stanford english phd students

ENGL-PHD - English (PhD)

Program overview.

The graduate program features rigorous training in researching and analyzing British, American, and Anglophone literary histories and theories, preparing students to produce scholarship of originality and importance and teach literature at advanced levels.

Admissions Information

Students with a bachelor’s degree in English or a closely related field may apply to pursue graduate work toward an advanced degree in English at Stanford. International students whose first language is not English must also take the TOEFL examination (with certain exceptions: see the  Office of Graduate Admissions  website).

Department of English

Welcome to the Stanford University Department of English

One of the founding departments of Stanford University in 1891, the English Department is the cornerstone of the humanities at Stanford. The pioneer faculty of English was an eclectic group of writers, comparativists, and literary scholars.

Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service

Undergraduate Program

To study English is to master the power of language.

Coterminal Master of Arts

If you are an advanced undergraduate who wants to take the study of literature to a higher level, then the coterminal M.A. program is for you.

Check out our courses

Stanford English offers a wide variety of interdisciplinary courses taught by world-class faculty

Views from the Department

Professor Ato Quayson with Professor Adam Johnson at Creative Writing Welcome Dinner

Recent News

Associate Professor Kirstin Valdez Quade has been awarded a 2024 John.s.Guggenheim Fellowship

Stanford’s Next President

Professor Elaine Treharne wins Richard W. Lyman Award

Upcoming events.

METHODS CAFÉ IS BACK!

After a busy Winter quarter of job talks, we are happy to announce that Methods Café is back! Our first caffeinated conversation of the…

Methods Café with Mark Greif, Blakey Vermeule & Alex Woloch

Methods Café is a dialogue series in the Department of English that pairs faculty members in a conversation about literary theory. Primary texts…

Department Bookshelf

English remains a top-ranked department nationally because of the strength and variety of our faculty publications, both in scholarly research and creative writing. Browse the Bookshelf to explore our many interests.

 Browse the entire Bookshelf

The Edinburgh Companion to Women in Publishing, 1900–2020

Opera, Tragedy, and Neighbouring Forms from Corneille to Calzabigi

So We Can Know: Writers of Color on Pregnancy, Loss, Abortion, and Birth (Ed. Aracelis Girmay)

When I Waked, I Cried to Dream Again

Meadowlands

Song of the Closing Doors

Comparative Literature Graduate Program

The Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature is committed to providing students the resources and training needed to successfully complete a challenging and rewarding intellectual project. By "resources" we mean not only formal classes, libraries, and financial support in various forms, but also an open community of scholars and learners, both within Comparative Literature and the broader Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages (DLCL), and also across a rich array of other departments, schools, and interdisciplinary programs, and tapping into our vibrant Stanford Humanities Center and its global online platform, ARCADE. The size of our graduate student community is small, which facilitates interpersonal dialogue and conversation. 

By "training" we mean formal classes on pedagogy, a regular and year-long colloquium where students present and discuss each others' work, close work with mentors and advisors, and workshops on topics suggested by both faculty and students. Finally, by "success" we mean not only satisfying departmental and university requirements, but more importantly achieving a sense of personal fulfillment at completing an original and creative exploration of a question of importance to the student.

Comparative Literature at Stanford believes in the importance of linguistic skills in at least three languages, deep historical thinking, and an understanding of the main currents of literary criticism and theory, past and present, and with an eye on emergent knowledge that may embrace fields outside of traditional literary studies. Our faculty includes specialists in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, English, Hebrew, Russian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and covering broad historical periods. We have a particularly well-established program in Philosophy and Literature, and welcome interdisciplinary projects that involve areas such as film studies, gender studies, studies in race and ethnicity, environmental studies, human rights, and other topics.

At base, the Ph.D. program is designed for students whose linguistic background, breadth of interest in literature, and curiosity about the problems of literary scholarship and theory (including the relation of literature to other disciplines) make this program more appropriate to their needs than the Ph.D. in one of the individual literatures. Students take courses in at least three literatures (one may be that of the native language), to be studied in the original. The program is designed to encourage familiarity with the major approaches to literary study prevailing today.

Before starting graduate work at Stanford, students should have completed an undergraduate program with a strong background in one literature and some work in a second literature studied in the original language. Since the program demands an advanced knowledge of two non-native languages and a reading knowledge of a third non-native language, students should at the time of application have an advanced enough knowledge of one of the three to take graduate-level courses in that language when they enter the program. They should be making enough progress in the study of a second language to enable them to take graduate courses in that language not later than the beginning of the second year, and earlier if possible. Language courses at the 100- or 200- level may be taken with approval from the Director of the department. Applicants are expected to take an intensive course in the third language before entrance.

The Ph.D. minor is designed for students working toward the Ph.D. in the various national literature departments. Students working toward the Ph.D. in English are directed to the program in English and Comparative Literature described among the Department of English offerings.

For more detailed information on our program, please see the corresponding pages in the Stanford Bulletin :

• Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature
• Doctor of Philosophy Minor in Comparative Literature

Graduate Program Application Details

My experience in the Comparative Literature Ph.D. program was filled with intellectual exploration, learning new skills, and amazing mentorship in both research and teaching. Also, having had scholars from other departments to talk through my ideas and my professional plans, especially in ILAC and History, was instrumental for my success in pursuing the career I wanted.

Russell Berman Director of Comparative Literature Pigott Hall, Bldg 260, Rm 201 (650) 723-1069 berman [at] stanford.edu (berman[at]stanford[dot]edu)

John Giammalva In Memoriam, Student Services Manager Pigott Hall, Bldg 260, Rm 127 (650) 279-3630 dlclstudentservices [at] stanford.edu (dlclstudentservices[at]stanford[dot]edu)

Doctoral Program

The Ph.D. program emphasizes rigorous theoretical work that has at its base a firm empirical foundation in language data. 

Students are provided with a broad-based background in linguistics, teaching experience in the classroom and other forums, and opportunities for original and high-quality research.  Our Ph.D. students write dissertations on a wide range of topics spanning and bridging many subareas of the field.  See our Ph.D. Alumni  page for dissertation titles and job placement information.

Overview of the Program

Through the completion of advanced coursework and strong methodological and analytical training, the  Ph.D. program prepares students to make original contributions to knowledge in linguistics, to articulate the results of their work, and to demonstrate its significance to linguistics and related fields.  At every stage in the program, students are encouraged to present and publish their research and to develop active professional profiles. 

Students generally complete the program in five years

• Coursework in core areas of linguistics, chosen by each student in consultation with faculty advisors to build the foundation that best suits their interests and goals.
• Fall Quarter: Includes seminar to introduce students to the research of faculty in the department
• Winter Quarter: Includes participation in small research groups or in one-on-one apprenticeships
• Spring Quarter: Includes beginning to work on the first of 2 qualifying research papers

Years 2 and 3

• Balance shifts from coursework to development of research skills
• Students complete two qualifying papers and then selects a principal advisor and committee for their dissertation by the end of year 3.

Years 4 and 5

• Devoted to dissertation and advanced research

Teaching Experience

As they move through the Ph.D. program, students also gain teaching experience by serving as teaching assistants in their second, third, and fourth year of graduate study. They also have access to the many programs provided by Stanford's Vice Provost for  Teaching and Learning , including the varied resources of the Teaching Commons .

Offers of admission to the Linguistics P.h.D program include funding for the full five years of doctoral study, including tuition and stipend, regardless of citizenship. 

We also encourage our applicants to apply for as many external fellowships and scholarships as they are eligible for; a compilation of funding opportunities for Linguistics graduate students can be found on our  Fellowship and Funding Information page .  Applicants should note that the deadlines for these fellowships are typically in the fall of the year prior to admission.

In addition, the  Knight-Hennessy Scholars  program is designed to build a multidisciplinary community of Stanford graduate students dedicated to finding creative solutions to the world's greatest challenges. The program awards up to 100 high-achieving students every year with full funding to pursue a graduate education at Stanford, including the Ph.D. degree in Linguistics. 

Additional information is available about the student budget , Stanford graduate fellowships , and other support programs .

Outside the classroom, there are many opportunities, both formal and informal, for the discussion of linguistic issues and ongoing research, including colloquia, workshops, and reading groups.

Partnership Opportunities

Although not part of the formal doctoral program, there are numerous opportunities for research and development work at the Center for the Study of Language and Information and  off-campus at local companies.  

Admissions Information

Pedagogy Seminar I

Instructors:.

• Bronstein, M.

PhD Admissions

Dates and Deadline

The online application for 2024 entry is now closed. The  APPLICATION DUE DATE for the entering class of 2025 is TBD. Please check back at the end of Summer 2024 for an update. 

What You Need to Know

• The application, including the statement of purpose, the writing sample, the names of three recommenders, and unofficial transcripts must be submitted  VIA THE WEB.  Late applications will not be accepted.
• The Stanford Application will be available as of late September.
• Do not wait until the last day to submit your application to allow for the possibility for technical difficulties. 
• Please make sure to include an unofficial transcript in your application materials. Official transcripts are not required until an offer of admission is made.  
• The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required.
• Interfolio letters of recommendation may be sent by email to An Nguyen ( antnguyn [at] stanford.edu (antnguyn[at]stanford[dot]edu) ).
• Admissions decisions will take place during the last two weeks of February.
• Applicants will be notified by early March.

The selection of PhD students admitted to the Program in Modern Thought & Literature is based on an individualized, holistic review of each application, including (but not limited to) the applicant’s academic record, the letters of recommendation, the statement of purpose, personal qualities and characteristics, and past accomplishments.

The Program in Modern Thought and Literature recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision.

Application Procedure

The Program in Modern Thought and Literature seeks to admit students who, as individuals, exhibit great intellectual capacity and the intent to carry out innovative interdisciplinary programs of study, and who, as a group, are of diverse backgrounds and interests. Successful applicants show a commitment to literary or cultural studies, but must also be prepared to make their way in their chosen non-literary field or fields. The Program has a commitment to supporting non-traditional and emergent forms of scholarship. We accept students who have just completed their undergraduate degrees and also welcome students who have pursued careers or degrees in other fields.

