (for example, required tuition supplementation and/or fees). The FAO can advise as to whether a specific fellowship is administered by the school, the department or the FAO.
Stanford Graduate Fellowships and certain nationally-competitive fellowships may be used to supplement one another, up to the level of an SGF award. The SGF Program Officer, jointly with the Financial Aid Office, distributes information [ pdf file ] each year regarding GFS data entry for students holding both an SGF and a nationally-competitive fellowship.
While the Financial Aid Office staff will enter and approve stipend and tuition payments made under the terms of most nationally-competitive fellowships, Departmental personnel with the appropriate GFS access will be able to see those payments in GFS. Students should also advise their School and Department of any external fellowship support they are receiving, so as to avoid conflicts with other Stanford support.
The Contacts page in this manual includes contact information for nationally-competitive fellowships administered through the Financial Aid Office.
In some cases, an external agency may award a fellowship directly to an individual, and the funding is not processed in any way through Stanford. In this case, the student is billed for tuition and fees in the same manner as other students, and pays those expenses directly. No aid is processed through the GFS system for these students.
Students with a competitive fellowship award paid directly to them are eligible for a Cardinal Care health insurance subsidy in the same way as students with financial aid processed through Stanford. Because these subsidies are triggered by financial aid entered into the GFS system, departments with such students should also enter the aid that the student has received, checking the "Information Only" box on the entry line. By doing this, the aid is recorded in GFS, but no money will flow through Stanford's systems.
Departments should keep a copy of appropriate documentation defining such fellowship awards before making an "Information Only" entry in GFS.
Students with school or department-based fellowships are required to be enrolled for 8 - 10 units during the school year, and for 1-3 units during Summer Quarter. Exceptions, for example, for summer travel awards, may be allowed by a Home Department Approver. Although it is rare for a nonmatriculated (i.e., not degree-seeking) graduate student to receive support, departments decide whether or not to use their own funds to support nonmatriculated students, for example, to pay the Permit for Services Only (PSO) tuition for Visiting Researchers (see Procedures for Registering Visiting Researchers, Research Policy Handbook 9.7).
Departments may use stipend payments from appropriate sources of funds to provide the following types of financial support for graduate students. In most cases, these types of payments are NOT allowable charges on sponsored projects.
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Last update: October 15, 2013 1:44 PM