What We Fund

The Stanford FLI Office Opportunity Fund provides assistance for a variety of situations students may experience. Here you can learn more about what we are able to financially support you with as a student. 

What We Fund

Family Emergency Travel

The Opportunity Fund can cover travel home during non-break times and non-University holidays when emergencies happen. We understand that this may occur more often than we may hope for, but we cannot guarantee that we can support back-to-back requests in this category. View infographic

• Up to $1,000 for domestic travel and up to $1,500 for international travel. Travel must be during periods of active enrollment from Stanford's main campus.
  • If you are requesting a reimbursement, you must do so within 30 days of the date you return to campus. We will not be able to reimburse any requests that come in after that 30 day period.
• The Resident Dean (RD) and/or RD on-call must be aware of the student's emergency situation and provide email documentation for the student's request. 
  • If the RDs are unavailable during the emergency, documentation from an Undergraduate Academic Advisor (UAD) may act as a substitute. 
  • In both cases, the RD or UAD must be aware of the emergency situation before the student travels home OR as the situation is unfolding.
  • Hospital documentation of family emergencies for health or medical reasons (i.e., family illness or accidents) must be provided to the Opportunity Fund Manager upon request.

Citizenship Fees Or Other Similar Fees

• Work Authorization Application Fee, up to $410
• Naturalization Application Fee, up to $725.
  • To process your request, we’ll need either a receipt of purchase or a screenshot of the application, both of which need to have your name on it. We unfortunately are unable to support any passport or student visa fees. However, if you need help with student visa fees, please get in touch with your financial aid counselor. View infographic

Laptop Repair / Replacement

• Up to $1,000, once during your academic career, regardless of the funding source.
  • Note: If you have received funding for a laptop from financial aid or another office on campus, even if it is approved by the FLI Office, you will not be disbursed the funds. If this is your first year on campus and you have outside scholarships or a Welcome Grant, you should work with financial aid regarding laptop support first.

However, if your laptop is stolen, a copy of the police report will be required, and if your laptop is broken/damaged, a diagnostic/assessment report will be required. Students can receive a free assessment from Lathrop. You will need to upload a copy of your Service Now ticket to your application after the assessment is complete. However, if you are unable to get an assessment report from Lathrop for whatever reason and you receive a diagnostic report from an external entity, we can reimburse you for that cost, up to $100. In both cases, you will need to also submit the FLI Office computer expense form and a receipt or a screenshot of the estimate with the taxes and fees included.

If you need a new laptop and your request does not satisfy any of the previously mentioned criteria, then you need to set up a meeting with the Opportunity Fund Manager to discuss your needs prior to submitting a request. View infographic

Medical / Dental Expenses

When students are not enrolled, typically over the summer, we are able to cover medical/dental expenses that financial aid is unable to cover. This includes, but is not limited to: clinic/emergency room visits, labs and copays, dental surgery and routine exams/cleanings, eye exams and contacts/glasses up to $500, access to mental health services, and prescription medications. If you have other medical/dental expenses that weren’t listed here, please reach out to us to discuss whether your expense is eligible for support before you make any appointments.

• During the academic year, financial aid is able to cover these expenses for the rest of the academic year after students pay the first $150.

Please complete their medical/dental expense form during the academic year. If a student reaches financial aid’s limit during the academic year, then they are eligible for support through the Opportunity Fund. Both the Opp Fund and Financial Aid are unable to cover cosmetic procedures such as laser eye surgery, braces, crowns, and plastic surgery. In order to process your request for medical/dental expenses, we will need copies of invoices, receipts, and or emails from the medical professional/office detailing the procedure and cost with the date of services. View infographic 

Conferences / Workshops

• Up to $1,000, twice during your academic career.
  • Note: We cannot financially support conferences for seniors that take place the summer after graduation.
• Conference must be academic and/or professional in nature and be a minimum of 3 days in length in order to be supported by the Opportunity Fund.
  • Note: Conferences that last only 1-2 days MUST be approved by the Opportunity Fund Manager PRIOR to travel. 
  • Note: Upon our request, students must provide documentation that they have applied for a travel grant from the conference and were denied funding. 
  • Note: Concerts, festivals, and award or pre-award shows are not conferences and will not be considered.
• Students must provide the agenda or itinerary for the conference in their application.
• ALL conference requests must be submitted a minimum of 30 days prior to the conference. 
  • Note: Whether you are requesting funding prior to the conference OR requesting reimbursement, you MUST submit your conference request 30 days before the conference takes place.
• Conference must take place in the United States of America. For safety and liability reasons the Opportunity Fund has moved away from providing financial support for conferences that take place outside of the USA.
  • Note: While students can apply for conferences/workshops twice during their academic career, students cannot submit multiple requests for the same conference, and students need to complete a previously approved conference request before submitting a new one.

We can cover expenses such as the conference/workshop registration, hotel and flight accommodations, transportation to/from campus and the airport, transportation to/from hotel and host city airport, and meals (up to $50 per day, minus any meals covered by the conference). If you are traveling to a conference with a Stanford club/organization, then the president of the club/organization needs to email or meet with us prior to any Opp Fund eligible student applying. 

