Funding Options

Qualifying fellowship amounts will not change during a quarter, even if minimum salary rates are updated during a quarter. The change would take effect the following quarter.

Eligibility will be determined each quarter based on the financial assistance received for that quarter. The subsidy is paid on a quarterly basis. To be eligible, aid must be entered and approved by your department by the first payroll deadline each quarter: October 15 for Autumn quarter, January 15 for Winter quarter, April 15 for Spring quarter, and July 15 for Summer quarter.

The subsidy payment will be applied to your student account as soon as the qualifying financial aid (e.g., the fellowship or assistantship appointment) is approved.  It will appear as "anticipated aid" until the start of the quarter and until you have enrolled in the appropriate level of units (typically full-time).  The subsidy may be withdrawn entirely or amounts adjusted if your financial support is withdrawn or reduced prior to the first payroll deadline each quarter (usually the third week of the quarter).

For those who have Cardinal Care charges in Summer Quarter, the subsidy may not be entered until after July 15th.

No. Graduate students will qualify for the Cardinal Care subsidy if they have either a Research or Teaching Assistantship (an CA/RA or TA appointment) or an equivalent level of fellowship.  Other student jobs on campus will not qualify the student for the Cardinal Care subsidy.

Yes, if the co-term student has reached graduate student status (i.e., earned 180 units) and meets all other eligibility requirements. Co-term students still receiving undergraduate need-based aid will not be eligible for the subsidy.

If you are enrolled in Cardinal Care during the academic year you will automatically be enrolled in Cardinal Care for Summer quarter at no additional cost (whether you are enrolled as a student in the Summer or not). Since there is no charge posted for Cardinal Care during Summer quarter, a corresponding Cardinal Care subsidy is not applied in Summer quarter.

For students who started their Cardinal Care coverage later in the year, if you do have a charge during Summer quarter you will be considered for subsidy eligibility based on the support that is entered and approved in the Graduate Financial Support system as of July 15th.

No. All graduate students enrolled in Cardinal Care and who qualify for the subsidy will automatically receive the subsidy for which they are eligible as soon as their qualifying aid has been approved. In order for the payment to be applied, you must be enrolled in at least 8 units, be enrolled in a TGR course, or have been approved for part-time status by the Registrar’s Office for the quarter (Autumn, Winter, or Spring).

If you enroll in Cardinal Care after the deadline due to a Qualifying Life Event, and you otherwise qualify for the subsidy, you may be eligible. You will need to request a review by emailing cardinalcaresubsidy@stanford.edu before the end of the quarter in question and after the Cardinal Care charge has been applied to your student account.

If you would qualify for the subsidy for Summer quarter based on your assistantship or fellowship support for Summer, but you have no health insurance charge for Summer, and there was a quarter during the same academic year when you had a charge but no subsidy, you may still be eligible to receive a subsidy. You would need to have been enrolled for that prior quarter. If all of your Cardinal Care charges from prior quarters within the same academic year were paid by subsidy, fellowship, department, or other funding sources (i.e. not paid out of pocket), you would not be eligible for an additional subsidy based on your Summer assistantship or fellowship support. To request a review for eligibility, please send an email to cardinalcaresubsidy@stanford.edu.

Yes. Graduate students receiving non-tuition stipend from outside sources equivalent to or more than $6,327 in fall quarter of the 2024-25 academic year are eligible for 100% subsidy. Graduate students receiving non-tuition stipend from outside sources equivalent to or more than $2,530.80 but less than $6,327 in fall quarter of the 2024-25 academic year are eligible for 50% subsidy. This includes direct stipend payments to students that are entered as info only aid lines in GFS. If the outside fellowship provides funding for health insurance, those funds should be used, and the subsidy would provide for any remaining health insurance charge up to the student’s maximum eligibility. The qualifying dollar amount may be updated in subsequent quarters if the university minimum salary rates for assistantships are changed.

Short answer: NO. Read on for more details. If you are enrolled in a degree program, the funding that you receive for tuition, required fees and qualified expenses for books and supplies is not considered taxable income. Stanford considers the health insurance charge to be a required fee. See IRS Publication 970, page 5, Tax Free Scholarships and Fellowship Grants for more details. However, your subsidy will be included on your 1098-T in Box 5. The 1098-T is designed to support eligibility for education tax credits, and not for reporting taxable income (although it often gets used that way). Health insurance does not count as a qualified expense for education credits (See IRS Publication 970, page 17, Expenses that Don’t Qualify, for more details.) For more information about the 1098-T visit this Student Services Center page.

Generally, no, support from one of the professional school programs does not qualify you for the University Subsidy. That support typically covers tuition first. Questions about support for the cost of Cardinal Care should be directed to your school’s financial aid office.