How Aid Works

Overview

Our Philosophy

When considering a Stanford education, you and your family may be concerned about the high costs. The Financial Aid Office is ready to help. Our aid program is designed to ensure that your family's economic circumstances will not prevent you from being able to enroll at Stanford.

Determining Eligibility

Our financial aid program is need-based, meaning that all aid eligibility is determined by your family’s financial circumstances. While you and your parents have the primary responsibility for paying for college, financial aid can bridge the gap between the total costs and your ability to pay.

We use a standard method to carefully review your family’s financial circumstances and establish an expected contribution from you and your parents. If we determine that you cannot meet the student budget, we will award or recommend resources to help you. Detailed information about our process is in the 2008-2009 Financial Aid Handbook for Undergraduates (PDF).

The Parent Contribution

When we review your family’s finances, we make allowances for:

  • living expenses (based on household size)
  • federal and state taxes
  • unusually high medical expenses
  • college costs (undergraduate) for siblings
  • private school tuition and college savings for younger siblings

We also consider your family’s assets, including home equity, savings, investments and real estate, but not retirement accounts.
If your family’s financial situation changes, we can reconsider your aid eligibility at that time.  In those circumstances, you should submit a Request for Revision (PDF).

In cases of separation or divorce, we expect both parents to participate in paying for your education. We will compute separate contributions for your custodial and non-custodial parents.

Student Responsibility

Since you are the primary beneficiary of a Stanford education, we expect you to participate in paying for a portion of your college costs.  You will be responsible for contributing a minimum of about $4,500 per academic year.  To meet this expectation, you may choose to use job earnings, assets and outside scholarships.  We do not expect you to need to borrow student loans, although they are available to you.

International Students

Stanford has a limited amount of financial aid for international students.  If you plan to apply for financial aid, you need to indicate this on your admission application.  Your aid eligibility will be determined based on your family’s financial circumstances.

International students who do not request consideration for financial aid at the time they apply for admission will not be eligible to apply for aid at Stanford throughout their undergraduate years.

 

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