stanford communication phd acceptance rate

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Application requirements for all doctoral programs (phd).

All of our doctoral programs are designed to develop outstanding educational researchers who have a deep understanding of the scientific, practical and policy issues they study. All require full-time study, and we promise five years of full-time financial support for every student we admit. Our doctoral programs are small, typically ranging from about 25 to 35 new students a year. The small size of our doctoral cohorts creates big educational advantages for students: the classes are almost always small, students receive individualized attention from their advisors, and they have many opportunities to develop close collegial relationships with fellow students.

It is extremely important to demonstrate in your statement of purpose that your interests converge closely with the current research of faculty who work in the program to which you are applying. Other doctoral applicants will certainly do this, and if you don't, you will forfeit an important competitive advantage to them. 

If you wish to contact faculty, please read our Which Degree Which Program article, by Professor Eamonn Callan, which outlines the appropriate process for contacting faculty with whom you share research interests. 

• Program website:  Degrees and Programs/PhD
• Length of Program:  5 years (average length)
• Tuition: fellowship/assistantship salary and tuition guaranteed for first five years of the program (autumn, winter and spring quarters) for all students, including international students. Funding includes two summers.

Application Requirements:

Application form.

Complete and submit Stanford's graduate online application .

Application Fee

The application fee is $125 , is non-refundable, and must be received by the application deadline.

Application Fee Waivers

Stanford offers three types of application fee waivers for which GSE applicants may apply and be considered:

• GRE Fee Reduction Certificate-Based Waiver
• Diversity Program Participation-Based Waiver
• School-Based Waiver

Please visit the Stanford Graduate Diversity website for instructions, deadlines, and the fee waiver application form.

Statement of Purpose

A Statement of Purpose is required. Your statement should be typed, single-spaced and should be between one to two pages . Describe succinctly your reasons for applying to the proposed program, your preparation for this field of study, and why our program is a good fit for you, your future career plans, and other aspects of your background as well as interests which may aid the admissions committee in evaluating your aptitude and motivation for graduate study. You may indicate potential faculty mentors as part of your study and research interests. Be sure to keep a copy for your records. What's a Good Statement of Purpose?

A resume or CV  is required of all applicants, depending on which document is most appropriate for your background. There is no page limit for resumes or CVs, though we typically see resumes of one page in length. Please upload your resume or CV in the online application.

Three (3) Letters of Recommendation

Applicants are required to submit three letters of recommendation . In the online application, you will be asked to identify your recommenders and their email addresses. Please notify your recommenders that they will receive an email prompt to submit their recommendation online. You can submit your request for letters of recommendation through the system without submitting the entire online application.  Stanford GSE only accepts online recommendations through the application system ; Stanford GSE cannot accept mailed, emailed or faxed recommendations.

Recommendations should be written by people who have supervised you in an academic, employment, or community service setting. We very strongly recommend that at least one of these letters be from a university professor familiar with your academic work. Your recommendations should directly address your suitability for admission to a graduate program at Stanford GSE.

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that all three letters of recommendation are submitted through the system by the application deadline , so please work closely with your recommenders to remind them of the deadline.

College and University Transcripts

Transcripts are required from every college and university you have attended for at least one academic year as a full-time student. When submitting your online application, transcripts should be uploaded to the application as a scanned copy or PDF ; this is sufficient for the application review process. Please refrain from sending a secured PDF/transcript with a digital signature as our system cannot upload these properly. The best way to ensure we receive an upload-able document is for you to print out the secured transcript, scan it, and upload the scanned copy (not to exceed 10MB) as a PDF. 

If you earned a degree at the institution from which you are submitting a transcript, please ensure that the degree conferral date and the degree conferred is clearly visible on the document. If you are currently enrolled in a degree program and will not have earned the respective degree by the time of submitting your GSE application, you should submit your most recent in-progress transcript from your institution.

Only if admitted will we contact you with instructions on sending two copies of your official transcripts to our office. We cannot accept mailed, emailed or faxed copies of your transcripts during the application process. Please note: the instructions for sending transcripts on the online application and on the general Stanford Graduate Admissions Office website differ from this Stanford GSE requirement.

Concerning course work completed in a study abroad program

If the coursework and grades are reflected on the transcript of your home institution, you do not need to submit original transcripts from the study abroad institution.

Concerning foreign institutions

If your institution provides a transcript in a language other than English, we require that you submit a translation of the transcript that is either provided by the institution or a certified translator. Translations must be literal and complete versions of the original records.

If your transcript does not include your degree conferral date and the degree conferred , please submit a scanned copy of your diploma, a conferral statement, or a conferral document in addition to your transcript . If you are currently enrolled in a degree program and will not have earned the respective degree by the time of submitting your GSE application, you should submit your most recent in-progress transcript from your institution.

Stanford University requires the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) from all applicants whose native language is not English. The GSE requires a minimum TOEFL score of 250 for the computer-based test, 600 for the paper-based test or 100 for the internet-based test in order to be considered for admission. The Test of Written English (TWE) portion of the TOEFL is not required. Applicants who have completed a four-year bachelor's degree or a two-year master's program (or its equivalent) in the U.S. or at an institution where English is the main language of instruction are not required to take the TOEFL. For more information on TOEFL requirements, please refer to the Required Exams  page on the main Stanford Graduate Admissions website. You may register for the TOEFL test directly at the ETS website .

TOEFL Dates and Deadlines

PhD applicants who are required to take the TOEFL should plan to take the internet-based TOEFL test and have official TOEFL scores sent electronically to Stanford at institution code 4704 (department code does not matter) no later than November 1 . This will give your official TOEFL scores time to be sent from ETS and be received by our system in time for the December 1 deadline. PhD applicants to Knight-Hennessy Scholars should plan to take the internet-based TOEFL test no later than October 16 so your scores can be received by our system in time for the November 16 KHS GSE deadline. Please note that the TOEFL may be taken no earlier than 18 months prior to the application deadline.

Does Stanford accept tests other than TOEFL?

No. We accept only TOEFL scores; we do not accept IELTS or other test scores.

Contact Information

Admissions:  [email protected]  

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Graduate Student Profile

9,688 matriculated graduate students

• 411 Master’s Professional (MBA)
• 2,103  Master’s Academic
• 270 Doctoral Professional (JD, MD)
• 799 Doctoral Academic (PhD, DMA, JSD)

Graduate Students by School	Percentage
Graduate School of Business	11%
Doerr School of Sustainability	4%
Graduate School of Education	3%
School of Engineering	37%
School of Humanities and Sciences	24%
Law School	7%
School of Medicine	14%

Ethnic Diversity	Percentage
American Indian or Alaska Native	<1%
Asian	18%
Black or African American	4%
Hispanic or Latino*	9%
International	35%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	<1%
White	27%
Two or more races	5%
Unknown	1%

Geographic Diversity	Percentage
International	36%
California	34%
Other U.S.	30%

	Percentage
Women	46%
Men	54%

Numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number number and may not total 100%.

* Includes all reporting Hispanic/Latino, regardless of race.

Dates and Deadlines

Main navigation, application open date.

The online application for 2025 entry will open in mid-September 2024.

Application Deadlines

Application deadlines vary by program and range from November to March for full-time programs. Before you apply, check the application deadline for your program on the Explore Graduate Programs page .

The application closes at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on your program’s deadline.