An application to the Program in Modern Thought and Literature must include the following elements:

Statement of Purpose

• Supplemental section regarding your proposed interdisciplinary project

Writing Sample

• Letters of Recommendation

To apply for admission, please go to Graduate Admissions

To reach Graduate Admissions, please submit a ticket using the help section of your application in the SLATE portal.

Of primary importance, the  statement of purpose  should demonstrate that the applicant’s focus is interdisciplinary and can be effectively pursued at Stanford.  You should suggest a project or two that would provide a sense of how you wish to pursue interdisciplinary study, and why the Program in Modern Thought and Literature is a good fit for you.  Although there is no hard and fast requirement regarding length, the Statement of Purpose should be a concise description of your academic goals,  no longer than 1500 words.

Supplemental section

In addition to the statement of purpose, you will be asked to complete a supplemental section regarding your proposed interdisciplinary project. 

Because they must forge links among disciplines and seek out relevant faculty members from across the university, students in Modern Thought and Literature need to develop their projects earlier than students in more traditional fields. Applicants should also bear in mind that the academic job market is overwhelmingly discipline-focused. Please answer the following questions BRIEFLY (2-3 sentences for each) to indicate that you’ve considered these issues. It’s of course assumed that your project will change and evolve as you study; this is in no way a binding statement of purpose. (*All three questions are required.)

1. What is the central question you intend to pursue?

2. Describe the need for an interdisciplinary approach.

3. Explain the relevance of your project to at least one discipline or field within which you could situate yourself upon completion of your doctoral degree.

Similar issues should be addressed by those not planning to pursue an academic career. Where do you see your project taking you?

Submit a critical or analytic sample of scholarly writing, approximately  7000 words maximum . Although we encourage applicants to choose writing samples that display their interdisciplinary interests, this is not a requirement. Choose a sample that reflects your best scholarly work. The writing sample should not be a sample of creative writing. Applicants may submit two or more shorter samples to a total of about 7000 words, but keep in mind that shorter samples are usually less well suited to demonstrate your research and argumentation skills.

The writing sample and letters of recommendation should again indicate your preparedness for interdisciplinary work, and why your interests would be best served in a program such as ours.

Completed applications must be submitted by the due date above.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars 

Join dozens of  Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences students  who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as  Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS). KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your PhD studies at Stanford. Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment. If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about  KHS admission .

Program Administrator

An Nguyen  (for questions about the application process) E-mail: antnguyn [at] stanford.edu (antnguyn[at]stanford[dot]edu)  

Modern Thought and Literature 450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 460, Room 219 Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-2022

Only On-Line Applications Will be Accepted

Please note: there is no paper option for applications. All applications must be submitted online. Letters of recommendation should also be submitted online. Modern Thought & Literature will accept letters by mail only in exceptional cases and when absolutely necessary.  Your Statement of Purpose, your Writing Sample, and your Unofficial Transcripts must be uploaded with your online application. 

• University application forms (submitted online)
• A statement of purpose (submitted online)
• Transcripts from every post-secondary institution you have attended for at least one year as a full-time student (submitted online; official transcripts mailed to address below )*
• Three letters of recommendation (although we much prefer that the letters of recommendation will be submitted online, we will accept mailed letters when necessary); recommendation packets sent through Interfolio may be sent via email to An Nguyen ( antnguyn [at] stanford.edu (antnguyn[at]stanford[dot]edu) ).
• A recent (non-fiction) writing sample of approximately 7000 words.  PLEASE NOTE:  The Writing Sample must be submitted online. 
• Fee waivers are available for some applicants. Please visit Graduate Admissions for information on applying for an  Application Fee Waiver
• Application Fee Fee waivers are available for some applicants. Please visit Graduate Admissions for information on applying for an  Application Fee Waiver .
• Funding Package All Ph.D. students admitted to the program receive five years of 12-month financial support which is typically provided as fellowship stipend and tuition. Information about the cost of attendance and funding options are available from  Financial Aid Office . For Incoming Students
• Status Page : Where incoming students can find their matriculation checklist and Graduate Admissions mailing and email address for sending official documents.
• Official Transcripts & Degree Conferral Documents : Complete instructions for sending official documents.
• FAQ : Answers to frequently asked questions on requirements of admission for incoming students.

To access the MTL Applicant Checklist (after you have submitted your application), go to: https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/applying/starting-your-application

• Check the agreement box and click “start application.”
• At the bottom of the menu on the next screen you’ll find:  Manage Your Account
• Choose “Review Your Activity” and to access the checklist.

Please Note:  Do not be concerned if the checklist indicates that your application is not complete due to missing official scores or official transcripts.

For the review process:

• “Self-reported” scores are acceptable.
• The uploaded “unofficial” transcripts are acceptable.

However, before any formal offer of admission can be made, official scores and official transcripts must be submitted.

Links for international applicants

• Stanford’s assessment of foreign degrees https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/applying/international-applicants
• Frequently Asked Questions https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/about/frequently-asked-questions/international-students
• Required Examinations Most international students must take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).  Information on the required tests (including information on exemptions from the TOEFL requirement) can be found at: https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/about/frequently-asked-questions/gre-and-toefl
• Information for international students at Stanford Visit the Bechtel International Center site: https://bechtel.stanford.edu/
• Fee waivers are available for some applicants. Please visit Graduate Admissions for information on applying for an  Application Fee Waiver .

Applying to the Graduate Program

The application deadline for 2024-25 was  Tuesday, November 28, 2023 , 11:59 pm PST, and applications and/or application updates are no longer being accepted. The 2025-26 application will be made available on the Stanford Graduate Admissions website  in September 2024.

Graduate study at Stanford is offered in more than 60 departments and programs. Since you may submit only one application per academic year, it is essential that you carefully review the available programs. 

The H&S Dean's Office has composed a new resource for prospective graduate students, which provides helpful information to students who are considering graduate school: Guide on Getting into Grad School . If you are considering applying to Stanford graduate programs and need assistance with the application fees, consider applying for a fee waiver: Graduate Fee Waivers .

The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision.

Please note:

• GRE testing is not required for Admissions.
• Students are required to send in official transcripts after receiving an offer of admission.
• Final candidates may be contacted for Zoom interviews.

For inquiries regarding graduate admissions, please email asianlanguages [at] stanford.edu (subject: Grad%20Admissions%3A) ( asianlanguages[at]stanford[dot]edu ) . 

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 the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized standing.

See minimum level of study for International applicants

The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) welcomes graduate applications from individuals with a broad range of life experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who would contribute to our community of scholars. Review of applications is holistic and individualized, considering each applicant’s academic record and accomplishments, letters of recommendation, and statements of purpose in order to understand how an applicant’s life experiences have shaped their past and potential contributions to their field.

Adequate command of spoken and written English is required for admission. Evidence of adequate English proficiency must be submitted before enrollment is approved by Graduate Admissions.

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores are required of all applicants whose first language is not English.

International students enrolled at Stanford must be able to read English with ease, understand rapid idiomatic English as used in lectures and group discussions, and express thoughts quickly and clearly in spoken and written English. Admission is offered only to students who are fully prepared in English or who have advanced intermediate proficiency in English that could be raised to the required level by enrollment in a summer intensive English program.

Stanford TOEFL Requirement Details

Our department offers doctoral programs in Chinese and Japanese. All students contemplating application for admission to graduate study must have an undergraduate degree from an accredited university. Candidates for the degree are expected to acquire a thorough familiarity with East Asian Languages and Cultures, an adequate command of relevant languages, and a comprehensive knowledge of East Asian history, social institutions, and thought. The applicant need not have majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures as an undergraduate, but must have had the equivalent of at least three years of training in the language in which they intend to specialize, and must also demonstrate a command of English adequate for the pursuit of graduate study. Applicants should not wish merely to acquire or improve language skills, but to pursue study in one of the following fields:

• Chinese Literature and Culture
• Chinese Linguistics
• Chinese Archaeology
• Japanese Literature and Culture
• Japanese Linguistics
• Korean Literature and Culture
• Trans-Asian Studies

The EALC Department offers 5 years of 12-month funding to students who have been admitted into the Ph.D. program. Financial support is provided through a combination of fellowship, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships. While in the program, students are encouraged to seek outside funding/fellowships.

Application Requirements:

1.  Application Form The application form is completed online through the  University Graduate Admissions website .

2.  Application Fee There is an application fee of $125.  Fee waivers  are available for eligible students.

3.  Statement of Purpose

4.  Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) The University sets the TOEFL score requirements, submission information, and waiver request which can be found on the  University Graduate Admissions website .

5.  Official Transcripts Transcripts are required from all prior college level schools attended for at least one year. A scanned copy of the official transcript is submitted as part of the online application. Please do not mail hard copy transcripts to the department at the time of application. We will contact you at a later date if we need an official transcript.   

6.  Letters of Recommendation Three  letters of recommendation  are required. Recommenders must submit their letters through the online system and paper letters will not be accepted. In deciding whom to ask for letters of recommendation, give preference to people who have taught you and/or directed your research activities, or people who know you and your work well. Late letters may be submitted but we cannot guarantee review of materials received after the deadline. 

7.  Writing Sample A writing sample is required, preferably in a related topic, but in any case something that displays your research abilities and writing skills. The writing sample should be approximately 15 pages in length and is also submitted with the online application. We do not accept any paper application materials. 

For more information regarding the application process and eligibility, please visit the  University Graduate Admissions website .

Applicants must apply online through our University website:  Stanford Graduate Admissions: Starting Your Application .

Our department offers master's programs in Chinese and Japanese. All students contemplating application for admission to graduate study must have an undergraduate degree from an accredited university. The applicant need not have majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures as an undergraduate, but must have had the equivalent of at least three years of training in the language in which he or she intends to specialize, and must also demonstrate a command of English adequate for the pursuit of graduate study. Applicants should not wish merely to acquire or improve language skills, but to pursue study in one of the following fields:

The M.A. programs offered by the EALC Department each consist of 45 units and admitted students are expected to enroll in a minimum of 8 units per quarter. The average time-to-degree is 4.5 quarters (1 academic year and 1-2 quarters). Stanford tuition rates can be found on the Student Services website .

