How Aid Works

The Parent Contribution

We use an institutional formula to calculate an expected parent contribution toward educational costs.  Our goal is to treat families equitably while still maintaining flexibility to recognize unusual situations.  When we review your family’s finances, we make allowances for:

• living expenses (based on household size)
• federal and state taxes
• unusually high medical expenses
• college costs (undergraduate) for siblings
• private school tuition and college savings for younger siblings

We also consider your family’s assets, including home equity, savings, investments and real estate, but not retirement accounts.

In cases of separation or divorce, we expect both parents to participate in paying for your education. We will compute separate contributions for your custodial and non-custodial parents.

Zero Parent Contribution for Parents with Income Below $60,000

For parents with total annual income below $60,000 and typical assets for this income range, Stanford will not expect a parent contribution toward educational costs. Students will still be expected to contribute toward their own expenses from their summer income, part-time work during the school year, and their own savings.

Tuition Charges Covered for Parents with Income Below $100,000

For parents with total annual income below $100,000 and typical assets for this income range, the expected parent contribution will be low enough to ensure that all tuition charges are covered with need-based scholarship, federal and state grants, and/or outside scholarship funds.

Families with incomes at higher levels (typically up to $200,000) may also qualify for assistance, especially if more than one family member is enrolled in college. We encourage any family concerned about the ability to pay for a Stanford education to complete the application process. If we are not able to offer need-based scholarship funds we will recommend available loan programs.