Decision Notification

Decision timelines vary by program, and the graduate program to which you applied will communicate the admission decision to you in accordance with the program’s notification timeline.

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Doctoral Completion & Time-to-degree

This page contains information about degree conferrals, time-to-degree, and retention for doctoral research programs at Stanford. While the most common academic doctoral degree across the university is the PhD, the JSD in Law and the DMA in Musical Arts are also included here. The MD and JD are considered to be professional degrees and are not included. In all cases below, the academic years reported are "summer start years", meaning that the academic year encompasses a period from the start of the summer term through the end of the following spring term. Please see the  definitions  below the dashboard for more details about how the various metrics presented here are calculated.

More information is available about  doctoral program enrollment and demographics , as well as  doctoral program admissions . Note that local variation in policy and practice regarding admission, matriculation, and degree conferral may affect the departmental and school-level metrics below.

Methodology & Definitions

Time-to-degree.

Time-to-degree is the length of time in years from the first day of the student's first term of enrollment in their doctoral program to the day of their degree conferral. Time-to-degree measures elapsed time only, not enrolled time. It does not stop and start if a student takes a leave of absence. If a student was enrolled in a master's degree program prior to matriculating in the doctoral program the separate time in the master's program is not included even if it was in the same department as the doctoral program. For this reason, time-to-degree may be lower in some doctoral programs where it is common to require completion of a master's degree prior to matriculation in the doctoral program. If a student switches between doctoral programs, time-to-degree is restarted from the first term of enrollment in the new program. The only exceptions to this restart of the clock are when program changes are the result of departmental name changes or other restructuring, or when the new program has the same CIP code as the original program.

Graduation Rate

As with time-to-degree, the start of the 6-year period used to calculate graduation rates is the first term in which the student is enrolled in a doctoral program, regardless of any prior or concurrent enrollment in a master's program. The 6-year rate is based on elapsed time only, not enrolled time. It is not based on the concept of a cohort year or graduation year, but on the actual matriculation term and degree conferral term. For example, if a student enrolled at the start of Spring 2010 and graduated at the end of Winter 2016, they would count towards the 6-year rate; however, if they instead graduated at the end of Spring 2016, their time to degree would be more than 6 years due to the extra term of enrollment.

Degree Conferrals

Numbers of degree conferrals are reported by summer start year. For example, all degree conferred from Summer 2016 through the following Spring 2017 would be reported under the 2016-17 year.

Entering Cohort Status

An entering cohort consists of all students entering a doctoral program during autumn, winter, or spring quarter of a single academic year, as well as those entering during the preceding summer. Students are considered to be current in their program if they are still actively pursuing that degree or are on an approved temporary leave of absence. "Current students in a different PhD program" are students who were enrolled at one point in the selected program but subsequently moved to another doctoral program at Stanford and are still engaged in doctoral study. Students who are listed as "completed" have successfully conferred their degree in the selected program or, if they have completed a different doctoral program, have changed programs and been awarded a doctoral degree by another program at Stanford. Program changes resulting from department name changes, organizational restructuring, or between programs with the same CIP code are not considered "changes" in this context. Students who are shown as "discontinued" have either left the university without a degree or switched to a non-doctoral degree program (in many cases a master's degree).

Visit the  Graduate Admissions website  for more information about pursuing graduate study at Stanford.

The data are available for download in Google Drive .

• Data Source(s): PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, Institutional Research & Decision Support

Stanford University is committed to providing an online environment that is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. If you cannot access this content or use any features on this site, please contact  [email protected]  to obtain alternate formats.

You may submit feedback on this dashboard through the  feedback form .

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="stanford communication phd acceptance rate"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Doctoral program statistics.

Use this page to explore summary statistics for research doctoral programs administered by the Graduate School. Methodology and definitions are provided at the bottom of the page.   

For additional graduate statistics, survey results, and career outcomes data, see program metrics .

Methodology and Definitions

Admissions counts.

Applied, admitted and matriculated counts are reported for new, external applications only. Current students who transfer into a different graduate program at Cornell without submitting a new application are not counted here.

Individuals may defer enrollment and/or be admitted to a program that differs from the one to which they originally applied. This can cause admitted and matriculated counts to be higher than application counts in some fields. 

Admission cycles start in the summer and continue through the following spring. For example, the 2020-21 admissions year includes data from summer 2020 through spring 2021. Because these dashboards are updated annually in the fall, the most recent year will not include data from the spring.

Average Admit Rate

Admit rate is the percentage of applicants who were admitted. Highly selective programs tend to have low admit rates. The five year average provides a good indicator of typical admit rates.

Enrollment numbers are derived from the student enrollment snapshot that is captured the sixth week of each fall term. Only students who are enrolled on the census date are counted. Students on an approved leave of absence are not included.

Average Completion Rate

Completion rate is the percentage of entering doctoral students who successfully completed the degree. Completion rates are reported by entering cohort, which is defined by the first term in which a student is enrolled in their doctoral program, regardless of any prior enrollment in a master’s program. The cohorts included here entered their programs seven to twelve years ago, and thus have had adequate time to finish a doctoral degree.

Status of Students in Each Recent Entering Cohort

This graph shows the current status of students who began the doctoral program in each of the last ten academic years. Students listed as completed have received the doctoral degree. Students are considered current in their program if they are still actively pursuing the doctoral degree or are on an approved temporary leave of absence. Students listed as discontinued have either left the university without a degree or switched to a different type of degree program (in many cases a master’s degree).

Time to Degree (TTD)

Time-to-degree degree measures the time in years from the first day of a student’s initial enrollment in their doctoral program to the day of their degree conferral. Time-to-degree measures elapsed time only, not enrolled time. It does not stop and start if a student takes a leave of absence. For Master’s/PhD students, time-to-degree starts when they begin the PhD phase of their studies. If a student was enrolled in a master’s program prior to matriculating in the doctoral program, the separate time in the master’s program is not included. Because of this, time-to-degree may appear shorter in some doctoral programs where it is common to complete a master’s prior to matriculation in the doctoral program.

The median time to degree can be thought of as the “mid-point”, where half of the students completed in a time period that is less than or equal to this value. The median is not affected by extreme values or outliers. 

2023-2024 Graduate and Professional Tuition Rates

Main navigation.

Tuition rates for the academic year 2023-24 

Choose your student classification to find tuition rates.

(Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer)

  Graduate Engineering Business School Medical School Law School   Postdoc & Non-Matriculated  Special Registration Statuses  

Changed your enrollment during the add/drop period? Learn when your tuition charges will update . (Visiting Summer Session student? Please use the Summer Session cost calculator .)   

Graduate School (Master's / Doctorate)

Please note: Ph.D. students in the Biomedical Sciences and in the Graduate School of Business are assessed the standard graduate tuition rates.

Coterm billing details

Graduate School of Engineering

Total Units	Quarterly Tuition

Graduate School of Business (GSB)

Mba program .

Term	Quarterly Tuition

MSx: M.S. in Management for Experienced Leaders  

$138,640 Annual tuition

This is the annual rate, comprising 4 quarters: Summer 2023-Spring 2024

School of Medicine (SoM) 

$21,781  per quarter

Total Units	Quarterly Tuition

Stanford Law School  

$23,870  per quarter

Law/GSB Joint Program 

$24,265  per quarter

Multiple-Career Graduate Tuition   

For details, please see    Joint Degree Programs and Tuition Schedules

Tuition Agreement for Students with Multiple Programs (TAGM)

Postdoc & Non-Matriculated

Tuition Category	Quarterly Tuition (unless otherwise specified)
Postdoc Fee	$125
VSR Monthly Fee	$1,272 This is the rate
Permit to Attend (PTA)	$6,308 Policies concerning .