The EALC Department offers limited tuition fellowships to students who have been admitted into the M.A. program and encourages applicants to seek outside funding/fellowships.

 Applications must apply online through our University website:  Stanford Graduate Admissions: Starting Your Application .

Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program

Join dozens of Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences students who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS) .

KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your studies at Stanford.

Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment.

If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 12, 2022. Learn more about KHS admission .

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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 Degrees: Doctoral

Main navigation, degree-specific requirements (doctoral degrees), doctor of jurisprudence.

The degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) is conferred on candidates who satisfactorily complete courses in law totaling the number of units required under the current Faculty Regulations of the Stanford Law School over no less than three academic years and who otherwise have satisfied the requirements of the University and the Stanford Law School. The  Stanford Law School J.D. Program  website provides detailed information on degree requirements.

Doctor of the Science of Law

The degree of the Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) is conferred upon candidates who hold a J.D. or its equivalent, who complete one academic year in residence, and who, as a result of independent legal research, present a dissertation that is, in the opinion of the faculty of the Stanford Law School a contribution to knowledge. Such work and dissertation must conform to the rules of the Stanford Law School and the University for the dissertation and the University Oral Examination.

Candidacy is limited to students of exceptional distinction and promise. The  Stanford Law School Advanced Degree Programs  website provides detailed information on degree requirements.

Doctor of Musical Arts

The degree of Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) is conferred on candidates who have satisfied the general requirements for advanced degreesbul and the candidacy requirement as described below in the "Doctor of Philosophy" section.

Doctor of Medicine

Candidates for the degree of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) must satisfactorily complete the required curriculum in medicine. The requirements for the M.D. degree are detailed on the  School of Medicine's website .

Doctor of Philosophy

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is conferred on candidates who have demonstrated to the satisfaction of their department or school substantial scholarship, high attainment in a particular field of knowledge, and the ability to do independent investigation and present the results of such research. They must satisfy the general requirements for advanced degrees, the program requirements specified by their departments, and the doctoral requirements described below. The option for a Ph.D. minor is also described below, though it is not a Ph.D. requirement.

Admission to a doctoral degree program is preliminary to, and distinct from, admission to candidacy.  Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree is a judgment by the faculty in the degree program of the student’s potential to successfully complete the requirements of the degree program. Students are expected to complete degree program qualifying procedures and apply for candidacy by the end of their second year in the doctoral program. Honors Cooperative students are required to apply by the end of their fourth year. Candidacy is valid for five calendar years (through the end of the quarter in which candidacy expires), unless terminated by the degree program (for example, for unsatisfactory academic progress). A Pregnancy or Parental Leave of Absence automatically extends the pre-candidacy or candidacy period (see GAP 5.9,  Pregnancy, Childbirth and Adoption , for details). 

Admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree is granted by the degree program following a student's successful completion of qualifying procedures as determined by the degree program. Programmatic policy determines procedures for subsequent attempts to advance to candidacy in the event that the student does not successfully complete the procedures. Failure to advance to candidacy results in the dismissal of the student from the doctoral program (see GAP 5.6,  Dismissal for Academic and Professional Reasons ).

Candidacy is confirmed on the  Application for Candidacy for Doctoral Degree  (or a departmental version of this form). This form also specifies a departmentally approved program of study to fulfill degree requirements, including required course work, language requirements, teaching requirements, dissertation (final project and public lecture-demonstration for D.M.A.), and university oral examination (for other doctoral degrees). The department should confirm at this point that the student’s program will meet all university and degree program requirements.

Prior to candidacy, at least 3 units of course work must be taken with each of four Stanford faculty members. To reiterate, however, a student will only be admitted to candidacy if, in addition to the student fulfilling programmatic prerequisites, the faculty makes the judgment that the student has the potential to successfully complete the requirements of the degree program.

If the doctoral student is pursuing a minor, approval by the degree program awarding the minor is also required on the Application for Candidacy.

Extension of the Pre-Candidacy Period

The degree program may determine that extension of the pre-candidacy period is necessary to provide a student with additional time to complete qualifying procedures or to provide faculty with necessary evidence on which to base a candidacy decision. Decisions to extend the pre-candidacy period and thus delay the candidacy decision should be made on an individual student basis and should not be applied to entire cohorts or students absent exceptional circumstances. Degree programs are not obligated to extend the pre-candidacy period.

 When providing an extension of the pre-candidacy period, the degree program should communicate in writing the reason for the extension, expectations for the academic work to be completed by the student, the duration of the extension, and the timeline for the candidacy review. Extensions of the pre-candidacy period should generally not extend beyond two academic quarters.

Time Limit for Completion of a Degree with Candidacy

Students are required to maintain active candidacy through conferral of the doctoral degree. All requirements for the degree must be completed before candidacy expires. Candidacy is valid for five calendar years (through the end of the quarter in which candidacy expires), unless terminated by the degree program (for example, for academic unsatisfactory progress). The candidacy time limit is not automatically extended by a student’s leave of absence.

Failure to make minimum academic progress or complete university, department, and program requirements in a timely or satisfactory manner may lead to dismissal of the student (see GAP 5.6,  Dismissal for Academic Reasons ).

Extension of Candidacy

All requests for candidacy extension, whether prompted by a leave or some other circumstance, must be filed by the student before the conclusion of the program’s time limit, using the  Application for Extension of Candidacy or Master's Program  form. Departments are not obligated to grant an extension. Students may receive a maximum of one additional year of candidacy per extension. Extensions require review by the department of a dissertation progress report, a timetable for completion of the dissertation, any other factors regarded as relevant by the department, and approval by the department; such approval is at the department’s discretion.

 A Pregnancy or Parental Leave of Absence will also result in an extension of candidacy (or of the pre-candidacy period). See GAP 5.9,   Pregnancy, Childbirth and Adoption , for details.

Teaching and Research Requirements

A number of departments/schools require their students to teach (serving as a Teaching Assistant) or assist a faculty member in research (serving as a Research Assistant) for one or more quarters as part of their doctoral programs. 

Foreign Language Requirement

Some departments require a reading knowledge of one or more foreign languages. Fulfillment of language requirements must be endorsed by the chair of the major department.

University Oral Examination

Passing a university oral examination is a requirement of the Ph.D., J.S.D. and Ed.D. degrees. The purpose of the examination is to test the candidate’s command of the field of study and to confirm fitness for scholarly pursuits. Degree programs determine which of the following three types of oral examinations is to be required in their doctoral programs:

A test of knowledge of the student’s field; this type of examination is intended to assess the student’s overall mastery of a specific field of knowledge 

A review of the dissertation proposal covering content relevant to the area of study, rationale for the proposed investigation, and strategy to be used in the research; this type of examination is intended to assist the student in refining a dissertation topic and to ensure mastery of theoretical and methodological issues as well as the materials needed to conduct the research effectively

A defense of the dissertation presented either upon completion of a substantial portion of the dissertation or upon completion of a pre-final draft (in either case, a draft of the work completed should be available for the examining committee well in advance of the examination); this type of examination is intended to verify that the research represents the candidate’s own contribution to knowledge, and to test his or her understanding of the research. General questions pertaining to the field as a whole, but beyond the scope of the dissertation itself, may be included.

Applicability: 

All Ph.D., J.S.D., and Ed.D. degree candidates and programs.

Timing and Process

Students must be registered in the term in which the University oral examination is taken. The period between the last day of final exams of one term and the day prior to the first day of the following term is considered an extension of the earlier term. Candidacy must also be valid.

The  University Oral Examination  form must be submitted to the department graduate studies administrator at least two weeks prior to the proposed examination date. The examination is conducted according to the major department's adopted practice, but it should not exceed three hours in length, and it must include a period of private questioning by the examining committee.

Committee Membership

The University oral examination committee consists of at least five Stanford faculty members: four examiners and the committee chair from another department. All committee members are normally members of the Stanford University Academic Council, and the chair must be a member of the Stanford University Academic Council. Emeritus faculty are also eligible to serve as examiners or as chair of the committee. Emeritus Stanford faculty, though no longer current members of the Academic Council, count as Academic Council members on dissertation oral committees.

Out-of-Department Chair

The chair of a Stanford oral examination is appointed for this examination only, to represent the interests of the University for a fair and rigorous process. The chair of the examining committee may not have a full or joint appointment in the principal dissertation adviser's, co-advisers or student's department, but may have a courtesy appointment in the department. The chair can be from the same department as any other member(s) of the examination committee and can be from the student's minor department provided that the student's adviser does not have a full or joint appointment in the minor department.

The department of Electrical Engineering has been granted an exception to this policy, whereby “out-of-department” may include a faculty member from another division of the department. The Graduate School of Education has been granted an exception to this policy, whereby “out-of-department” may include a faculty member from another program area of the school.

For Interdisciplinary Degree Programs (IDPs), the chair of the examining committee may not have a full or joint appointment in the primary adviser's major department and must have independence from the student and adviser. The faculty director of the IDP is not allowed to chair an examining committee for students in that IDP.

Responsibility for monitoring appointment of the oral examination chair rests with the candidate's major department. The department cannot require the candidate to approach faculty members to serve as chair; many departments, however, invite students and their advisers to participate in the process of selecting and contacting potential chairs.

A  Petition for Non-Academic Council Doctoral Commitment Members  to appoint an examining committee member who is neither a current or emeritus member of the Academic Council may be approved by the chair of the department or faculty director of graduate studies, according to local policy, if that person contributes an area of expertise that is not readily available from the faculty and holds a Ph.D. or equivalent foreign degree.

Exceptions for individuals whose terminal degree is not the Ph.D. or equivalent foreign degree may be granted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education, upon the request of the student’s department chair or faculty director of graduate studies. The prospective committee member’s curriculum vitae and a brief description of their contributions to the student's research should be submitted  via email  to the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.

The majority of the examiners must be current or emeritus Academic Council members; more specifically, one of four or five examiners or two of six or seven examiners who are not current or emeritus members of the Academic Council may be appointed to the oral examination committee by means of this petition and approval by the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education, as required for members who do not have a PhD degree.

