Policy

This information is for department administrators and student services officers who control or administer graduate financial support, including assistantships and fellowships. The Graduate Financial Support system (GFS) is the online application used at Stanford to administer assistantships and fellowship paylines for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

GFS is the vehicle by which Stanford's policies on graduate financial support are carried out. Those policies, discussed in this manual, guided the development of the PeopleSoft application used to enter assistantship and fellowship paylines for graduate students and for Postdoctoral Scholars.

Access to GFS is managed in each of the schools. Details about roles, required training and the steps for getting access to PeopleSoft can be found at PeopleSoft at Stanford.

Use of This Manual

The manual is organized into sections based on key policies, types of funding, then general issues.  You will find links to GFS Contacts and a Glossary.

Purpose and Sources of Support

Financial support furthers the academic mission of this University. It is provided to enable students to make efficient progress toward their degree. During their studies at Stanford, most graduate students receive support from one or more sources. There is however no central office that disseminates information on all available financial support. Rules, regulations, and restrictions depend on the source of support; some are restricted to U.S. citizens, some are available only to students who qualify under federal need-based criteria, while others carry restrictions on undertaking any additional employment during the tenure of the award. In some circumstances, receiving financial support from one source could prohibit additional support from another. Because graduate students often receive funding from multiple sources, it is important that students and staff understand and adhere to the requirements of each funding source.

Most graduate financial support is determined by schools and/or departments on the basis of academic merit and availability of funding. Schools use assistantships and fellowships primarily to support doctoral students; graduate financial support is often not available for masters students.

This manual addresses University policies associated with graduate student appointments that provide salary and tuition in exchange for service (Assistantships) and financial awards that do not require service in exchange for support (Fellowships). These same two mechanisms, Assistantships and Fellowships, are also used to support Postdoctoral Scholars at Stanford. In addition, it discusses briefly those sources of financial aid that are administered principally by the Financial Aid Office (FAO). This site does not detail the policy associated with support that is exclusively within the province of a school or department. Although this manual focuses primarily on institutional policy regarding matriculated (i.e., degree-seeking) graduate students and Postdoctoral Scholars, pointers to sources of information about non-matriculated students (e.g., Visiting Researchers) are also included.

Updated on March 5, 2015 11:15 AM