Funding

To date, the Department of Psychology has been successful in providing financial support for graduate students in the form of a living stipend, tuition and health insurance through summer quarter of their fifth year. This support can be obtained from different sources of funding. Department financial aid assignments are made at the beginning of each academic year.  Continued financial support is contingent upon satisfactory academic progress. 

Department Funding

Research and Teaching Assistantships

Stanford University sets a minimum level of support for assistantships each year.  Assistantships cover salary, tuition, and health insurance.

Salary

Students with assistantships are paid their salaries through bimonthly paychecks from the Stanford Payroll Office. Students are strongly encouraged to sign up for direct deposit online via AXESS. Usual paydays are the 7th and the 22nd of every month. Student assistantship salary is taxable income, and applicable taxes and deductions will be withheld in accordance with the W-4 Tax Data form completed by each student. This form and other payroll forms will be provided to new students during the orientation in Autumn Quarter.

Pay Periods

Pay periods within each quarter are based on a calendar year, not the academic year. Pay cycles run one week behind the actual pay date. Therefore, a student's first Autumn Quarter paycheck is issued on October 22nd (for work completed during the pay period of October 1st to the 15th). Thereafter, students are paid every 7th and 22nd of the month.

• Autumn Quarter pay periods run from October 1 – December 31
• Winter Quarter pay periods run from January 1 – March 31
• Spring Quarter pay periods run from April 1 – June 30
• Summer Quarter pay periods run from July 1 – September 30

Stipend

Students who secure external fellowships usually are paid via quarterly stipend rather than assistantship salary. When awarded, fellowship stipends are disbursed on the first day of each quarter provided that students enroll in the required number of units by the published deadline. Students must register in exactly 10 units in Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer Quarters (note that students in TGR status must be enrolled in the 0-unit PSYCH 802 course and no more than 3 additional units). If the enrollment deadline is missed, stipends are disbursed a few business days after the student eventually meets the enrollment requirements. Mandatory charges on the student bill, including rent for campus housing, will be deducted from the stipend before it is issued. No taxes are withheld, but stipends are reportable as taxable income. (Fellowship tuition and tuition allowance are not taxable in most cases.)

Banking Funding for Off-Campus Summer Internships

If a student chooses to pursue an internship or similar off-campus opportunity during the summer in years 1-4, the student forfeits their summer funding package (per University policy) and does not enroll in units during the internship. The forfeited summer funding is "banked" and applied to the summer after 5th year, if needed. Funding is banked only if the student is not enrolled and not participating in Stanford research or courses during the summer internship. Students are only eligible to bank ONE quarter of summer funding, and that funding can ONLY be applied to the fifth summer.

Research Support Funding

Departmental funding is also available to specifically support research initiatives by courtesy of generous donors. Click on each link for more information:
 

• Norman H. Anderson Research Fund