The candidate passes the examination if the examining committee casts four favorable votes out of five or six, five favorable votes out of seven, or six favorable votes out of eight. Five members present and voting constitute a quorum. If the committee votes to fail a student, the committee chair sends within five days a written evaluation of the candidate's performance to the major department and the student. Within 30 days and after review of the examining committee's evaluation and recommendation, the chair of the student's major department must send the student a written statement indicating the final action of the department.

Dissertation

An approved doctoral dissertation is required for the Ph.D. and J.S.D. degrees. The doctoral dissertation must be an original contribution to scholarship or scientific knowledge and must exemplify the highest standards of the discipline. If it is judged to meet this standard, the dissertation is approved for the school or department by the doctoral dissertation reading committee (see  GAP 4.8 Doctoral Degrees: Dissertations and Dissertation Reading Committees  for more explanation).

One reading committee member, who must be a current member of the Academic Council, reads the dissertation in its final form and certifies on the  Certificate of Final Reading  that degree program and university specifications, described below, have been met. Typically, the principal dissertation advisor serves as final reader though another member of the committee who is a current Academic Council member may provide the final signature.

All suggested changes have been taken into account and incorporated into the manuscript where appropriate. 

If the manuscript includes joint group research, the student's contribution is clearly explained in an introduction.

Format complies with university requirements.

If previously published materials are included in the dissertation, publication sources are indicated, written permission has been obtained for copyrighted materials, and all of the dissertation format requirements have been met.

The dissertation is ready-for-publication in appearance and ready for microfilming and binding.

Dissertations must be in English. Exceptions to permit dissertations in a language other than English are granted by the school dean upon a written request from the chair of the student’s major department.  The student is required to submit directly to the Student Services Center a paper copy of the approval letter (or email message chain) from the school dean.  Approval for writing a dissertation in another language is normally granted only in cases where the other language or literature in that language is also the subject of the discipline. Approval is routinely granted for dissertations in the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, within degree program specifications. Dissertations written in another language must include an extended summary in English (usually 15-20 pages in length). 

When submitting electronically a dissertation in a language other than English, the student should upload the English summary as a supplemental file.  When submitting such a dissertation on paper, the student is required to submit the abstract for ProQuest in English.

Students have the option of submitting the dissertation electronically or via the paper process. Directions for preparation of the dissertation for electronic or paper submission are available at the  Office of the University Registrar dissertation  website. If submitting via the paper process, the signed dissertation copies and accompanying documents must be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar on or before the quarterly deadline indicated in the  university's academic calendar . A fee is charged for the microfilming and binding of the paper dissertation copies. If submitting via the electronic process the signed dissertation signature page and title page must be submitted to the  Student Services Center  and one final copy of the dissertation must be uploaded, and approved by the Final Reader, on or before the quarterly deadline indicated in the  university's academic calendar . There is no fee charged for the electronic submission process.

Students must either be registered or on graduation quarter in the term they submit the dissertation; see "Graduation Quarter" in the Graduate Degrees  section for additional information. At the time the dissertation is submitted, an Application to Graduate must be on file, all department requirements must be complete, and candidacy must be valid through the term of degree conferral.

Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee

The doctoral dissertation reading committee consists of the principal dissertation adviser and, typically, two other readers. The doctoral dissertation reading committee must have at least three members and may not have more than five members. All members of the reading committee approve the dissertation. At least one member must be from the student's major department. Normally, all committee members are members of the Stanford University Academic Council or are emeritus Academic Council members.

The student's department chair or faculty director of graduate studies, according to local policy, may, in some cases, approve the appointment of a reader who is not a current or emeritus member of the Academic Council, if that person is particularly well qualified to consult on the dissertation topic and holds a Ph.D. or equivalent foreign degree, via the  Petition for Non-Academic Council Doctoral Committee Members . Former Stanford Academic Council members and non-Academic Council members may thus, on occasion, serve on a reading committee. A non-Academic Council member (including former Academic Council members) may replace only one of three required members of dissertation reading committees. If the reading committee has four or five members, at least three members (comprising the majority) must be current or emeritus members of the Academic Council. Emeritus Stanford faculty, though no longer current members of the Academic Council, count as Academic Council members on dissertation reading committees.

Any member of the Academic Council may serve as the principal dissertation adviser. A former Academic Council member, emeritus Academic Council member or non-Academic Council member may serve as co-adviser with the appointment of a principal dissertation adviser who is currently on the Academic Council. This is to ensure representation for the student in the department by someone playing a major adviser role in completion of the dissertation. Professors who have recently become emeritus and have been recalled to active duty may serve as principal dissertation advisers, though they are no longer members of the Academic Council. Requests for further exceptions to the requirement that the principal dissertation adviser be a current member of the Academic Council, for example for recently retired emeritus professors who are still actively engaged on campus but not recalled to active duty, will be reviewed by the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.

The reading committee, as proposed by the student and agreed to by the prospective members, is endorsed by the chair of the major department on the  Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee  form. This form must be submitted before approval of Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status or before scheduling a University oral examination that is a defense of the dissertation. The reading committee may be appointed earlier, according to the department timetable for doctoral programs. All subsequent changes to the reading committee must be approved by the chair or faculty director of graduate studies of the major department. The reading committee must conform to University regulations at the time of degree conferral.

Ph.D. Minor

Students pursuing a Ph.D. may pursue a minor in another department or program to complement their Ph.D. program. This option is not available to students pursuing other graduate degrees. Ph.D. candidates cannot pursue a minor in their own major department or program. In rare cases, a Ph.D. student may complete the requirements for more than one minor. In that case, 20 unduplicated units must be completed for each minor.

Only departments that offer a Ph.D. may offer a minor, and those departments are not required to do so. Interdisciplinary Ph.D. minors, administered by a designated academic department, may be approved by the Faculty Senate. The minor should represent a program of graduate quality and depth, including core requirements and electives or examinations. The department offering the minor establishes the core and examination requirements. Elective courses are planned by the students in conjunction with their minor and Ph.D. departments.

The minimum University requirement for a Ph.D. minor is 20 units of course work at the graduate level (typically courses numbered 200 and above). If a minor department chooses to require those pursuing the minor to pass the Ph.D. qualifying or field examinations, the 20-unit minimum can be reduced. All of the course work for a minor must be done at Stanford and must be completed prior to a student moving to TGR status.

Units taken for the minor can be counted as part of the overall requirement for the Ph.D. of 135 units of graduate course work done at Stanford. Courses used for a minor may not be used also to meet the requirements for a master's degree or for the completion of a different Ph.D. minor.

An Application for Ph.D. Minor outlining a program of study must be approved by the major and minor departments; to submit the application, go to  Axess  and select Student eForms from the student mega menu. This form is submitted at the time of admission to candidacy and specifies whether representation from the minor department on the University oral examination committee is required.

Eligibility

Main navigation.

Dates and Deadlines

Knight-Hennessy Scholars has no restrictions based on age, college or university, field of study, or career aspiration. We encourage citizens and residents of all countries to apply. We do not require applicants to seek endorsements from colleges, universities, or other institutions. Additionally, there are no quotas by discipline or program.

There are two baseline eligibility requirements.

Requirement 1: Admission to Stanford

First, in addition to applying to Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS), you must apply to, be accepted by, and enroll in a full-time Stanford graduate degree program including, but not limited to, DMA, JD, MA, MBA, MD, MFA, MPP, MS, or PhD programs. You must meet at least one of the following four conditions:

• You are applying separately but concurrently to KHS and a full-time Stanford graduate degree program such that you will start both in the same year.
• You have already been offered and deferred admission to a full-time Stanford graduate degree program, and will apply to KHS such that you will start both in the same year.
• You are a current Stanford graduate student who will apply to add a second full-time Stanford graduate degree program, such that you will start both KHS and the new program in the same year.
• You are a current Stanford PhD student in your first year of enrollment, and will apply to KHS such that you will start KHS in your second year of PhD enrollment.  

Please note that the following Stanford graduate degree programs are not eligible for Knight-Hennessy Scholars:

• Applicants to the Honors Cooperative Program
• Applicants to the Master of Liberal Arts
• Applicants to the Doctor of Science of Law (JSD )
• Current Stanford students applying for coterminal graduate study
• Current Stanford PhD students adding an MA or MS degree in their current discipline

Requirement 2: Undergraduate Degree Date 

Second, you must have earned, in January 2018 or later, a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from a college or university of recognized standing.

For applicants who served in the military, we extend the eligibility window by two years in acknowledgement of longer service commitments; you must have earned your degree in January 2016 or later to enroll in 2025. Current college students are eligible if you will earn your first degree by September 2025. Within the eligibility window, we do not give preference based on recency of the degree.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: what if i graduated from an institution outside the u.s. what are the eligibility requirements for me.

A: To be eligible for graduate study at Stanford University, you must meet the requirements of the graduate program(s) that you wish to pursue and hold the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree from a college or university of recognized standing. See Stanford's guidelines for minimum level of study for international applicants. (The Office of Graduate Admissions , not Knight-Hennessy Scholars, sets these policies.)

Q: If I graduated in 2017 or before, may I still become a Knight-Hennessy scholar?

A: If you graduated with your first/bachelor's degree more than seven years before your intended enrollment date (in 2017 or earlier, for the autumn 2025 intake), then you are not eligible for consideration as a Knight-Hennessy scholar. This applies even if you have earned an additional degree in 2018 or later. You may still apply to the Stanford graduate program of your choice, and there are many other options for funding your graduate education at Stanford.  (Those who served in their country's military have two additional years of eligibility.)

Q: I am an undocumented student. Am I eligible to apply? 

A: If you have been granted DACA status, do not hold formal citizenship in any country, or are otherwise undocumented, you are eligible to apply for graduate study and matriculate at Stanford University and Knight-Hennessy Scholars. For more information, please see the  Undocumented at Stanford  website.

Q: I have a graduate degree already. Am I eligible?  

A: If you have earned a graduate degree, you remain eligible to enroll as a Knight-Hennessy scholar in 2025 as long as you earned your first/bachelor's degree in 2018 or later.  (Those who served in their country's military after their undergraduate studies have two additional years of eligibility.)

