Stanford University Scholarships for Indian Students: Eligibility, Application Process, Benefits

Stanford University scholarships for international students are limited to need-based aid. The financial aid offered by Stanford University are in the form of Stanford University scholarships, grants, or work-study. Around 25% international students receive Stanford University scholarships and grants. Students pursuing the graduate programs at Stanford University have various means of financial support, in the form of fellowships, assistantships, and program-specific grants. Graduate students are eligible for several external scholarships in Stanford University.

For internal Stanford University scholarships, international students must express their interest during the time of admission itself. The cost of attendance for an international student at Stanford University is around 80,000 USD (65.66 lakhs INR) per academic year, definitely a big financial commitment. International students planning to pursue the programs at Stanford university need financial assistance to cope with the expenses. On average, Stanford University has provided around 62,557 USD (51.33 lakhs INR) as a financial aid to the class of 2025. This includes university scholarships, grants, government and external funds. On average, students receive 57,495 USD (47.17 lakhs INR) as Stanford University scholarships.

Stanford University Internal Scholarships

International students need a significantly larger amount to cover their cost of studying in Stanford, around 35% higher than domestic students (in case of UG programs). Due to this, less than 40% of international students with financial requirements were admitted to different undergraduate and graduate programs. Stanford University financial aid is available in the following forms:

• Stanford Scholarships, awarded to new students by the university
• Federal Grants, awarded by the USA government (Domestic Students)
• State Grants, issued directly by state to meritorious students (Domestic Students)
• External Scholarships, distributed by external organizations or donors

Of these, incoming international students are only eligible for university scholarships and external scholarships. Students are awarded a limited number of scholarships based on their financial need.

Undergraduate Scholarships: In addition to need-based scholarships, Stanford University supports undergraduate students through 15000 endowment scholarship funds. While international students were not catered under these funds earlier, the situation has improved now. Around 85 of Stanford endowment scholarships are designed to support international students. The average scholarship and grant offered by Stanford University according to the income range of the students with their parents living in USA are as follows:

Graduate Scholarships: International students beginning graduate programs at Stanford University are eligible for various program-specific scholarships such as Stanford Dhirubhai Ambani Scholarship, AMA Medical Scholarship, Knight Hennessy Scholarship, etc. In total there are 50 such scholarships available at Stanford University. Students can choose from Stanford University Global Scholarships across various levels of study for students from various country of origin.

Apart from internal need-based scholarships to Stanford University, the institution incorporated other means to remain accessible to new and continuing students. Since last 2 years, Stanford University significantly increase its minimum salary for graduate student assistantships and even removed the home equity component from the UG financial aid calculation.

Stanford University Scholarships: Application Process

Due to the limited number of scholarships and funds, it is mandatory for international students to express their scholarship requirement in the admission application itself. Students must obtain either an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or a Social Security Number (SSN).

The admission application timeline, for Stanford undergraduate programs, varies for regular, transfer, and restrictive international students. Details of the same are tabulated below:

For graduate scholarships too, the students must submit their complete scholarship application at the time of admission itself.

Check out: Stanford University Scholarships (Spanish)

Stanford University External Scholarships

Several meritorious and high achieving students, needing financial aid, hesitate in applying for admission to Stanford University across various academic levels. The university encourages these international students to accepts various external scholarships. These scholarships are separate from Stanford University scholarships and are awarded on the basis of academic and extracurricular achievements. Some of the popular external scholarships at Stanford University for international students are:

Each of these external scholarships has its own application process and deadlines, so applicants are advised to explore each option properly. Recipients of the external scholarships will not be considered for Stanford University scholarships and funds.

Stanford University is known to enroll most sought after students from different parts of the world. To increase the presence of international students in its UG and PG programs, the institution is constantly trying to improve its funding opportunities for overseas students, be it in the form of Stanford University scholarships, fellowships, or assistantships. It hopes that within the next five years, it will be able to offer these students a fair opportunity to study at Stanford.