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.
• If you are requesting a reimbursement, you must do so within 45 days of the date you return to campus. We will not be able to reimburse any requests that come in after that 45 day period.

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: While students can apply for conferences/workshops more than once, 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. 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 45 days of the date you return to campus. We will not be able to reimburse any requests that come in after that 45 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.

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, and/or a map for mileage reimbursement. Currently, the federal mileage reimbursement rate is 65.5 cents per mile, but that is subject to change by federal guidelines. If you are requesting a reimbursement, you must do so within 45 days of the date your family leaves campus. We will not be able to reimburse any requests that come in after that 45 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.
  • Professional clothing includes blazers, button-ups, blouses, dresses, dress pants, slacks, khakis, suits, dress shoes, heels, ties, etc. 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 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 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. 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. Thrift shopping can be a more affordable option. However, these places do not usually provide a detailed receipt, and in these cases, a photo of the receipt as well as the items with the tags attached will be required. View infographic 

Summer Storage

• Up to $200 every summer between your academic years on campus. You’re welcome to apply for support every summer 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 summer 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.

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 this category throughout your Stanford career, but you can apply as many times as you need to up to that limit.
  • Requests must be submitted for expenses in the academic year within which they occur. We cannot reimburse for expenses from a previous academic year, nor can we provide funding for an expense two or three academic years out.

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