Understanding PhD funding

Graduate Student Assistantships are a form of student employment. Compensation includes both a salary and a tuition allowance (TAL) for performing research or teaching services to the university as part of the student's academic and professional training and development.

Full-time assistantships (e.g. a 50% research assistantship or a 50% teaching assistantship) correspond to 20 hours of work per week during the 12-week quarter. Salaries are paid twice a month according to Stanford's payroll schedule. 

During summer quarter, students may hold assistantship appointments up to 90% (36 hours per week). 

Learn more about: 

• Assistantship policies
• Salary and tuition allowance tables
• Academic year rates

Fellowships are awarded as a form of financial support to a student and typically include full or partial tuition payment in addition to a stipend for living expenses. They are not provided in exchange for services provided by the student. They may be awarded by the university, any of its departments, or by external sources based on merit or need.

Fellowships are typically paid out as a lump sum per quarter, within the first few weeks of the quarter. The default for disbursement of stipends is “standard charges,” i.e., after other university charges, such as room and board, have been deducted, the remaining fellowship stipend is paid as a refund check to the student. 

See the links below for more information on fellowships:

• Fellowship policies
• Graduate Financial Aid Office
• Student payments

Stanford University uses student hourly employment to hire Stanford students into jobs that are specifically earmarked for matriculated students. Student workers are supervised in their work and must record and approve their work hours. Compensation is established on an hourly basis, and the amount of pay is based on the actual number of hours worked in each pay period.

These job assignments are incidental to the student’s course of study, with reasonable limitations placed during the academic quarter on the nature of the work assignment and the number of hours of employment. 

The Department of Sociology sets the graduate student's hourly rate in accordance with the type of work being performed. The standard hourly rate is reviewed each year to ensure compensation adheres to the appropriate minimum range set by the university. 

Graduate students that have assistantship or fellowship support may be eligible to take on paid hourly work as follows:

• A student receiving a 50% assistantship may be paid for up to 8 hours of additional hourly work (international students on visas are not eligible for additional employment)
• A student receiving a full fellowship may be appointed to a concurrent 25% assistantship OR hired hourly for up to 8 hours per week
• If the student is receiving less than a 50% assistantship or less than a full fellowship, consult with the Director of Finance and Operations for further guidance on what the student may be eligible for

Hourly work may take the form of course support, such as a Reader/Grader, Course Assistant, or Teaching Assistant. It may also take the form of research support, such as a Research Assistant, or it may take the form of other hourly work, such as administration, tutoring, peer advising, etc. 

Please note that because Course Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and Research Assistant positions fall under the category of research and teaching, they are subject to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and must be paid at the negotiated rate. Other hourly work, such as Reader/Grader or miscellaneous administrative work, may be paid at the rate set by the hiring unit.