In order to process your application, we will need a copy of your registration confirmation or a screenshot of the estimated cost of the conference/workshop and a link to the website for more information about the conference/workshop. If you are attending the conference/workshop in-person, then hotel registration/receipt, flight estimates/receipts with full itineraries and details, estimated costs for other transportation, and itemized meal receipts are required. If receipts are not attached to the original request, then receipts will be required upon return from the event. If you are requesting a reimbursement, you must do so within 30 days of the date you return to campus. We will not be able to reimburse any requests that come in after that 30 day period. View infographic

Family Travel

Do you have a special occasion coming up and would like family to travel to campus for that special occasion? Want to have your family come to campus for Family Weekend or Reunion Weekend? Do you have a game, recital, presentation, or other event on campus that you want your family to attend? The Opportunity Fund can help your family get to campus to see you! We can cover this one time during your academic career up to $500 for domestic travel and up to $1,000 for international travel.

• This excludes Move-in/New Student Orientation for incoming students and Graduation for seniors. Family travel must be to Palo Alto.
  • Note: Family travel can be used in any quarter that is NOT the quarter of your graduation (e.g., if you are participating in graduation in spring quarter, then you cannot request family travel in spring quarter).

To process this request, we will need a receipt or screenshot of the estimate for flights with full details including number of guests, origin, and destination of travel, and total cost with taxes and fees, hotel details including receipts or screenshots of estimates with taxes and fees. We are no longer providing funding for mileage reimbursement. However, if your loved ones are driving to campus, we can provide reimbursement for gas receipts only for to and from campus. The receipts must reflect the designated dates indicated on your application along with a screenshot of a map that includes roundtrip destination to campus and the mileage. If you are requesting a reimbursement, you must do so within 30 days of the date your family leaves campus. We will not be able to reimburse any requests that come in after that 30-day period. View infographic

Professional Clothing

• Up to $250, twice during your academic career - once during your frosh or sophomore year and once during your junior or senior year.
• Purchase must include at least three items
• A single item cannot be more than $100.
  • Professional clothing includes, but is not limited to: blazers, button-ups, blouses, collared shirts, dresses, dress pants, slacks, khakis, suits, dress shoes, heels, ties, scrubs, etc. 
  • Items that are not considered professional clothing includes, but is not limited to: crop tops, jeans, platform heels, jerseys, strapless tops, etc.
  • Note: However, this support does not extend to formal events such as balls, class formals, or other events on campus that may require a student to dress up.
• If your job necessitates that you need anything other than formal clothing, then you need to detail the job, and a meeting with the Opportunity Fund Manager may be required for approval.

If you have maxed out on your budget for financial aid (usually this occurs if you have an outside scholarship that meets your student contribution and work expectation OR you've taken out a loan that meets your student contribution and work expectation), then we won’t be able to support you with professional clothing as financial aid cannot add it into your budget once you’ve maxed out.

If you are purchasing clothing in-store, then a photo of the detailed receipt as well as pictures of each clothing item with the tags attached will be required. We understand that thrift shopping can be a more affordable option, however, the receipts are usually not detailed. In this case, specifically, please make sure each item has a visible price tag that you are able to provide a picture of prior to leaving the store.

If you are purchasing clothing online, then a detailed, itemized receipt or a screenshot of the items in a shopping cart with the date of purchase and total, including taxes and fees, is required. View infographic 

Storage (Summer or Abroad)

• Up to $200 coverage for one quarter throughout the fiscal year––either during the summer or a quarter abroad.
  • Note: You’re welcome to apply for support once every school year in your academic career.

Storage must be through a storage company or facility. No exceptions! We can assist with costs associated with the rental of the unit, insurance for your items, the lock, and transportation to/from the facility and campus (if necessary). We strongly encourage sharing the storage unit with your friends and other Stanford students to reduce your cost. If sharing, you will need to complete the storage agreement and everyone sharing the unit with you will need to sign the document, regardless of whether they are also apply for support or not.

• Note: It is highly encouraged that if you plan to share storage with one or more students that are opportunity fund eligible, that you submit your applications for support at the same time.

Only a hand signature, Adobe signature, or official digital signature (DocuSign, etc.) will be accepted. Students entering into a co-term program the following academic year are eligible to apply for support, but they must do so prior to the Opportunity Fund deadline for seniors and will need to include documentation of program enrollment in their application. View infographic

Graduate / Professional School Expenses

Whether it’s for preparing to apply to a graduate school program, attending the admitted student event for that program after being accepted, or flying out to a job interview, we’ve got you covered.

• There’s a $1,000 limit for post-graduation support throughout your Stanford career, but you can apply as many times as you need to max out the limit.
• Requests must be submitted for expenses in the academic year for which they occur. 
  • Note: We cannot reimburse expenses from a previous academic year, nor can we provide funding for an expense two or three academic years in the future.
• Financial support for seniors must be while you are still enrolled.
  • Note: The only exceptions are for exam fees (e.g., LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, GRE, etc), if the exam will take place in the summer after graduation.

For graduate admission application fees, we need a screenshot of the estimate of the fee or a receipt of purchase along with official documentation that the program does that offer a fee waiver (screenshots or documentation of conversations and/or website language confirming). For job interviews, we’ll need to see documentation from your potential employer that travel to the interview is not covered as well as the date(s) of the interview with a receipt or screenshots of the travel estimates (flights, hotels, and rideshares). For graduate admission programs, the similar proof that travel expenses are not covered, program registration, and dates of program are required in addition to the flight/travel details and receipts. Lastly, for graduate admission tests and preparation, we need proof of the registration for the exam and dates and/or receipts or invoices of the cost of registering for the exam or the test prep materials. View infographic