Q: I am an enrolled Stanford graduate student. May I apply for Knight-Hennessy Scholars?

A:  If you are a Stanford PhD student who started your PhD in 2024, you may apply in 2024 such that you will start KHS in 2025 (your second year of PhD enrollment). Otherwise, if you enrolled in a graduate degree program at Stanford in 2024 or earlier, you are ineligible for consideration as a Knight-Hennessy scholar for your current degree program. 

Q: I am a Stanford graduate student applying to a different program at the university. Am I eligible to apply this year?  

A: You are welcome to apply to Knight-Hennessy Scholars if you defer enrollment to 2025, or if you apply for a new graduate degree program at Stanford that starts in 2025.

Q: May I defer my Knight-Hennessy Scholars offer?  

A: No. Deferral of enrollment to a graduate program is the purview of that department. Most Stanford programs do not offer deferrals though some - such as the professional schools of business, law, and medicine - allow deferrals. Regardless of the graduate program's policy, Knight-Hennessy Scholars does not defer scholar offers . If you are selected as a Knight-Hennessy scholar and are unable to enroll, you must reapply for admission for the year you intend to enroll.

Q: I was accepted this year to Stanford but want to defer my enrollment in the Stanford graduate program until next year. May I apply to Knight-Hennessy Scholars for the following year? 

A: If you defer enrollment to a Stanford graduate program, you may apply to start as a Knight-Hennessy scholar for the year that you enroll in that graduate program. For example, if you have been admitted to the Stanford MBA Program and deferred enrollment to September 2025, then you may apply to Knight-Hennessy Scholars in 2024 to enroll as a scholar in 2025 — thus aligning your initial enrollment in the MBA Program and as a Knight-Hennessy scholar. If you have already received admission to one of Stanford's graduate programs and deferred enrollment to 2025 or later, you may apply to be a Knight-Hennessy scholar. Plan to apply for the year that you would enroll in your graduate program.

Q: I am a first-year Stanford PhD student who has received a fellowship administered by the Vice Provost for Graduate Education . May I apply for Knight-Hennessy Scholars?

A: Please refer to the chart below to confirm whether you are eligible to apply to KHS. Awards marked "No" may not be combined with KHS and may not be discontinued in order to apply to KHS.

Last updated April 24, 2024.

Dates and Deadlines

Main navigation, application open date.

The online application is now open for 2024 entry.

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.

Email forwarding for @cs.stanford.edu is changing. Updates and details here . CS Commencement Ceremony June 16, 2024.  Learn More .

PhD Admissions | Frequently Asked Questions

Main navigation, program related questions.

• Do you have to be a Computer Science undergraduate major to apply? No, it is not required that a student have majored in CS. However, it is important that you have strong quantitative and analytical skills.
• If I already have a PhD degree in Computer Science from another institution, may I apply to the PhD program at Stanford? No, if you have a PhD in CS from another institution, you cannot apply to the CS PhD program here at Stanford.
• Are my units transferable? Units may be transferable to the PhD program towards residency credit. This determination is made via petition to the Registrar’s Office after attending our PhD program for at least one quarter. 
• Do you accept visiting scholars, exchange students, and postdocs? No. The Computer Science Department does not have such a program. All visiting scholar, exchange student, and postdoc arrangements are made between individual professors of the Universities involved.
• Where can I find housing information? You can find housing information at R&DE Student Housing .
• At the Department level, we cannot do anything to speed up this process. Foreign students are encouraged to seek a visa promptly upon receiving their I-20 because it may take up to several weeks to be processed by the U.S. Consulate due to increased security considerations.
• All new international students will be assessed a SEVIS fee in addition to other fees associated with processing visa applications. For details, visit the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
• Does the CS department offer a MS/PhD program? No, the MS program and PhD program are two separate programs. The MS degree also does not automatically lead to a PhD degree. Applicants planning to pursue a PhD degree should apply directly to that program.
• How can I find out more about course requirements for the PhD program? See the Stanford University Bulletin for program requirements.
• How am I assigned an advisor? Each PhD student spends the first few months becoming better acquainted with the various faculty and their research areas before aligning with a faculty member to pursue their doctoral research.

Deadlines and Application Process

• Where do I get an application? External applicants and current Stanford graduate students applying to the PhD program must apply online . Current Stanford undergraduate students applying for the PhD must also apply online .
• The statement of purpose must be no more than 8,000 characters in length. This includes spaces in between words.
• What are the application requirements? Refer to the graduate application checklist .
• What is the application deadline? Check the graduate application deadlines page.
• If I previously applied, can my application be reactivated? No. We are not able to reactivate applications or supporting documents from previous applications. If you're reapplying, you must follow the same application requirements as new applicants by submitting a new online application and new supporting documents.
• What supporting documents should I send and where? No paper materials will be accepted except two sets of official transcripts (only after we contact you to submit them). Otherwise, official copies of transcripts or e-transcripts must be uploaded onto the online application. 
• Can I reapply to the PhD program? Yes, however, you cannot apply more than once for the same academic year.
• Can I get a waiver on the application fee? If you are unable to pay by credit card or if the application fee is considered to be a financial burden, see the review requirements section of the Stanford University graduate admissions website.
• Where can I list my publications and website? List all your publications and URL to your website on the supplementary form which is part of the online application. Also, list your publications and website on your resume.
• How long is the statement of purpose? The statement of purpose must be no more than two pages in length. This includes spaces in between words. Upload it to the online application.
• We recommend that you retain copies of the supporting documents that you send us and have your recommenders retain copies of what they send us. It is very important to make sure your first and last names remain consistent throughout the application process and in your correspondence with the department.
• How/when will I be notified of the admissions committee decision? The admissions office will send decision letters electronically for all applicants starting by mid-February for PhD applicants.
• The decisions are made in late February for PhD applicants.
• If I am admitted to a CS graduate program, can I defer admission? Deferrals are granted on a case by case basis and usually for only compelling reasons. Deferral petition requests are due by April 11 for PhD admits. Requests for deferrals should be sent to Jayanthi Subramanian ( [email protected] ).
• What is the GPA requirement? Typically GPA's are at least 3.6 (on a 4.0 scale) for PhD applicants and 3.5 for MS applicants.
• How do I calculate my major GPA? You have to identify all the courses you are counting towards the major requirement and find the average GPA of all those courses. If you have a double major, you need to calculate two different GPAs based on the separate group of courses that are being used to meet the requirement.
• A weighted average calculation is necessary when courses have variable credits/units structure.
• For example, if the maximum score is 100 points per course and you have six courses per semester, your unconverted scale value would be 4800 (8x6x100) for the eight quarters of the undergraduate program. If you obtained 3700 points out of the potential 4800 points, that will be your unconverted GPA.
• Do not normalize your GPA to reflect a value relative to the highest achieved aggregate score in your class/batch/year. The only exceptions are physical education and military history; these two courses can be eliminated from the calculation.
• Utilize the "additional information" section under the statement of purpose section to briefly highlight the grading system used by your institution and your relative placement in that grading scheme.
• Can I apply to start in the Winter or Spring quarter? No, we only offer admission to the Autumn quarter for PhD applicants.
• Do I need to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)? GRE scores are not required from PhD applicants. 
• Exception : Individuals who have completed (not only attended) a Bachelor's degree or a two-year Master's degree (or the equivalent of either degree) at a recognized institution where all instruction is provided in English. This does not apply if the courses were completed in a country where English is spoken, though not all courses were provided in English.
• Visit Stanford University's Office of Graduate Admissions website for additional information.
• How recent must my TOEFL scores be? TOEFL scores submitted to Stanford must be from a test taken within the last 24 months (two years). No scores are valid beyond the date ETS will send or resend them to schools. Tests must be taken prior to application submission and the program application deadline.
• When should I take the TOEFL? If you are taking the TOEFL tests, it is recommended that you take the tests at least six (6) weeks before the application deadline. 
• What is the TOEFL recommendation? We expect applicants to have "good" English skills.

"I saw the American progressive movement ... as an ally. That was a mistake."

An israeli phd student at stanford, who formerly clerked at israel's supreme court, shares what he's discovered about the american progressive left over these past weeks..

The photo above says it all. On Stanford University’s campus this week, in a photo posted by an Israeli PhD student who self-describes as a committed ideologist liberal, a man in a costume dressed up as a Hamas terrorist.

We’ll come back to that. First, a glimpse into an Israeli social media meme making its way around.

It translates, “To hell with Rafah. When are we going into Metula?”.

Metula, which is Israel’s northern-most town, is the center of the area that has been evacuated of citizens since mid-October. The government is still promising people that they will be home by September (after almost a year out of their homes) so their children can start school in their “real” schools.

But few here see any reason to believe that. So the meme making its way around is a way of saying, “While you (pretend to) deliberate between hostages and the Rafah operation over the border, has it occurred to anyone that we can’t even get our citizens back home inside the border?

The political pot is simmering. When it boils over is still not clear.

That photo Stanford University, above, was taken on the same week that Sheryl Sandberg’s new documentary, Screams Before Silence, illustrated once again the sickening sexual violence perpetrated not only by the Hamas terrorists, but the Gazan “civilians” who followed them into Israel.

We’re not writing much about the horror show unfolding in America. Those who live in America should do that. But when I came across this very thoughtful post by an Israeli PhD student at Stanford, who has previously clerked at Israel’s (unabashedly liberal) Supreme Court, his comments seemed well worth sharing.

He wrote in Hebrew, as you’ll see if you follow the link. What follows is a Google-generated translation, with many corrections and a few added explanations in brackets.

Original post can be found here, in Hebrew :

Five lessons from Stanford, California

The academic year in the United States is coming to an end. In a few weeks, the university students graduating will stand on the grass, in caps and gowns. They will excitedly take pictures, shake hands with the deans, and then fly away, making way for a new generation of their ilk.

Ahead of the graduation ceremonies, the anti-Israel student protests at American universities are also increasing. Let’s start with the “all clear” siren. Here at Stanford, at least, the students who sleep on the campus lawns and call for a "global intifada" are—as a rule—not dangerous in the physical sense of the word. But they are very dangerous in the medium and long term, as far as the image of the leader of the free world is concerned.

