School-Based Waivers

If you do not qualify for the GRE Fee Reduction Waiver or the Diversity Program Participation Waiver, you may apply for a School-Based Waiver.

Click on the link below that corresponds to the school to which you are applying:

• Graduate School of Education
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities and Sciences*
• School of Medicine*
• Doerr School of Sustainability

*These schools offer fee waivers to doctoral applicants only. Master’s applicants are not eligible.

Not sure which school your intended graduate program is in? Visit the Explore Graduate Programs page to find out.

If your graduate program is in multiple schools, refer to the guidance below:

Graduate School of Education Waiver

Overview

The Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) is committed to increasing the diversity in the field of Education. With this commitment in mind, the GSE is able to offer a limited number of fee waivers to applicants experiencing financial hardship. Preference is given to low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented minority U.S. domestic applicants.

• You should only request a School-Based Waiver if you do not qualify for the GRE Fee Reduction Waiver or Diversity Program Participation Waiver.
• As we are paying for each request that we approve, please only submit a request if you are sure you are applying this application season.
• Note that a limited number of application fee waivers are available and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Your request for a fee waiver, whether approved or denied, does not affect the likelihood of your admission into a graduate program.

Timeline

GSE Admissions reviews and releases our School-Based Waiver decisions in rounds. Rounds for Fall 2022 will be open for applications starting in September 2022 and are scheduled as follows:

How to Apply for a Waiver

1. Start your graduate application and complete the following pages.* Save but do not submit your application.
   • Personal Background
   • Program Selection
   • Experience
   *Note: You will continue to have access to make changes to these pages after you submit your fee waiver request.
2. Open the Fee Waiver Request Form.
3. Select the School-Based Waiver option. You are asked to respond to the following supplemental question:
   • Please describe in 250 words or less why you believe you are eligible for and should receive a fee waiver. Preference is given to low-income, first generation and underrepresented minority US domestic applicants experiencing financial hardships.

You are notified via email when your request is approved or denied. If your request is approved, the fee waiver is automatically applied to your account and you are not prompted to pay the application fee to submit your graduate application.

Questions?

If you have questions about the Graduate School of Education Waiver, contact the GSE Admissions Office at gseadmissions@stanford.edu.

School of Engineering Waiver

Overview

The Stanford School of Engineering is committed to increasing the diversity of its graduate programs. Priorities are given to students from communities that may be systemically minoritized in engineering, experiencing financial hardship, qualified for federal financial aid, are first in their family to pursue an advanced degree, or are from environments with limited access to Research I university programs. Fee waivers are available for students applying to both doctoral programs and master’s programs.

• You should only request a School-Based Waiver if you do not qualify for the GRE Fee Reduction Waiver or Diversity Program Participation Waiver.
• As we are paying for each request that we approve, please only submit a request if you are sure you are applying this application season.
• Note that a limited number of application fee waivers are available and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Your request for a fee waiver, whether approved or denied, does not affect the likelihood of your admission into a graduate program.

Timeline

The deadline to receive your fee waiver request is 10 business days (two weeks) before your intended graduate program’s application deadline. We do our best to review and respond to your application within two weeks of receipt.

How to Apply for a Waiver

1. Start your graduate application and complete the following pages.* Save but do not submit your application.
   • Personal Background
   • Program Selection
   • Experience
   *Note: You will continue to have access to make changes to these pages after you submit your fee waiver request.
2. Open the Fee Waiver Request Form.
3. Select the School-Based Waiver option. You are asked to respond to the following supplemental questions:
   • In 250 words or less, please describe how your research interests and background (in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, socioeconomic status, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, disability/ability, veteran status, work, and life experiences) would demonstrate a commitment to advancing equity and the diversity (broadly defined) of students pursuing graduate studies in the School of Engineering at Stanford.
   • Please describe in 250 words or less why you believe you are eligible for and should receive a fee waiver. 

You are notified via email when your request is approved or denied. If your request is approved, the fee waiver is automatically applied to your account and you are not prompted to pay the application fee to submit your graduate application.

Questions?

If you have questions about the School of Engineering Waiver, contact futuregradengineer@stanford.edu.

School of Humanities and Sciences Waiver

Overview

The Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences is committed to increasing the diversity of doctoral programs in the Humanities & Arts, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Priority is given to low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented minority students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Fee waivers are only available for students applying to doctoral programs; master’s applicants are not eligible.

• You should only request a School-Based Waiver if you do not qualify for the GRE Fee Reduction Waiver or Diversity Program Participation Waiver.
• As we are paying for each request that we approve, please only submit a request if you are sure you are applying this application season.
• Note that a limited number of application fee waivers are available and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Your request for a fee waiver, whether approved or denied, does not affect the likelihood of your admission into a graduate program.

Timeline

The deadline to receive your fee waiver request is 10 business days (two weeks) before your intended graduate program’s application deadline. We do our best to review and respond to your application within two weeks of receipt.