Special Registration Statuses for Graduate & Professional Students

Graduate part-time enrollment ( 3-7 units; autumn, winter, spring ).

Graduate students who need only 3-7 units to complete degree requirements or qualify for TGR status may be eligible for part-time enrollment. For more information on eligibility for part-time graduate enrollment and for information on how to apply, please see our special registration page .

Graduate Part-time Enrollment (OAE Accommodation) ( 3-7 units; Autumn, Winter, Spring )

This registration status is for graduate students who have been recommended for an approved reduced course load by the Office of Accessible Education (OAE) . For more information on eligibility and how to apply, please see our special registration page .

Total units	Graduate quarterly tuition rate	Engineering quarterly tuition rate

Graduation Quarter

$150 per quarter

Graduate students who have completed all degree requirements and need a registration status in order to graduate may qualify for a graduation quarter.  For more information on eligibility for graduation quarter and for information on how to apply, please see our special registration page .

Medical School Research Rate

$3,619  per quarter

For more information on eligibility and for information on how to apply, please see the School of Medicine Registrar's Office Reduced/Research Tuition Rate Eligibility web page.

TGR (Terminal Graduate Registration) / TGR Final Registration

$3,816  per quarter  TGR students who carry 0-3 units are assessed the TGR rate of $3,816.

Graduate students who have completed all degree requirements (including minimum residency units) but are working on finishing a thesis, project or dissertation may qualify for TGR. For more information on eligibility for TGR and for information on how to apply, please see our special registration page  and our TGR page .

Tuition Charge Updates During the Add/Drop Period

Up until the add/drop deadline (Final Study List Deadline) , when you adjust your enrollment and move into a new tuition bracket, your tuition charges will update automatically within 24-48 hours. 

Please note:

• After the Final Study List Deadline , there are no tuition reductions for withdrawn courses. Courses dropped after the deadline are considered “withdrawn.” They will show with a “W” on your transcript, and will count towards your tuition charges.
• For Engineering Grad, GSB, SLS, and SoM students: Waitlisted courses count toward your tuition assessment. 
• If you have requested a Special Registration Status , your tuition will not be updated until the eForm is processed. You can review eForm processing timelines and log back into your eForm at any time to see the status of your request.

To review your student financial account details: 

• Log into Axess (Student role) > “My Finances” tab > Bill & Payment System > View & Pay My Bill
• Click on the "Account Activity" tab
• Choose a quarter to review and click the down arrow ( v ) on the right to see details

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PhD Admissions Frequently Asked Questions

Prospective applicants (phd).

While there are no specific prerequisite courses to complete before applying, previous experience has shown that before starting the core courses students need to have mastered the material in courses such as Stanford's Math113, Math115, Stats116, Stats200, and CS106A (or their equivalents at other universities), as demonstrated by very strong and relatively recent grades. Descriptions of these courses may be viewed on Stanford's ExploreCourses course listings pages. Where this background is missing or not recent, admission to the PhD program will involve working with the Graduate Director to design an individual program to make up the necessary courses.

No, applicants with only a bachelor's degree are eligible to enter our PhD program. Each year's admitted cohort typically comprises both students with and without a master's degree.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford reaffirmed its commitment to perform individualized, holistic review of each applicant to its graduate and professional programs. We recognize that students may have faced significant challenges during the period of disruption caused by the pandemic, and we will take such individual circumstances into account during application review. Importantly, we will respect decisions regarding the adoption of Credit/No Credit and other grading options during this unprecedented period of COVID-19 disruption, whether they are made by institutions or by individual students. Our goal remains to form graduate student cohorts that are excellent and encompass a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences that enrich the graduate educational experience.

No. In the Statistics Department, doctoral students select their advisor at the end of their second year in the program after having the opportunity to work on research with one or more faculty of their choosing.

No, we only matriculate students in autumn quarter and therefore all applicants must meet the annual PhD application deadline.

No. It is not possible to complete a degree online in the Statistics Department. The department offers a small number of courses online through Stanford Online , mostly in summer, but the majority of courses must be completed on campus during normal business hours.

The Bechtel International Center works with students, staff and faculty and their families on issues including immigration policy, academic and financial difficulties, transactions with foreign governments, English proficiency, housing, and adjustment to life at Stanford.

Please visit Estimated Expense Budget for information about the estimated cost of living on-campus as a graduate student (this is only an estimate; your actual expenses may differ).

Please visit Student Housing for information about campus housing at Stanford, including information on eligibility, the application process, and deadlines.

Applicants to any graduate program at Stanford are eligible to apply for this fellowship. Applicants must have applied to the Scholars program by the KHS deadline and must submit their graduate application by the dept/program deadline.

Students with a strong mathematical background who wish to go on to a PhD in Statistics should consider applying directly to the PhD program. Completing the MS in Statistics does not increase one's chances of admission to the PhD program.

No, you may apply to only one degree program per academic year. An exception is within the Biosciences, in which you may apply to up to three PhD programs within one application. However, you may apply concurrently to one departmental program and to a professional school program (law, medicine or business).

We receive approximately 200 PhD applications and usually admit 10-12 new students each year.

Graduate Exam Requirements (PhD)

Yes - the general GRE test is required of all applicants applying to a graduate program in statistics at Stanford University, including applicants who have previously attended graduate school.

No, we do not accept any tests in lieu of the GRE general test.

Admission to the Statistics Department requires the GRE general test.

Applicants who have already earned a PhD degree, or have PhD studies in progress with a degree conferral date prior to the intended start quarter, may request a GRE General Test waiver by emailing stat-admissions-PhD [at] lists.stanford.edu (stat-admissions-PhD[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) with the following information and attaching an unofficial copy of your PhD transcript: full name, institution attended, degree earned, and degree conferral date. Use the subject heading 'GRE General Test Waiver Request'.

We do not have a minimum GPA requirement for applicants to the PhD program, but GPAs of at least 3.5 are strongly recommended.

While we have not established any particular GRE test score necessary for admission, the average General GRE percentile scores of recently admitted applicants are Verbal 92%, Quantitative 94% and Analytical Writing 83%. If you submit results from more than one eligible test date we will consider the higher of the scores from each relevant test.

No, you do not need to take the GRE Math Subject test. Effective May 2024, this test is optional. If submitted as part of the application, GRE Math Subject Test scores will be considered by the admissions committee. Applicants submitting GRE Math Subject Test scores are still required to submit GRE General Test scores. GRE Math Subject Test schedule .

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores are required of all applicants whose first language is not English. For detailed information, see the TOEFL information in Required Exams.

The University does not accept IELTS scores in lieu of the TOEFL.

A minimum TOEFL score of 100 on the Internet based test (iBT) is required by Stanford University for all Ph.D. applicants.

However, please note that the Graduate Admission's Required Exams webpage also states that incoming students who score below 109 on the TOEFL will likely be required to complete additional English placement testing prior to enrollment. Evidence of adequate English proficiency must be submitted before enrollment is approved by Graduate Admissions.

The average TOEFL score of Ph.D. applicants admitted to the statistics department is 112.