This is my second year at Stanford. When we returned here in September after the summer break, I intended to finish the year with an approved research proposal and a third of my PhD written. It's hard to describe how far I am from meeting that goal. In my opinion, I'm not really unusual. Since October, many Israelis abroad have found themselves forced to choose between two options—to put their heads down or become ambassadors without a choice. Who can even write an article when his two brothers are fighting in Gaza? Instead, I found myself spending much of my time on “outreach” activities that I had no intention of taking part in.

Despite this, I learned some very important lessons this year that I will never forget. As the school year comes to a close, and in light of the wave of anxious questions from around the country in light of the current round of campus madness, I thought I'd share the five most important lessons I learned this past year at Stanford, California.

1. Whether we want it or not, we are always—first and foremost—the Jews.

The first year here was a fabulous academic experience like no other. I felt surrounded by international friends. I was given full access to the world's brightest legal minds. The feeling was that endless opportunities lay ahead. Friends from Israel, who asked already last year if we suffered from anti-Israelism, sounded funny to me. No way!! I am a liberal Israeli. I wrote for the most leftist newspaper in Israel. I did my clerkship in one of the more liberal courts in the Western world. Why would anyone have a problem with me? I walked among those who I thought were friends as equals among equals. I could talk about Israel freely, criticize it and love it, have discussions that I thought were good and complex about the most sensitive issues even with those who clearly disagreed with me. I felt like a citizen of the world.

That was an illusion. There really is no such thing, it turns out, as a “Jew who is a citizen of the world,” as long as the Jew insists on his right to a national existence. For many of those whom I saw as friends, it turned out, I was first and foremost the Jew. At the moment of truth, few of them stood by me on a personal level. Almost none of them stood by me at the national level. Their double standards allowed Israel-hating students to say horrible things about me and my friends, but silenced our every attempt to oppose it. In some places, I had to choose between apologizing for my Israeliness and rejection. There was no choice to be made.

This eye-opening experience also has advantages. It is a litmus test for the human quality of those around us. Some of the people around me went out of their way to support me, or to show gestures of humanity. I found myself surrounded by strong and durable ties. I will not forget these friends easily.

Israelis are facing an unfolding crisis, but also an important opportunity to rebuild. If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and what is happening here that the English press can’t capture, we invite you to subscribe today.

2. America deserves Donald Trump.

An Israeli friend joked to me that if Trump is re-elected president in November, he will walk the halls of Stanford and hand out baklava. It's a very funny joke only because it's not entirely imaginary.

November 9, 2016 was a day that struck me with amazement. Like many all over the world, the fact that the United States of America elected Donald Trump as president was unimaginable. In a very deep sense, no matter how many commentaries I read, how many films and documentary series I watched—the appointment of this man seemed inexplicable to me. Unimaginable. Impossible. Even years later, when the words “President Trump” stopped feeling strange on the tongue, the choice of him seemed inexplicable to me. A glitch in the matrix. I couldn't understand how his campaign could be successful.

This year I finally got it. No, if I were an American I still wouldn’t vote for Trump. But I now understand those who vote for him. Donald Trump is some Americans’ answer to the madness on the other side, a madness I didn’t notice until it turned its face in my direction. A madness no less terrible than Trumps’s madness. No, if I had the right to vote, I would not vote for Donald Trump. But America deserves him.

3. The progressive movement is not a political ally of liberal Zionists.

Last year, the progressive movement seemed like an amusing youth rebellion to me. Yes, the ceremony where everyone announces their gender at the beginning of class seemed strange to me, not always necessary, but not harmful. The fact that I had to declare my race on every form I filled out (and make sure to state that I was “Middle Eastern”) made me laugh, but didn’t upset me. I saw the American progressive movement as the infantile sister of liberal movements that I respected. I saw it as an ally. That was a mistake.

I saw the American progressive movement as the infantile sister of liberal movements that I respected. I saw it as an ally. That was a mistake.

The “progressive” movement is not an amusing anecdote. This week I was exposed to a particularly graphic expression of this. In the “Pro-Palestinian” encampment (in double quotation marks, since a significant number of its residents are unable to point to the country on a map, and it is doubtful that they are able to name a single Palestinian leader) that was re-established in the heart of the campus, a man was photographed in a full terrorist costume—including a black sock hat with a slit for his eyes, and a green Hamas ribbon on his head, next to students who are active for transsexual rights. This strange alliance [ DG - since Hamas executes those it considers sexual deviants, which obviously includes transsexuals ] is not funny to me.

The progressives are challenging much more than the state of Israel, or the right of the Jews to a nation state. I’m not sure how many of the people who identify as progressives actually hold these ideals, and how many of them are just repeating them over and over loudly, with the intention of gaining some kind of social sympathy. But those of them who hold this position really no longer believe in the existence of “truth,” or in the existence of facts.

I’m not referring here to those who express the opinion that it is difficult to get to the truth, or who think that the courts do not always succeed in finding out what the facts are, or who hold that different ideas are perceived differently through different eyes. I’m speaking about those who say unequivocally that there is no such thing as truth. They are not interested in presenting facts to support their arguments because they do not believe there is such a thing as facts, and they say so explicitly. They think that it is forbidden to use the term “jihadist” in front of jihadists, or to call supporters of terrorism by their names, because feelings are more important than facts (although, of course, first and foremost their feelings). They don't believe there should be consequences for actions, because they don't believe there should be consequences for anything. Everything can be disputed, because nothing is real. Life is a debate club. It’s not a treat, or at least not just a treat: it’s an ideology. This ideology challenges the existence of objective truth—attainable or unattainable—as an intellectual concept.

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4. Always go straight. It is not so important what is said or written about you.

The denial and turning of the backs of those whom I saw as friends, or at least fellow travelers, came with a temptation: to lower one’s head. I do not belittle and I completely understand Israelis who chose this. At this stage, for now, being ashamed of being Israeli, suppressing Jewish symbols, trying to adopt the American accent—can ensure a reasonable quality of life even in places where hatred of Israel is very present. But when the temptation was placed in front of me—to some extent at least— I tried to remember what I had learned from two teachers in recent years.

Attorney Momi Lemberger usually tells his interns to “always walk straight.” When a decision is made in a case—should an indictment be filed? Should the charges be dropped?—The only thing that matters are the facts and the law. It is easy to be tempted to consider what was written in the newspapers. What the minister says. The chance to advance in the system. But considering such considerations inevitably leads to bragging, to losing one's way. Judge George Kara used to tell his interns that “it doesn't really matter what they say or write about you.” The facts are more important. Making the right decisions is more important. There is no reason to align with vanities, even if it has some social or public cost.

These lessons are true in relation to greater and much more important decisions than the personal decision of whether to keep one's head down or insist on externalizing and being proud of one’s Israeliness, even in unpleasant forums. But they are infinitely true when the heaviest price to pay for going straight is that some American PhD students will turn up their noses at you. Since October, I’ve learned that there’s no point in keeping your head down, while there is intrinsic value in the decision to always going straight, to calling a spade a spade.

5. The solution to the university crisis cannot come from below, but it can be parachuted from above.

The kids protesting in these university yards worked very hard to get accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Columbia. Most of them are not the “Vietnam generation,” even if that is what they tell themselves. They are the equivalent of the 8200 children and IDF Radio in Israel. [ DG - both very prestigious jobs in the army, the former in one of the most respected intelligence units, the latter on the radio, a position very hard to snag .] They worked very hard and paid a lot of money to get here, and they care a lot about how they graduate. More than that, they care what the characters they value think of them. True, they care what their classmates think. Most of them care just as much what the President of the University, the Dean of the Faculty, and even the lecturer in the course think of them.

For many of them, the current wave of protests can be an educational opportunity. American universities repeatedly emphasize the importance of freedom of speech in American culture, the centrality of the First Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees absolute freedom of speech in the American political atmosphere. They can’t shut them up. That is true. But the universities can, and are even obliged, to educate their students. They should not and cannot prevent these children from screaming their demands to spread the intifada or boycott Israel. But they can tell them that they hold very stupid positions.

If university presidents would stop trembling in their own shadows, they could tell their students that they have a right to express stupid views, but that shouting them out won’t make them any more correct. Lecturers cannot silence their students, but they can emphasize that anyone who expresses uninformed or unfounded positions with great confidence is an educational failure. An Israeli—as I discovered—cannot really convince his American counterpart that Israel is not committing genocide, even if there is not even a shred of evidence to support the argument that what is happening in Gaza is genocide. But if the president of the university were to look at his students and express sincere disappointment when they express such a preposterous position, something in a significant portion of those students might shift.

The effectiveness of the “direct information”—in front of the young students—exists, but is very limited and in any case organized bodies can hardly promote it in an inorganic way. The solution, in my opinion, lies in putting pressure on the presidents. And there is urgency in this—today's generation of presidents and senior lecturers are still old and established people, who were educated in the 1970s and 1980s. They remember the Six Day War and Yom Kippur War. They are liberals, but they are liberals like Bill Clinton. They have respect for Israel. They have no intention of responding to the BDS demands that many of their students voice. In private conversations with Israelis, they also express their feelings of affection for Israel generously. But their feelings of fear of their American students are immeasurably stronger than their affection for their Israeli students. The pressure needs to be put on them. If they are freed from the terror that grips them of expressing their opinion, they can set boundary lines, and these may seep down—to those who want to participate in the “pro-Palestinian” festivals, to make an impression, but want more to be loved by important people in their professional lives.

If we do not take advantage of the present opportunity, we will find ourselves in a short time standing in front of a new generation of presidents and deans. It is not known if they will still have positive feelings—however repressed—towards Israel.

(In the photo: a man in a terrorist costume, this week at Stanford).

Ready for more?

Stanford Accelerator for Learning awards funding to faculty, staff, and students to envision new models for ethnic studies

The eight projects will explore approaches to implementing a new California law requiring ethnic studies to be taught in high schools.

by Isabel Sacks

The Equity in Learning initiative of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning has awarded $300,000 to eight research teams to co-create new approaches to ethnic studies curriculum with community and school partners.

