Student Financial Matters
Sources of graduate student support
For students who need additional support beyond the NLM training grant or the SGF fellowship, we list some additional sources of support below.
- The DARE doctoral fellowships are for Stanford doctoral students in their final two years of study.
- The Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowships (SIGF). For Stanford doctoral students in the first three years of doctoral studies are eligible to apply.
For general information about funding graduate studies, please review the "Funding" page from the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education.
Managing your fellowship or stipend
Direct deposit enrollment is handled through your Axess login. The Stanford Gateway to Financial Activities instructions will explain how to enroll in direct depositat Stanford.
Two Kinds of Pay for Students
1. Stipends and Fellowships
Students on fellowships (NLM, SGF) receive stipend payments at the beginning of each quarter for the entire quarter.
If you are living in campus housing, the system is set up to automatically subtract the housing fees from the stipend amount.
2. Assistantships
Students being paid on any type of assistantship (funded by the P.I.), usually a Research Assistantship or any student paid on any other type of hourly appointment that requires submission of hourly time sheets are paid on the same schedule as the staff and faculty - on the 7th and 22nd of each month.
- The I-9 form must be completed before assistantship checks can begin. See the Student Services Officer for this paperwork.
- Please note that housing and other fees are not automatically deducted from your salary.
- Your salary is taxable and taxes will be withheld as you request on the W-4 Tax Data form.
- Please make sure to update your mailing address in Axess.
Switching between the two payment systems
Example: Switching from a fellowship (SGF, NLM) to an assistantship:
If the fellowship ends after Summer Quarter, and you have an RA appointment for Fall Quarter, you will receive your Summer pay at the beginning of that quarter in June. You will not receive your first paycheck until October 22 as the Fall Quarter does not begin until October 1 (in Payroll terms), and you are paid for the first half of the month on the 22nd and for the second half of the month the following month on the 7th.
Holds
Checks and other types of payments to the student will not be issued if the student has unpaid fees from previous quarters (housing, activity fee, etc.), has not submitted the federal employment eligibility form (I-9 for employee Payroll only), federal and state tax withholding certificate, and patent agreement form (SU-18). Outstanding bills from the library, University, or Vaden Health Center will also result in holds. Holds must be cleared with the originating office before stipend checks will be issued. Please pay your housing and other miscellaneous fees.
If you owe money for tuition or health insurance and receive funding from BMI, please see Student Services Officer. If another department is responsible for your funding, please contact the appropriate department. The BMI Student Services Officer is happy to help in those situations too.
Check your account in Axess often!
Please see Student Services Officer if you need help resolving any issues.
Taxes
Some References for Tax Information
- Stanford's website with some guidelines for dealing with taxes for stipends.
- The University's website with resources for graduate students
- The Bechtel International Center (for international students)
- The Controller's Office
- There is a required form to complete for "unearned income" - IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/.
- The Student Services Officer is not permitted to give tax advice.