Yes, Stanford accepts MyBest scores, but does not accept TOEFL Essentials test scores or any other English proficiency test (e.g., IELTS, PTE).

You may request a waiver if you (will) have an equivalent degree from a recognized institution in a country other than Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom in which English was the language of instruction. You must submit a Stanford application before submitting a TOEFL waiver request form. Note that U.S. citizenship does not automatically exempt an applicant from taking the TOEFL if the applicant’s first language is not English.

Please make sure to have your electronic scores sent to Stanford prior to their expiration date.

GRE scores are valid for five years from the test date.

TOEFL scores submitted to Stanford must be from a test taken within the last 24 months. Scores expire after 24 months and will not be available from ETS.

Applicants should have the Educational Testing Service (ETS) send scores electronically to Stanford.

Our university code is 4704. A department code is not required. You will either self-report your scores or indicate the date you will take the test(s) in the online application. Self-reported scores will not be considered official until Stanford receives the electronic record.

Transcripts (PhD)

Official transcripts should be submitted to the Graduate Admissions Office (not to the department) only if you have been offered admission to the program AND have accepted, and then only when they are final and show degree conferral. Final official transcripts that do not show degree conferral must be accompanied by official degree certifications. Instructions for submission are provided on the status page immediately after accepting the offer.

An official transcript must be an original document bearing the institutional seal and official signature of the Registrar or is verified by a school administrative officer or is a certified electronic transcript.

As part of the online application, applicants are required to upload scanned copies of transcripts (either official or unofficial) from all post-secondary institutions attended as a full-time student for one academic year or longer in the 'Academic History' section of the application.

If you have participated in a study abroad program or transferred courses to your home institution, and the individual courses and grades are reflected on the transcript of the home institution, then you do not need to submit separate transcripts for the study abroad/transfer institution.

Copies of your transcripts from continuing studies programs, extension schools, online courses, etc., that reflect less than one year of a full-time degree program do not need to be submitted. However, applicants may choose to include them as part of the online application under the 'Additional Information' section of the application.

Multiple page uploads are allowed for all transcripts. Do not send any official copies of transcripts (print or e-transcripts) to the department. They are not required as part of the application and will not be retained.

If the institution does not issue records in English, original language records must be submitted with official English translations. We accept translations issued by the institution or a professional translating service. Translations must be literal and complete versions of the original records. Transcripts submitted through a credentials evaluation service will also need to be accompanied by the original documents.

International students do not need to submit transcripts via an evaluation service unless your institution does not offer these documents in English.

If you are offered admission and choose to accept, you will find i nstructions provided on the status page immediately after accepting the offer.

Recommendation Letters (PhD)

The online application allows you to submit up to four letters of recommendation. Statistics PhD applicants are only required to submit three letters. It is the quality, not the quantity, of letters that supports and strengthens the graduate application. At least one recommender should be a faculty member at the last school you attended as a full-time student (unless you have been out of school for more than five years). Note: If you have concerns that one of your recommenders will not be able to submit their letter by the deadline, you may want to consider requesting letters from a total of four recommenders. This will increase the likelihood that three letters will be submitted by the deadline and that your application will be considered complete.

You should choose individuals who:

• Know you well through significant, direct involvement with you within the last three years
• Will provide detailed anecdotes and examples to support their assertions
• Are truly enthusiastic about writing a recommendation for you, will spend sufficient time writing a thoughtful letter, and will be able to submit it by the application deadline

Letters must be submitted using the electronic application. As part of the online application, the applicant will be required to register the names and contact information, including e-mail addresses, of each recommender. Recommenders will then receive an email with directions on how to proceed. For additional information, please visit the Letters of Recommendation page provided by the Office of Graduate Admissions. Letters must be received by the published deadline. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that letters are submitted to the electronic application by the published deadline. Do not email, mail, or fax letters of recommendation that have already been submitted through the online application.

Yes, we do accept letters submitted by your university's letter service. If this applies to you, you will still need to enter information for each recommender in the online application, including e-mail addresses which will automatically generate the email to each recommender requesting a letter. It is your responsibility to contact them to let them know to disregard this email and to use the university's letter service. Please use stat-admissions-phd [at] lists.stanford.edu (stat-admissions-PhD[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) when routing through the letter service.

The recommendation process now supports letters submitted via Interfolio. The applicant registers a recommender using an email address that contains “interfolio.com”. Please remember that letters written specifically for your Stanford graduate program tend to be stronger than letters written for general use purposes. Furthermore, the recommendation form displayed for a recommender using Interfolio will not include the evaluation questions displayed and required for other recommenders.

Your recommenders are required to submit their letters through the online application by the deadline of the round in which you apply. You are responsible for ensuring the letters are submitted on time. You will be able to see the status of each letter (either notified, started, or submitted) and you will also be able to send a reminder via the online system to any recommender who has not yet submitted as the application deadline draws near.

• Register your recommenders. Go to the “Letters of Reference” tab on the application, and enter each recommender’s information carefully. It is essential that you enter the recommender’s email address correctly so that your recommender can access the instructions and form. Read the waiver statement for each letter of reference and determine whether or not you will waive your right to review each recommendation. You cannot change this later.
• Your recommender receives an email with log in information.
• Your recommender completes and submits his/her recommendation.
• You and your recommender receive an email confirming the recommendation has been submitted.

Once you are an enrolled student , the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) provides you with a right of access to your education record, including letters of reference if they are retained by the school. The law also permits you to waive that right of access to your letters of reference if you so choose. Waiving your right of access to your letters of reference is optional; your decision to waive or retain that right will have no bearing on the handling of your application.

The recommenders whom you notify will be able to see whether or not you have waived your FERPA right of access during the letter of reference submission process. You must waive or retain your rights of access to your letters of reference (using the online application system) before you invite recommenders to submit information for you.

Application Updates, Transfers, Re-applications, Deferrals (PhD)

Yes, you may make certain updates to your application after submitting it: consult the Grad Admissions FAQs for details . Scroll down to ' Post-Submission '.

Updates made PRIOR to the application deadline will be considered part of the initial application and will be reviewed by the admissions committee. However, although the application system will still allow applicants to make some updates AFTER the deadline, there is no guarantee that the admissions committee will review them.

Applicants who indicate that they would like to be considered for the master's program in the ' Program Selection ' section of the online application are eligible to request that their application be reviewed by the MS Admissions Committee.

In order to pursue this option, applicants must submit an email request within three business days of receiving the PhD admissions decision notification. Note that it is not guaranteed that the MS Admissions Committee will accept your application for review. You will be notified via email whether your request has been approved.

Yes, you must submit a complete application, pay the application fee and submit new letters of recommendation and transcripts.

However, if your GRE and TOEFL scores (where relevant) are valid and still available in Stanford's system it may not be necessary to have them resent. Email stat-admissions-phd [at] lists.stanford.edu (stat-admissions-phd[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) for confirmation.

No. We do not allow deferral of admission. Students who are accepted but cannot enroll may reapply for a future year when they are available to begin their studies.

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Transfer applicants.

• Eligibility

Review these guidelines to determine your eligibility for transfer admission. Please note that the terms high school and secondary school are used interchangeably.