How to Apply for a Waiver

1. Start your graduate application and complete the following pages.* Save but do not submit your application.
   • Personal Background
   • Program Selection
   • Academic History
   • Test Scores (if applicable)
   • Experience
   *Note: You will continue to have access to make changes to these pages after you submit your fee waiver request.
2. Open the Fee Waiver Request Form.
3. Select the School-Based Waiver option. You are asked to respond to the following supplemental questions:
   • In 250 words or less, please describe how your research interests and background (in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, socioeconomic status, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, disability/ability, veteran status, work, and life experiences) would contribute to the diversity (broadly defined) of students pursuing a PhD in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford.
   • In 250 words or less, please describe why you believe you are eligible for and should receive a fee waiver. Priority is given to students from communities that may be systemically minoritized in your academic discipline, experiencing financial hardship, qualified for federal financial aid, are first in their family to pursue an advanced degree, or are from environments with limited access to Research I university programs.

You are notified via email when your request is approved or denied. If your request is approved, the fee waiver is automatically applied to your account and you are not prompted to pay the application fee to submit your graduate application.

Questions?

If you have questions about the School of Humanities and Sciences Waiver, contact Dr. Joseph Brown at jlbrown@stanford.edu.

School of Medicine Waiver

Overview

The Stanford School of Medicine is committed to increasing the diversity of its doctoral programs. Priority is given to applicants who are members of an underrepresented population that the NIH considers to be in need of a special recruitment and retention plan in order to diversify the biomedical sciences workforce. Applicants for whom the application fee is a substantial burden to applying, including international students, are also invited to apply. Fee waivers are only available for students applying to doctoral programs; master's applicants are not eligible.

• You should only request a School-Based Waiver if you do not qualify for the GRE Fee Reduction Waiver or Diversity Program Participation Waiver.
• As we are paying for each request that we approve, please only submit a request if you are sure you are applying this application season.
• Note that a limited number of application fee waivers are available and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Your request for a fee waiver, whether approved or denied, does not affect the likelihood of your admission into a graduate program.

Timeline

We begin reviewing fee waiver requests for autumn 2023 entry on September 30, 2022. The deadline to receive your fee waiver request is Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. We do our best to review and respond to your request within two weeks of receipt.

How to Apply for a Waiver

1. Start your graduate application and complete the following pages.* Save but do not submit your application.
   • Personal Background
   • Program Selection
   • Experience
   • Diversity Statement
   *Note: You will continue to have access to make changes to these pages after you submit your fee waiver request.
2. Open the Fee Waiver Request Form.
3. Select the School-Based Waiver option. You are asked to respond to the following supplemental question:
   • Please describe in 250-500 words why you believe you are eligible for and should receive a fee waiver. Can you further expand on financial need and why this waiver would be helpful? Priority is given to students from communities that may be systemically minoritized in the Biosciences, experiencing financial hardship, qualified for federal financial aid, are first in their family to pursue an advanced degree, or are from environments with limited access to Research I university programs.

You are notified via email when your request is approved or denied. If your request is approved, the fee waiver is automatically applied to your account and you are not prompted to pay the application fee to submit your graduate application.

Questions?

If you have questions about the School of Medicine Waiver, contact oge-helpme@stanford.edu.

Doerr School of Sustainability Waiver

Overview

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is providing a set number of fee waivers to students who would like to apply to graduate programs in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and are in financial need. 

• You should only request a School-Based Waiver if you do not qualify for the GRE Fee Reduction Waiver or Diversity Program Participation Waiver.
• As we are paying for each request that we approve, please only submit a request if you are sure you are applying this application season.
• Note that a limited number of application fee waivers are available and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Your request for a fee waiver, whether approved or denied, does not affect the likelihood of your admission into a graduate program.

Timeline

The deadline to receive your fee waiver request is 10 business days (two weeks) before your intended graduate program’s application deadline. We do our best to review and respond to your application within a week of receipt.

How to Apply for a Waiver

1. Start your graduate application and complete the following pages.* Save but do not submit your application.
   • Personal Background
   • Program Selection
   • Academic History
   • Experience
   *Note: You will continue to have access to make changes to these pages after you submit your fee waiver request.
2. Open the Fee Waiver Request Form.
3. Select the School-Based Waiver option. You are asked to respond to the following supplemental questions:
   • In one paragraph, please describe how your interests and personal experiences (in terms of culture, race, gender, ethnicity, (dis)ability, socioeconomic status, work/life experience etc.) would contribute to the diversity (broadly defined) of students pursuing graduate degrees in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
   • Please describe in 250-500 words why you believe you are eligible for and should receive a fee waiver. Can you further expand on financial need and why this waiver would be helpful?

You are notified via email when your request is approved or denied. If your request is approved, the fee waiver is automatically applied to your account and you are not prompted to pay the application fee to submit your graduate application.

Questions?

If you have questions about the Doerr School of Sustainability Waiver, contact sustainability_students@stanford.edu.