Stanford studies have shown both short and long-term academic benefits from a high school ethnic studies course in San Francisco. The studies’ co-author, Professor Thomas Dee of the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), describes ethnic studies as “an intensive and sustained social psychology intervention” with the potential to reshape and greatly improve students' sense of belonging and school engagement. 

This landmark research inspired Assembly Bill 101, a California law signed in October 2021 that requires students to take ethnic studies to graduate high school, starting with the class of 2030. Schools must start offering ethnic studies courses by the 2025-26 school year. California was the first state to enact such a policy.

Having driven the research that inspired the policy, Stanford now seeks to support schools in implementing ethnic studies effectively and meaningfully. Dee highlights that his original study had limitations relevant to California’s state-wide scale-up. These include that the study focused only on educationally vulnerable students in San Francisco and did not compel students to take ethnic studies. In a state as large and diverse as California, he stresses that additional research is needed to understand how to replicate and scale effective practices for ethnic studies across demographics, location, teacher training, and other variables. 

Dee also emphasizes that the education community must think beyond required ethnic studies courses. “Our studies of San Francisco's pilot course provide a genuinely exciting proof point for culturally relevant pedagogy more broadly,” he says. “We need to invest in a broad array of school and teacher practices to support student belonging.”

The seed grant, which supports research and development of a range of ethnic studies approaches, is the first funding opportunity of the Equity in Learning initiative, developed by a team of scholars at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and launched with community partners last year.

Proposals were required to be collaborative in nature and name a partnering organization, school district, or community group. Funded projects include infusing ethnic studies into world language teaching, exploring the impact of ethnic studies for newcomer immigrant youth, and engaging high school students in building ethnic studies curriculum. 

“Ethnic studies scholars are adamant that it is not just about content,” said grant recipient Eujin Park , assistant professor at the GSE and a faculty affiliate of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning. “It’s about a set of values and a way of relating to your students and their community.” She emphasizes that many districts already partner with community organizations as a way of ensuring curriculum and pedagogy are responsive to their students’ lives and identities.

“A statewide curriculum may not reflect every student’s lived experiences or history,” explains Antero Garcia , associate professor at the GSE and the organizer of the seed grant. “One of the goals of the seed grant is to develop nuanced, local understandings of ethnic studies.”

Whose expertise matters? Centering Youth Voice to (Re)Conceptualize and Expand Accessibility in Ethnic Studies

Faculty lead: Subini Annamma

This multiphase empirical work centers those most impacted by disproportionality, Students of Color who have been suspended and/or labeled disabled and their educators, positioning them as knowledge generators in co-designing, implementing, and evaluating Accessible Ethnic Studies (AES). The study aims are to 1) re-design ethnic studies, so it is accessible to all students; 2) implement AES as a means of reconnecting Students of Color who have been suspended to education; and 3) evaluate the impacts of AES to reflect on its limitations and potential.

​​Disseminating WISE Ethnic Studies to Sustain Students’ Sense of Belonging and Academic Achievement

Research team: Geoffrey Cohen, Steve Juárez

This research addresses enduring educational and psychological disparities, particularly affecting minority youth due to social identity threats. While ethnic studies programs show promise in improving educational outcomes, a gap remains in understanding how to facilitate the impact of this knowledge on the key psychological outcomes known to drive student success: school belonging, positive self, and cultural identity. We propose a novel approach blending ethnic studies with social psychological interventions to address these challenges. Drawing on reflective writing prompts, goal-setting practices, and senior students’ stories, the intervention aims to fortify students’ psychological resilience by cultivating a positive social identity and mitigating threats to their sense of belonging and self-worth. Partnering with a San Francisco middle school in a randomized control trial study, we will evaluate the intervention’s impact on 950 students’ well-being and academic achievement.

Intersection of Ethnic Studies and World Languages: Measuring Learning Impact of Integrated Instructional Units in High School

Research team: Amado Padilla, Margaret Peterson

This project addresses the problem of practice posed by the implementation of recent legislation in California requiring ethnic studies as a graduation requirement. This research will explore student performance gains derived from infusing ethnic studies content into World Language curriculum, as well as address the issue of ensuring success for ethnic studies as a core subject by developing ways for world language instruction to maximize the areas of intersection between the two (identity, group, language, and cultural variation, community lived experiences) and link world language with the four pivotal themes within ethnic studies (identity, history and movement, systems of power, and social movements and equity). This project will see through the creation of instructional units, their implementation in action-research partnership with a local high school district, and the analysis of resulting data (student academic outcomes, teacher and student experiences) to determine the benefits of such cross-curricular intersection. The plan includes a strategy for dissemination of the units as well as the research outcomes in conferences and publications.

Freedom Dreaming in California Ethnic Studies Classrooms

Research team: Ramón Martínez, Darion Wallace, Ayan Ali, Gabriela Lopez

This project is a collaboration with three middle school teachers in San Francisco Unified School District to co-create a culturally and historically responsive 8-week ethnic studies curriculum in social studies that creates conditions for youth to Freedom Dream across the historical record, their lived realities, and a future arc towards justice. Employing social design-based methodology to evaluate the merits of the intervention and other emergent insights from the social world of the classroom, this study illuminates new lines of thought on how to 1) build liberatory ethnic studies curriculum in middle schools, 2) conceptualize students as critical public historians, and 3) envision teachers as community archivists.

Developing and Piloting Model Ethnic Studies Curriculum Units, a partnership between STEP and the Sunnyvale School District

Faculty lead: Ira Lit

This pilot study draws upon a strong and mutual partnership between the Sunnyvale School District and the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) : (1) developing a set of ethnic studies curricular units, drawing on core disciplines and themes in the field; (2) supporting the professional learning of practicing teachers and teacher candidates to effectively instruct those units; (3) pilot testing those units over the course of the month-long Summer Explorations summer school program, a partnership between the Sunnyvale School District and STEP; (4) evaluate the efficacy of the pilot; and (5) utilize learnings from the pilot to design future professional development and dissemination efforts to additional educators. Lit will collaborate with educators Irene Castillon and Julie Yick and doctoral student Kevin Anderson, with consulting from Professor Emeritus Albert Camarillo.

Ethnic Studies Praxis and Pedagogies with Recently Arrived Im/migrant Youth Across the Bay Area

Research team: Eujin Park, Rita Kamani-Renedo

This collaborative project examines what it means to enact ethnic studies pedagogies with racialized, multilingual recently-arrived im/migrant youth from diverse ethno-racial and linguistic backgrounds. While the benefits of ethnic studies for racially and linguistically minoritized youth are well documented, its impact on racialized im/migrant youth who have recently arrived to the United States remains underexplored. Through collaborative inquiry, curriculum development, implementation, and reflection, this project will support teachers in engaging ethnic studies pedagogies that are relevant to their newcomer im/migrant youth population, accessible to their needs as multilingual learners from diverse educational backgrounds, and responsive to their localized communities. As schools in California and across the nation are increasingly called to respond to the needs of newcomer im/migrant youth, this research is timely and necessary.

Belonging, Diverse Literature, and African American Girls Educational Experiences and Outcomes

Research lead: Ramon Stephens

This project explores the impact of implementing culturally responsive and affirming instructional practices in an after school setting by engaging elementary school Black girls with critical forms of African American literature by African American authors. This study also highlights the impact on Black girls’ cultural heritage identity development and academic achievement while amplifying the voices of Black elementary school girls in a suburban public elementary school setting. This qualitative study will be able to inform researchers and education practitioners of methods that can support Black girls academic achievement because Black girls must be able to see positive self- images reflected in their academic experience.

Centering Students in Ethnic Studies: Student-Led Curriculum Development and Teacher Partnerships in California Districts

Research team: Katelin Zhou, Jasmine Nguyen

This project will involve students in the creation of a student-centric ethnic studies framework and curriculum. Since the passage of Bill AB101, substantial debates have emerged regarding the most effective implementation of ethnic studies curriculum. Given the socially transformative nature of ethnic studies, educators must consider student-centered education as the foundation of a successful ethnic studies education, rejecting hierarchical learning structures. This student-centered framework will be developed as a pedagogical model for a larger ethnic studies curriculum, a six-week unit for 9-12th grade students on identity. Students from varying backgrounds and grade levels within a community partner, Diversify Our Narrative , will support the construction of the framework and supplement the curriculum through research. Following that, the team will conduct faculty consultations to revise the framework and curriculum. Finally, they will collaborate with school districts in California to pilot the student-centric model for teaching ethnic studies.

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Major leagues: Here’s what student-athletes study at Stanford

Choosing a major can be a daunting task for any college student, but for student-athletes, the decision can be even more complex. Balancing a demanding schedule makes it challenging to find a major that aligns with both personal interests and athletic commitments. 

The need to balance academics and athletics have led student-athletes ​​to select certain majors at disproportionate rates compared to the rest of the undergraduate population. 

According to data that the Daily scraped from the Stanford Athletics website, during the 2023-24 school year, roughly 16% of declared student-athletes studied Science, Technology & Society (STS). This makes STS the most popular student-athlete major at Stanford. 

In 2022, STS was the third most popular student-athlete major behind Human Biology (HumBio) and Management Science and Engineering (MS&E), but has since climbed up the ranks.

This school year, HumBio is the second most popular major amongst athletes with 49 students, followed by Computer Science with 45 students, MS&E with 35 students and Economics with 22 students. 

The top majors among the general student body are Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Human Biology and Symbolic Systems, which make STS and MS&E outliers specific to athletes. 

Monica Holt, the Lead Undergraduate Advising Director for student-athletes, attributed the popularity of the STS major to its flexibility and interdisciplinary nature.

“Students I talk to enjoy having the opportunity to take some STEM courses, but to also have humanities classes mixed in, as they are getting to build a broad base of knowledge,” Holt wrote in an email to the Daily. “There is also a wide array of courses to choose from when determining what classes students want to take to fulfill certain requirements, which students enjoy.”

Within the general trends among student-athletes, certain teams also follow patterns for major selection. 