• Students who have completed courses for college credit in an associates or bachelor’s degree program since completing high school must apply for transfer admission.
• Transfer coursework must be completed at an accredited degree-granting institution; coursework completed in vocational, technical, performance or professional programs is not considered.
• Students must have a high school diploma, the state/country equivalent of a high school diploma, or a GED in order to enroll at Stanford.
• Students who are dual-enrolled in both high school and college programs should apply for first-year admission.
• Students who have already earned a bachelor's degree are not eligible to apply for undergraduate admission. If you are interested in applying to a Stanford graduate degree program, please explore the Graduate Admissions website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i apply during my first year of college/university.

Most competitive applicants will apply to enter with the equivalent of two years of college-level coursework, but Stanford does not have a minimum number of transferable credits students must enter with in order to be admitted. If you are applying during your first year of college, your high school transcript will receive increased attention.

Am I eligible to apply after more than two years of college/university?

Incoming transfer students may transfer a maximum of 90 quarter units (roughly two years of full-time college or university study) to Stanford regardless of the number of units earned at previous institutions. While transfer students are welcome to apply with more than two years of coursework from a previous institution, note that students are required to complete at least two years of full-time enrollment at Stanford in order to attain a bachelor's degree from the university.

What courses do I need to take to be eligible to transfer?

There are no specific courses required for admission to Stanford. Please review our Academic Preparation & Transfer Credit page for more information about choosing courses.

Can I participate in an exchange program at Stanford?

While we do not offer an exchange program for undergraduates, you may wish to explore Stanford Continuing Studies or Stanford Summer Session .

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Applicant FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions – Eligibility, Funding, Knight-Hennessy Scholars, etc.

In addition to the most frequently asked Biosciences questions below, please also visit the Graduate Admissions FAQ web page for a more expansive list.

Are there any prerequisites or background coursework required for the 14 Biosciences PhD Programs?

A majority of the Biosciences PhD Programs do not have specific course requirements for admission.  The faculty like to see that you have taken a rigorous course load, but they will be particularly interested in your research experience.  While many of our graduate students have undergraduate preparation in a life sciences curriculum, it is feasible to enter from other programs, including chemistry, computer science, mathematics, psychology, or physics.  The  Biomedical Data Science ,  Biophysics ,  Molecular and Cellular Physiology , and  Structural Biology  programs have prerequisite or background course requirements. We strongly recommend that you reach out to the  programs  to which you plan to apply, to ask for specific course requirements/suggestions.

Can I apply to other graduate programs (e.g. Applied Physics, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Computer Science, etc.) in addition to the 14 Biosciences PhD Programs?

You may apply to only one graduate program per academic year. The only exception is within the 14 Biosciences PhD Programs, where you may apply for two Biosciences programs within a single application. The 14 Biosciences PhD Programs include:

• Biochemistry
• Biomedical Data Science
• Cancer Biology
• Chemical and Systems Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Microbiology and Immunology
• Molecular and Cellular Physiology
• Neurosciences
• Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
• Structural Biology

Can I defer my enrollment?

Admitted students are expected to enroll in their Home Program in September of the year they are admitted. Deferral requests will be reviewed by your admitting program’s admissions committee and are approved on a case-by-case basis. The maximum length of an admissions deferral granted by Stanford is one year. Typically, deferral requests are only approved for military, medical, visa, or education-related purposes.

Can recommenders submit their letter via mail, email, fax, or a letter service?

All recommendations must be submitted using the online application system as recommenders are required to respond to specific evaluation questions on the recommendation form. Letters of recommendation cannot be mailed, emailed, faxed, or submitted through a letter service (with the exception of Interfolio). For letters submitted via Interfolio, please remember that letters written specifically for your Stanford graduate program tend to be stronger than letters written for general use purposes.

Do any of the 14 Biosciences PhD Programs offer an MS degree program?

The Biomedical Data Science program is the only Biosciences Program that currently offers an MS degree program.  Information about the program and its application process can be found on its website .

If you are not interested in one of the 14 Biosciences PhD Programs, you can find a list of all the currently offered degrees at Stanford (along with their contact information) on the Graduate Admissions  Explore Programs web page .

Do I need to hold an MS degree to be eligible to apply?

A Master’s degree is only required if you do not meet the following eligibility requirements.  To be eligible for admission to graduate programs at Stanford, applicants must meet  one  of the following conditions:

• Applicants must hold, or expect to hold before enrollment at Stanford, a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association.
• Applicants from institutions outside the U.S. must hold, or expect to hold before enrollment at Stanford, the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized standing. See the Office of Graduate Admissions for the  minimum level of study required of international applicants .

Do I need to include a department code number when requesting to have my GRE and/or TOEFL scores sent to Stanford?

Applicants should have the Educational Testing Service (ETS) send scores electronically to Stanford. Our university code is  4704  and no department code is required. You will either self-report your scores or indicate the date you will take the test(s) in the online application. Self-reported test scores will be used by the relevant admissions committee in their initial review process. Your unofficial test scores will be validated when your official scores are received by the University.

Do I need to secure a Lab/Thesis Supervisor prior to applying?

You will not need to secure a research supervisor prior to applying. Incoming students usually do 2-4 lab rotations during their first year.  Information on the rotation process can be found on the following  website .  If you realize a few weeks into a rotation that the lab is not a good fit for you, then there is no reason for you to stay any longer.

Do I need to submit official transcripts/academic records?

Graduate Admissions only requires admitted applicants who accept the offer of admission to submit official transcripts that shows their degree conferral. More details on this can be found on the following Graduate Admissions  webpage .   Please do not send or have sent any transcripts to us or to your program. 

Do you offer fellowships to international applicants?

We have a limited number of fellowships (which include a yearly stipend, tuition, and health and dental insurance) available to the most highly competitive international applicants. The stipend for the 2023-24 Academic Year is $51,600 ($12,900 per quarter). Admittance to the Biosciences Programs for international applicants varies from year to year depending on funding and available space. We strongly encourage applicants to apply for scholarships/fellowships in their home country that can be used overseas. Some useful websites that include information on external fellowships are:

• Fulbright Foreign Student Program
• The Fogarty International Center at the NIH
• International Center at the Institute of International Education (IIE)

Applying for scholarships/fellowships generally takes some time to arrange, so plan ahead. You will be able to list any scholarships/fellowships that you have applied for and been awarded in the “Additional Information” section of the online application under “External Funding for Graduate Study”.  For more information about the costs and estimated expenses of attending Stanford, please visit the following  webpage .

Does the Bioengineering PhD program participate in the Biosciences Interview Session?

The Bioengineering PhD program is not one of the 14 Biosciences PhD Programs and has a separate admissions process and Interview Session.

How do I change one of my recommenders?

On the Recommendations page of the application, click on the recommender’s name you wish to replace, then click Exclude at the bottom of the resulting popup window. You then will see the option to add a new recommender. The recommender you exclude will not receive an email notification.

How does the funding work for those admitted to the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program and the Biosciences?

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program funding covers the first three years and your admitting Home Program will cover the remaining years.

I previously applied to the Stanford Biosciences Programs and was not admitted. What application materials will I need to submit?

Applicants who wish to reapply follow the same application process as first-time applicants. Reapplicants have the option of using letters of recommendation from their prior submitted Biosciences application or having new ones submitted.  Prior applications from the Autumn 2022, 2023, and 2024 admission cycles have been retained. It is highly recommended that one new letter of recommendation be submitted on your behalf.  When completing the application, you will be required to enter the information for a minimum of three recommenders (including the information for the letter writers that you plan to reuse).

