Skip to main content
Stanford Biosciences
Stanford graduate students

Support for Students

Financial support

All Biosciences PhD students in good standing receive a competitive stipend, as well as tuition and health insurance. You should expect to pay taxes, housing and other living expenses from your stipend. Stanford has an estimated Student Budget that you can access here.

Support for Challenging Financial Situations

  • Emergency Grant-In-Aid: The grant offers up to $5,000 per academic year or up to $1,000 in one-time computer-related expenses. Eligible expenses include unanticipated or unusual expenses (medical, dental, legal, or other) outside of the typical student budget that may hinder the student’s academic progress.  These awards are not a loan and do not need to be repaid but are considered taxable income.
  • Graduate Family Grant: The Graduate Family Grant will provide up to $20,000 per year per family to eligible graduate students with dependent children. Funds may be used flexibly as needed to cover expenses such as childcare, healthcare, and rent. Awards will be disbursed via the student’s account and are considered taxable income. 
  • Graduate Student Aid Fund: This fund assists graduate students with health related University fees such as the Campus Health Service Fee and Cardinal Care Insurance premiums when those expenses create a significant financial hardship. The Graduate Student Aid Fund offers no more than the amount of the Campus Health Service Fee and Cardinal Care Insurance per quarter of enrollment or up to $4,000 toward the cost of health insurance for a spouse through Vaden’s dependent insurance plan. 
  • Cash Advance: Graduate students can request an advance of $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, or $4,000 per term to receive some of their quarterly stipend funds before the stipend is paid. This does not provide students with additional funds but rather advances their next paycheck. 
  • Graduate Housing Loan: Graduate and professional students who will be living off-campus may apply for loan funds to help with move-in costs, such as first and last month’s rent and security deposit. The minimum loan amount is $500 and maximum loan amount is $6,000 (lifetime limit). Loan funds are provided by Stanford. 
  • Biosciences Hardship Program: Doctoral students who meet eligibility criteria may apply for a one-time grant and, pending review, may receive up to $5,000 per household per year.

Additional Resources:

  • Biosciences Travel Grant: Funds provided to Biosciences PhD students to support conference travel including registration, flights, food, and/or lodging, up to $1000 per academic year. Student must be in good standing and be presenting a research paper or poster in order to apply.
  • Stanford Food Pantry Pop-Up: Stanford R&DE hosts monthly pop-up food pantries for undergraduate and graduate students and their affiliates who need additional food support. Each student household is eligible to receive produce, dairy, meat or poultry and non-perishable items at no cost. 
  • Caltrain GoPass: For students living off campus who meet eligibility criteria, the Stanford Department of Transportation provides a free GoPass, enabling free unlimited travel across all zones. 


Healthcare

Medical

Stanford provides Cardinal Care health insurance to students through Aetna. Biosciences students are automatically enrolled in Cardinal Care, and premiums are already paid for when you receive your annual stipend. All Biosciences students supported on research and teaching assistantships (at 25% level or higher) or fellowships receive a 100% subsidy for Cardinal Care. If you prefer to use an alternative health insurance, you can opt to waive Cardinal Care coverage at the start of each academic year (Fall quarter). 

  • Inpatient care at Stanford hospital is 100% covered by Cardinal Care after a $100 annual deductible and a $500 copay per admission. 
  • For routine non-emergency medical visits (e.g., seeing a general practitioner, getting care for a cold, lab tests, or refilling a prescription), students can access the on-campus Vaden clinic. Typically, there is no copay for doctor visits or lab tests at Vaden. 
  • Prescriptions can be placed and picked at the Walgreens at Vaden. Most medication copays are $20 or less.
  • Vaden offers a free “medical advice nurse” hotline, which does not require appointment. During business hours, students may call the hotline for rapid feedback on a health concern from a healthcare professional. 
  • To see a specialist outside of Vaden, you need a referral from Vaden. The copay is usually around $35. 

Dental

  • There is no dentist on campus, but there are many dental practices within walking or biking distance from campus. 
  • Stanford offers graduate students the Aetna PPO Dental plan as part of Cardinal Care. Many dentists in Palo Alto and the surrounding area take Aetna PPO, which covers basic dental procedures and may sometimes require a copay for treatments. Students should confirm coverage with their dentist before receiving treatment. 

Mental Health

Stanford provides on-campus services to students through Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS). The School of Medicine offers its own Mental Health Team (MHT) within CAPS staffed by four licensed therapists and one psychiatrist that are specifically geared towards MD, MSPA, BioSci MS, and BioSci PhD students, regardless of insurance coverage. 

  • MHT offers counseling and psychiatric services free of charge to actively enrolled Biosciences students. Services include therapy, psychiatric care, groups and workshops, evening hour appointments for MD/MSPA clerkship students, and same-week appointments. 
  • The Biosciences Mental Health Support Program provides financial support for mental health-related copays. This program offers up to $1,000 (subject to availability) per academic year to doctoral scholars who meet eligibility criteria. 

Outside the SoM-specific CAPS services, general CAPS services include the following: 

  • Free 1-on-1 appointments with a psychologist
  • Walk-in appointments, emergency appointments, and a phone hotline for students in need
  • Group therapy and workshops with different themes
  • CAPS services are generally designed to be short-term; most treatment plans range from one quarter to one academic year
  • Most students wishing to receive ongoing or long-term care will work with CAPS to locate an off-campus provider. 

Other Resources

Stanford Biosciences students have access to a wide array of services and support.

When students have questions or concerns, the first resources for help are typically the administrators and faculty of their Home Program. Students also should never hesitate to contact any of us in the Office of Graduate Education.

For further details on support for students, see the Graduate Life Office’s student resources and university-wide student resources and support.