In the fall, the football team had 19 STS majors, accounting for nearly 32% of the declared STS majors who are student-athletes. Similarly, the baseball team is composed of majority STS and MS&E majors. 

Men’s rowing, men’s track and field, and men’s cross country all have a simple majority of Computer Science majors. 

Women’s lacrosse, on the other hand, has a majority of sociology majors, and women’s track and field and women’s water polo have a majority of HumBio majors.

Maya Valmon, a junior women’s sprinter and HumBio major interested in medicine, cited flexibility as the main factor in student-athlete major selection.

“The more flexible majors tend to be the ones that the athletes pick more because you can align it with your schedule and how much work you can do in a given season,” said Valmon.

Valmon, who is interested in social justice and how racism affects health outcomes, said that compared to Biology, HumBio allows her to explore other subjects within the major.

“HumBio is a lot more interdisciplinary than normal biology. When you take the core, one half of your classes are normal biology classes, but the second half of the classes look at the human being in the context of society,” Valmon said. “We talk about social determinants of health, psychology, sociology, racism, the economy, insurance, and looking at people instead of what is going on inside your body.” 

Outside of aspirations to pursue medicine, HumBio is an enticing major for student-athletes given how it pulls in athletics and human performance.

“HumBio is the one major that is most closely associated with human performance because there are a lot of classes in physiology, nutrition and sports performance within the major.”

Within Valmon’s team alone, there are six HumBio majors.

“Track and field is a sport that really centers human performance and physiology because it’s really a matter of athleticism and how well you can optimize your body to perform, so they go together,” Valmon said.

The sprinter also finds the HumBio department to be incredibly supportive of student-athletes.

“There are a lot of athletes that study HumBio, so the department is really interested in athletics and good about celebrating athletic achievements,” said Valmon. “Anytime I do something good in track, all of the HumBio faculty know about it and congratulate me, which I think is really sweet.”

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Studying PhD in the USA 2023 - 2024: Your Complete Guide

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Thinking about PhD? Think America!

PhD in the USA comes not only with a substantial recognition of your expertise but also impacts your overall growth in person. Learning shoulder to shoulder with the best minds that walked on this planet is a privilege. Starting from engineering, computer science, applied sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medicine to management, you may earn your PhD in the USA in the program of your choice. There are many fully funded PhD programs in America for international students in 2023 that you may opt for, too. Overwhelmed? Don’t worry; reading this blog is the first step which may guide you to your dreams of studying PhD programs in the U.S.A. Let’s keep scrolling!

Why Study PhD in the USA?

The top reasons to study in the USA include unparalleled academic excellence, American prestige , choices of flexible college programs alongside the best Universities like Stanford and Harvard and a diverse range of courses offered for PhD in the USA.

1. Course Length of PhD in the USA

Students prefer to earn their degree in the USA for the flexibility of the PhD programs in the USA for international students in 2023. The duration of your PhD in the country may vary from program to program. The maximum no. of years a part-time doctoral student spends is ten years. In other cases, full-time enrollment in PhD programs in the United States of America demands a minimum of 4 years. There are many online PhD programs in the country you may go for. Adding more to the best things about studying in the USA, you will also have the option of one-year PhD programs in the USA.

2. Top-Notch Universities

If the USA were to be a person, it would have definitely boasted about being the top destination country with its cities encompassing every aspect of a student’s dream. The hunt for knowledge seems never ending in the top institutes for PhD in the USA. The USA is home to distinguished universities like Harvard and Stanford. Studying Doctor of Philosophy in the USA means you will never have to look back. 

And, just in case you are very prepared and have the merits for pursuing a PhD in the U.S.A. for international students, the chances are high that you might get an acceptance letter from the oldest universities in the world. The fully funded PhD programs in the U.S.A. for international students 2023 add to the glee of every applicant. Most public and private universities conduct intakes year-long. Also, the intakes for 2023-2024 in the USA are ongoing. You may go ahead and plan accordingly and not miss the opportunity of studying at world-class universities and the best faculty. 

3. Diversity in the College Campuses 

The USA is the pioneer in neo-cultural globalisation or, let us rather say, the initiator of cultural diversity. The USA is home to approximately 9,50,000 international students, making up 5.5% of the international diaspora in the US. The whooping number of students choosing the USA as their destination for higher studies is a testimony to the diversity of the beautiful campuses host. 

4. Availability of Scholarships for PhD in the USA

The education system of the USA is very well devised to serve the needs of every student enrolling for PhD degree in the USA. There are many scholarships available for PhD students in the American universities. The scholarships allow you to pursue a fully funded PhD in the USA for international students 2023. There are entities such as the Government of the USA, universities and various private organisations that extend scholarships to students with merits and credible need of funds to pursue their PhD programs in the USA. We will be discussing it further in some moments. 

5. Availability of Jobs after PhD in the USA

American universities typically have vibrant campus communities with a wide range of extracurricular activities, clubs and organisations. As a student, you will have the opportunity to engage in various social, cultural and recreational activities alongside your academic studies.

Best Universities for PhD Programs in the USA

1. harvard university.

Tuition Fees: $78,000 ‍Acceptance rate: 4% QS Ranking: 4th

US Ranking: 2nd

Top Courses: Arts & Humanities, Business & Management, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicine, Social Sciences & Management

Intake Seasons: Fall/Spring

Famous Alumni: Bill Gates

Harvard University stands as one of the best universities in the USA and the entire world. The university enrols close to 22,947 students annually, making it one of the toughest universities to get into as well. The university hosts a range of PhD programs in the U.S.A. for international students 2023, including chemical biology, engineering, immunology and neuroscience, among other top PhD programs in the U.S.A. The campus is also home to the largest library system in the world. 

2. Stanford University

Average Fees: $80,000 ‍Acceptance rate: 16% QS Ranking: 5th

US Ranking: 3rd

Eligibility: GPA: 4, SAT: 1465, ACT: 31.5, IELTS: 6.5, TOEFL: 90, GMAT: 690, GRE: 162

Intake Seasons: Fall

Famous Alumni: Elon Musk

Located in the silicon valley, the university is a pioneering institution brimming with knowledge. As a campus that is spread across more than 8,000 acres and home to 16,000+ students flocking in from various parts of the world each year, it is one of the best choices for PhD programs in the U.S.A. for international students 2023.

3. University of Chicago

Average Fees: $78,000 ‍Acceptance rate: 6.5% QS Ranking: 11th

US Ranking: 12th

Intake Seasons: All Seasons

Famous Alumni: Susan Sontag

The University of Chicago introduces you to a world that's transformational, effective and always on the go. The campus is home to more than 17,000 students and boasts of one-of-its-kind diversity. A wide number of PhD programs in the U.S.A. for international students 2023 makes it one of the top choices for students in the world. 

Top 3 PhD Scholarships in the USA

There may be situations where you wish to pursue PhD in the USA but are unable to take your leap of faith due to financial constraints. You may enroll in fully funded PhD programs in the U.S.A for international students 2023 with the help of the scholarships provided for PhD in the U.S.A. We have listed below the best scholarships for PhD in the United States of America. 

1. Fulbright Foreign Student Program

Amount: $35,000

Provider: Binational Fullbright Commission/US Embassies

Deadline: 17th May, 2023

Expenses Covered: Tuition and fees, Round-trip travel, Living expenses and others

The scholarship offered by the organisation for PhD in the U.S.A. comes by as a ray of hope in your tough times. The scholarships help you move further towards a bright future backed by the PhD programs in the U.S.A. from top educational institutions. 

2. AAUW International Fellowships

Amount: $20,000

Provider: American Association of University Women 

Expenses Covered: Full tuition and Fees

Deadline: 1st December, 2023

The scholarship is one of the oldest, largest and most competitive scholarships for PhD in the U.S.A. The scholarship or fellowship is offered to women from across the world. The scholarship aims at boosting the contribution of women in the field of research and development. And transforming the world. 

3. Campbell Fellowships for Transformative Research

Amount: $54,000

Provider: School of Advanced Research

Expenses Covered: Stipend, Tuition fees waiver, Registration costs

Deadline: November, 2023

The scholarship is among the best short-term scholarships for PhD in the USA for women scholars. The duration of the Campbell fellowship lies between 6 months to 9 months. The scholarship is awarded to female scholars who are working in global research for women in developing nations. 

Application Requirements for PhD in the USA

Pursuing a PhD on American soil sounds like a dream come true. However, the process of application is extensive and requires due diligence and the best research before the selection of the scholarships and the colleges or the courses. We have tried to help you out below with some of the many requirements for applying for scholarships for PhD programs in the U.S.A. for international students 2023. Scroll for the list below:

1. Applying 

The first step is completing the application form before the deadline. You may check out the websites of the scholarships and universities and keep track of deadlines.

There are two types of scholarships. One is an easy scholarship which might not require an essay, and there are scholarships for PhD in the U.S.A. demanding essays. Thus, depending on the requirement, prepare an essay describing the needs of the scholarship for you.

3. Credible References

You must collect credible sources of references while applying for the scholarships. The reference must align with the PhD programs in the USA for international students 2023 you are applying for.

4. Competitive Exam Scores

Receiving a scholarship for PhD in the United States of America comes with criteria of scores in competitive exams like IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, GMAT, SAT, and ACT, among many others. Take your tests well to qualify for the applications of scholarships to transform your PhD into fully funded PhD programs in the U.S.A. for international students 2023.  

Top 3 Jobs Options After PhD in the USA

1. professor/ lecturer.

After completing your PhD in the U.S.A., you become eligible for the position of lecturer or professor in the top universities in the world. 

2. Scientific Assessor

The job of a scientific assessor is also available post you earn your degree in any of the PhD programs in the U.S.A. for international students 2023.

3. Research & development

A PhD in the U.S.A. makes you eligible to apply for jobs in the research and development field. If your field of study is research-oriented, you may have job opportunities in some of the best research institutes in the world nestled in the USA. 

Hope you are ready to resume or take forward the academic journey you have been aiming for. The blog was just an initiative for you to understand the overall landscape of PhD in the U.S.A. You may get in touch with us via the comment section below or DM us on our Instagram channel for additional info you might need. 

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