For the letters you plan to reuse, please notify your recommenders in advance that they will receive a recommendation request but should not take any action.  Once you submit your application, please submit an email to the Biosciences Admissions Office indicating which letters you would like to reuse so we can add them to your application.

I’m an applicant whose first language is not English. Is it possible to have the TOEFL Test requirement waived?

Information about the TOEFL Test requirements, exemptions and waivers can be found on the  Graduate Admissions  website. Please note that if you submit a waiver request, it will be routed to Graduate Admissions  after you submit your application . Allow up to 15 business days after submitting your application for a response.

I’ve applied to multiple Home Programs and was wondering what happens if more than one program is interested in interviewing me?

In that case, the admissions representatives confer and attempt to determine which Home Program best fits your interests and should serve as your host. They will use the information you provided in your Statement of Purpose and on the Biosciences Supplemental Form. In most cases the best match is clear, but in rare cases where this is not the case, an admissions committee member will contact you directly to discuss with you which Home Program would be the best to host your visit. You will also have an opportunity to meet with faculty affiliated with other Home Programs during your visit.

If my school does not use a 4.0 GPA grading scale, how should I report this on my application?

You are asked to enter both GPA and GPA scale for each institution you list on the application. Enter your GPA as it appears on your transcript. Do not convert your GPA to a 4.0 scale if it’s reported on a different scale.

Is there a minimum GPA requirement?

There is no minimum GPA requirement to be considered for admission. The application review process is holistic and all aspects of the application (prior coursework, letters of recommendation, the statement of purpose, prior research experience, and test scores {if applicable}) are considered by the Admissions Committee when making an admissions decision.

What if my recommenders are not receiving their recommender link emails?

Occasionally, some email servers will send recommender link emails directly to Spam or will not allow the email to reach the primary inbox at all (particularly for email addresses located outside of the United States). Please reach out to Technical Support by submitting a request via the “Request Application Support” button on the “Instructions” page of your application.

What is included in the offer of admission?

The offer of admission for the 2023-24 Academic Year included a stipend of $51,600 ($12,900 per quarter), health and dental insurance, and graduate tuition. The stipend and benefits for the 2025-26 Academic Year will be set sometime in March 2025.  For more information about the costs and estimated expenses of attending Stanford, please visit the following webpage .

What is the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program?

The  Knight-Hennessy Scholars  program develops a community of future global leaders to address complex challenges through collaboration and innovation. The program will award up to 100 high-achieving students with three years of funding to pursue a graduate education at Stanford. To be considered, you  must apply to both  the Knight-Hennessy Scholars by Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 1:00 pm (PST) and to one of the Stanford Biosciences PhD programs by Sunday , December 1, 2024, at 11:59:59 pm (PST) .  Information about the program and the application process can be found on the  Knight-Hennessy Scholars  program website.

format_list_bulleted Topic Overview

Paying students (graduate and undergraduate).

Students can accept employment at Stanford to meet academic year earning expectations for financial aid packages and/or to perform services related to their course of graduate study. This overview outlines information about paying student workers and various methods of funding graduate students.

In rare occasions, if a student (not employed by Stanford) participates or contributes to a special Stanford activity or event, they may be paid through an  honorarium .

Roles and Responsibilities

Faculty members often supervise student employees on hourly-paid jobs and graduate students on assistantships and fellowships. Administrators within the departments are responsible for setting up employee records and pay instructions with Payroll, and assisting faculty with their supervisory tasks, such as approving rates of pay and, in the case of hourly employees, approving hours worked. Administrators are responsible for entering all graduate payments in the Graduate Financial Support (GFS) system.

Paying Student Workers

When undergraduate or graduate students are performing a service for Stanford, treat them as employees with the requisite paperwork and, if they are working in an hourly position, keep an accurate record of hours worked.

Hourly-Paid Students

Students working in hourly-paid positions are hired as employees, with job records in PeopleSoft.

• For PeopleSoft entry deadlines for each pay period, refer to Resource: Payroll Schedules and Deadlines .
• For employment guidelines, including pay scales and work-hour limitations, refer to Administrative Guide Policy 10.1.1: Undergraduate Student Employment on Campus  and Administrative Guide Policy 10.2.2: Graduate Student Hourly Employment .
• To enroll in direct deposit, refer to How to: Enroll/Update/Cancel Direct Deposit .

Hourly-paid students must record actual hours worked in Axess Timecard each pay period. Refer to Topic Overview: Time and Leave Reporting  for more information.

I-9 Collection and Reverification

To comply with U.S. law, Stanford administrators must verify the eligibility for employment for all new employees, including student employees. However, students who are continuously enrolled, except during normal school break periods, do not need to submit a new I-9 Form when moving between jobs. They need to present renewal documents before current documents expire to avoid any disruptions in pay. Refer to How to: Verify Employment Eligibility (I-9)  for more information.

Taxation of Student Pay

Student-employee pay is subject to federal and state income tax withholdings and is reported on Form W-2. Work performed in California is subject to withholding and reporting to California, regardless of residency status of the student. Registered degree-seeking students do not pay FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes or California Voluntary Disability Insurance for the quarters that they are enrolled in classes.

Students can refer to the Student Financial Services Taxes websites for information on tax considerations for:

• U.S. Citizen and Resident non-U.S. Citizen Students
• Non-Resident non-U.S. Citizen Students

Paying Non-Registered Students

Students who are working, but are not enrolled for a given quarter, are treated as temporary employees. Terminate the student job record, and rehire the student as a temporary employee. The wages paid during this period are subject to FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes and California Voluntary Disability Insurance. Refer to Termination Process (PeopleSoft HRMS Job Aids) for more information.

Taxation of Student Awards

Award payments to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and residents for tax purposes are taxable to the recipient, but not reported by Stanford on a tax document. Stanford does not withhold tax from these payments. Recipients may need to make quarterly tax payments to the IRS and State of California using Form 1040-ES  at the IRS website and 540-ES at the State of California Franchise Tax Board website. A letter summarizing payments greater than $600 is mailed to the recipient each January for year-end tax reporting.

Scholarships and fellowships that qualify under Section 117 of the Internal Revenue Code are excludable from the recipient’s gross income. To qualify for the Section 117 exclusion:

• An award must be a qualified scholarship (the award is only applicable to tuition and mandatory fees).
• The recipient must be a candidate for a degree.
• The award must be for the purpose of studying or conducting research at an educational organization.

Refer to the IRS discussion of these exclusions . 

Award payments to nonresidents of the U.S. are subject to a 30% federal tax withholding and are reported on Tax Form 1042-S . Form 1042-S is mailed annually by March 15.

Federal Work Study

Students who are awarded Federal Work Study (FWS) funds may use these funds to seek employment at Stanford. For graduate students, FWS positions are sometimes structured in the form of a research or teaching assistantship with a corresponding tuition allowance.

FWS is funded primarily by the federal government with matching contributions from Stanford, and, for off-campus employment in Community Service, the hiring organization.

Upon the hiring of a work-study student, the department manager must complete the FWS Authorization Request to confirm the employment and to receive instructions on the Oracle Labor Distribution allocation for the student. The student is responsible for monitoring hour limits. Additional hours worked are funded by the hiring department. Refer to Financial Aid Federal Work Study for more information.

Since FWS jobs are structured in different ways by the various departments and schools, students should contact their academic department or school office for information about FWS opportunities. Undergraduate students interested in Community Service FWS should contact the Haas Center for Public Service . All students who wish to receive FWS funding must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid . FWS awards are based on computed financial need and available funds. Additional information may be available from the Financial Aid Office .

SU-21 Fellowship/Award Form

The SU-21 Fellowship/Award Form  is used to request an award check  to be presented during a ceremony to a Stanford graduate student and for reimbursement for conference and training fees, travel expenses, and purchases of  computers, books and supplies for medical residents and clinical fellows (SHC or LPCH employees).

The SU-21 Form is also used to request fellowship payments (subsistence payments and travel grants) for visitors. Refer to How to: Request Subsistence Payment and Travel Grant for Visitors .

The SU-21 Form is not for use for payment for services, nor for fellowship payments to Stanford students.

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate student assistantships enable students to earn compensation for their research or teaching activities while continuing their academic and professional development. Graduate assistantships are controlled and/or administered by academic departments. The department administrators decide who receives these forms of financial support, and at what level a graduate student is supported. 

Assistantship salaries are set up by assigned administrative personnel within schools and departments, and paid through (Graduate Financial Support) GFS. Faculty who supervise graduate students on assistantships are assigned to approve quarterly payments for their students.

For GFS entry deadlines for each pay period, administrators can refer to Resource: Payroll Schedules and Deadlines . For policy guidelines, including pay scales and work-hour limitations, refer to the GFS Policy Manual .

Graduate students may opt to have tuition and fees deducted from their pay. Refer to Paying Tuition and Other Fees via Payroll Deduction on the Student Financial Services website for more information.

Graduate assistantships are paid on the following standard appointment periods:

• Autumn Quarter: Oct. 1 - Dec. 31
• Winter Quarter: Jan. 1 - March 31
• Spring Quarter: April 1 - June 30
• Summer Quarter: July 1 - Sept. 30

Graduate Financial Aid

Graduate financial aid is administered by Stanford University’s Financial Aid Office, the Schools of Medicine Financial Aid Office, the Law School Financial Aid Office and the Graduate School of Business Financial Aid Office. Refer to the Financial Aid Offices for links to specific aid offices.

Federal and non-federal student loans are available to graduate students enrolled at least half-time in a degree program. Student loans are administered by the various Financial Aid Offices on campus. To apply for federal student loans, students need to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid . Students should contact their Financial Aid Office for information and application instructions.

Emergency Grant-in-Aid Funds

Emergency Grant-in-Aid Funds assist graduate students who experience a financial emergency or an unanticipated expense (e.g., medical, dental or legal), causing financial hardship. This program is designed to assist those who cannot reasonably resolve their financial difficulty through fellowships or loans. For more detailed information and the application procedures, refer to the Emergency Grant-In-Aid (PDF) instructions and application form .

Graduate Fellowships

Graduate fellowships from Stanford-based funds generally are controlled by the school and administered by the university department. The department administrators determine the requirements and restrictions for fellowships, as well as the level of support given, ranging from funds to cover partial tuition to full tuition and a living stipend.

Processing Fellowship Support in GFS

Fellowship tuition and stipend payments are entered in the GFS by department personnel and are processed by the Student Financial Services Department. Fellowship tuition support is credited against tuition charges on the student’s university bill. Stipends are not paid in cash, nor are they convertible to cash. The default for disbursement of stipends 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 students prefer to receive the fellowship check for the entire amount and pay the other charges with personal funds, the students must request their home department to issue the stipend as a "check only - no deductions" (use "Stipend" charge priority). Refer to the Graduate Financial Support Policy Manual  for more information on Fellowships.

Credit Balances

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, students who have unpaid charges on their account that aid is not eligible to pay, may receive a credit balance check from their student account. To prevent this, refer to the Financial Aid and Student Permissions section on the University Bill Payment Methods .

Refund/Stipend Checks

Refund/ Stipend checks distributed from student accounts are sent via Direct Deposit . Students are strongly encouraged to use Direct Deposit, because it is the fastest way for students to receive their funds, and it ensures receipt of funds regardless of address changes.

For students who are not enrolled in Direct Deposit, live checks are mailed by the Student Financial Services Office directly to the mailing address on file in Axess . Live checks are mailed on the next business day after they are printed. 

Students may review refund/stipend disbursement data in Axess by selecting View Refund Stipend Check  the Finances drop-down menu in the Student tab.

Leaves of Absence After Fellowships Are Paid

If students withdraw during a quarter, the department/school administrators determine 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, students should file a request for a Leave of Absence as soon as they know it will be needed.

External Fellowships Paid Directly to Students

In some cases, an external agency may award a fellowship directly to students, and the funding is not processed in any way through Stanford. In this case, the students are billed for tuition and fees in the same manner as other students, and they pay those expenses directly. The students’ home department should enter this support in GFS as “Info Only” to allow coordination of all aid the students may receive.

Graduate students with a fellowship award paid directly to them may be eligible for a Cardinal Care health insurance subsidy. Entering an “Info Only” aid line in GFS will trigger the subsidy, if appropriate.

Department administrators should keep a copy of appropriate documentation defining such fellowship awards before making an “Info Only” entry in GFS.

See the Graduate Financial Support Policy Manual  for more information on Fellowships.

Announcement Jul 22, 2024 Year-End Close: 2024 Reminders and Deadlines

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Almost 80% of UC Berkeley’s first-year admits are from California

The fall 2024 admitted class includes 19,213 students

By Janet Gilmore

Keegan Houser/UC Berkele

August 2, 2024

University of California, Berkeley, officials today (Friday, Aug. 2) released fall 2024 admissions numbers that show that more than 13,700 students have been offered coveted seats as first-year students.

Californians represent 79% of the first-year students offered admission.

Overall, the fall 2024 admitted class includes 19,213 students. That includes the 13,710 students offered seats in the first-year (freshman) class and 5,503 students offered admission as transfer students.

The  data were released  in coordination with the University of California Office of the President (UCOP), which posted first-year and incoming transfer student admissions data for all nine UC undergraduate campuses on Wednesday.

“We are incredibly proud to continue our commitment to excellence and diversity,” said Olufemi Ogundele, associate vice chancellor of enrollment and dean of undergraduate admissions at UC Berkeley. “We strive to ensure that a diverse and exceptional community of students is welcomed to the scholarly tradition of excellence here at Berkeley. UC Berkeley continues to be a desirable destination for the nation’s brightest students.”

This year’s admitted class of first-year students has a GPA of 3.92 unweighted ( on a 4.0 scale), the same as last year’s admitted class, and a 4.47 weighted GPA, up from 4.44 last year.

The students come from 57 of 58 California counties (Sierra County is not represented), more than 57 U.S. states and territories, and 115 countries. More than 3,600 students are first-generation students (neither parent has a four-year college degree). And more than 3,800 students are from underrepresented communities, including African American, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, Hmong and Laotian students.

This year’s admitted class faced a bit more competition than usual, as admissions officials reduced the number of admission offers by about 1,000. This was to compensate for the last few admissions cycles in which more students enrolled than  anticipated.

Determining how many students will accept an offer of enrollment is part art, part science. Some years, more or fewer students than expected accept offers of enrollment. In addition, state enrollment targets can play a role. That has been the case in recent years when the campus significantly increased the number of California residents admitted in alignment with a multiyear budget and enrollment agreement shared by the UC system, the governor and the Legislature.

While the number of Californians offered admission this year dropped by about 260 offers compared to last year, Californians represent a larger percentage of the admitted class of first-year students than they did last year (79% vs. 75%). This is because fewer out-of-state students and international students were offered admission this year, beyond the decrease expected when officials extended 1,000 fewer offers overall.

Looking at the first-year students’ data more broadly, this year’s reduction in offers of admission to first-year students overall contributed to a drop in their admit rate, the percentage of applicants offered admission. That rate fell to 11% this year, from about 12% last year.

Students in most demographic categories saw a drop in offers of admission. This included first-generation students, students from outside of California, and students of all races and ethnicities. (The only increase in admission offers in the racial/ethnicity category was the  “decline to state” group.)

Additional information on the admitted first-year students:

• Gender: About 57% are female, 2% are gender nonbinary.
• Age: The youngest is 15, the oldest, 25.
• Racial diversity: About 28% are underrepresented minority students.
• Top California counties: Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Orange, San Diego and Alameda.
• Top states: Texas, New York, Washington, Illinois and Florida.
• Top countries: China, India, South Korea, Canada and Hong Kong.

Admissions officials offered admission to 155 fewer transfer students compared to last year, a less significant reduction compared to first-year student applicants. Californians make up 93% of the transfer student admitted class. More than 2,400 (about 44%) of the students are first-generation college students.

The youngest transfer students are two 15-year-olds, the oldest is 73.

The total number of underrepresented minority students increased, now representing 33% of the transfer students admitted, compared to about 29% the prior year. The offers of admission increased for most underrepresented minority categories including Latinx, which increased to 1,443 from 1,275.

The academic profile of the transfer students offered admission remained strong, with an average GPA of 3.76, the same as last year’s admitted class.

“In another competitive year for transfer applicants, I was particularly pleased to see the  notable increase in the number of Latinx students admitted to Berkeley,” said Jocelyn De Jong, UC Berkeley’s assistant vice chancellor and director of undergraduate admission. “This achievement underscores our ongoing commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive academic community.”

Transfer student decisions were announced to applicants on April 19. First-year student decisions were announced March 28.

UC Berkeley admissions charts are available.  Please note that some UC systemwide charts may have data that differ from UC Berkeley’s and, for example, may show California resident counts only. Some UC Berkeley and UC data may not match because some UC charts may be limited only to fall admissions or may reflect a different point in time for the UC’s systemwide data collection.

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School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences welcomes nine new faculty

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Dean Agustín Rayo and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences recently welcomed nine new professors to the MIT community. They arrive with diverse backgrounds and vast knowledge in their areas of research.

Sonya Atalay joins the Anthropology Section as a professor. She is a public anthropologist and archaeologist who studies Indigenous science protocols, practices, and research methods carried out with and for Indigenous communities. Atalay is the director and principal investigator of the Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science, a newly established National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center. She has expertise in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and served two terms on the National NAGPRA Review Committee, first appointed by the Bush administration and then for a second term by the Obama administration. Atalay has produced a series of research-based comics in partnership with Native nations about repatriation of Native American ancestral remains, return of sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony under NAGPRA law. Atalay earned her PhD in anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley).

Anna Huang SM ’08 joins the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Music and Theater Arts as assistant professor. She will help develop graduate programming focused on music technology. Previously, she spent eight years with Magenta at Google Brain and DeepMind, spearheading efforts in generative modeling, reinforcement learning, and human-computer interaction to support human-AI partnerships in music-making. She is the creator of Music Transformer and Coconet (which powered the Bach Google Doodle). She was a judge and organizer for the AI Song Contest. Anna holds a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Mila, a BM in music composition, a BS in computer science from the University of Southern California, an MS from the MIT Media Lab, and a PhD from Harvard University.

Elena Kempf joins the History Section as an assistant professor. She is an historian of modern Europe with special interests in international law and modern Germany in its global context. Her current book project is a legal, political, and cultural history of weapons prohibitions in modern international law from the 1860s to the present. Before joining MIT, Kempf was a postdoc at the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law at UC Berkeley and a lecturer at the Department of History at Stanford University. Elena earned her PhD in history from UC Berkeley.

Matthias Michel joins the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy as an assistant professor. Matthias completed his PhD in philosophy in 2019 at Sorbonne Université. Before coming to MIT, he was a Bersoff Faculty Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at New York University. His research is at the intersection between philosophy and cognitive science, and focuses on philosophical issues related to the scientific study of consciousness. His current work addresses questions such as how to distinguish entities with minds from those without, which animals are sentient, and which mental functions can be performed unconsciously.

Jacob Moscona PhD ’21 is a new assistant professor in the Department of Economics. His research explores broad questions in economic development, with a focus on the role of innovation, the environment, and political economy. One stream of his research investigates the forces that drive the rate and direction of technological progress, as well as how new technologies shape global productivity differences and adaptation to major threats like climate change. Another stream of his research studies the political economy of economic development, with a focus on how variation in social organization and institutions affects patterns of conflict and cooperation. Prior to joining MIT, he was a Prize Fellow in Economics, History, and Politics at Harvard University. He received his BA from Harvard in 2016 and PhD from MIT in 2021. Outside of MIT, Jacob enjoys playing and performing music.

Sendhil Mullainathan joins the departments of EECS and Economics as the Peter de Florez Professor. His research uses machine learning to understand complex problems in human behavior, social policy, and medicine. Previously, Mullainathan spent five years at MIT before joining the faculty at Harvard in 2004, and then the University of Chicago in 2018. He received his BA in computer science, mathematics, and economics from Cornell University and his PhD from Harvard.

Elise Newman PhD ’21 is a new assistant professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. Her forthcoming monograph, “When arguments merge,” studies the ingredients that languages use to construct verb phrases, and examines how those ingredients interact with other linguistic processes such as question formation. By studying these interactions, she forms a hypothesis about how different languages’ verb phrases can be distinct from each other, and what they must have in common, providing insight into this aspect of the human language faculty. In addition to the structural properties of language, Newman also has expertise in semantics (the study of meaning) and first language acquisition. She returns to MIT after a postdoc at the University of Edinburgh, after completing her PhD in linguistics at MIT in 2021.

Oliver Rollins joins the Program in Science, Technology, and Society as an assistant professor. He is a qualitative sociologist who explores the sociological dimensions of neuroscientific knowledge and technologies. His work primarily illustrates the way race, racialized discourses, and systemic practices of social difference impact and are shaped by the development and use of neuroscience. His book, “Conviction: The Making and Unmaking of The Violent Brain” (Stanford University Press, 2021), traces the evolution of neuroimaging research on antisocial behavior, stressing the limits of this controversial brain model when dealing with aspects of social inequality. Rollins’s second book project will grapple with the legacies of scientific racism in and through the mind and brain sciences, elucidating how the haunting presence of race endures through modern neuroscientific theories, data, and technologies. Rollins recently received an NSF CAREER Award to investigate the intersections between social justice and science. Through this project, he aims to examine the sociopolitical vulnerabilities, policy possibilities, and anti-racist promises for contemporary (neuro)science.

Ishani Saraf joins the Program in Science, Technology, and Society as an assistant professor. She is a sociocultural anthropologist. Her research studies the transformation and trade of discarded machines in translocal spaces in India and the Indian Ocean, where she focuses on questions of postcolonial capitalism, urban belonging, material practices, situated bodies of knowledge, and environmental governance. She received her PhD from the University of California at Davis, and prior to joining MIT, she was a postdoc and lecturer at the University of Virginia.

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