Graduate Degrees: Residency

Residency Policy for Graduate Students

Each type of graduate degree offered at Stanford (for example, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy) has a residency requirement based on the number of academic units required for the degree. These residency requirements and the maximum allowable transfer units for each degree type are listed below. Unless permission is granted by the department (for example, for fieldwork) enrolled graduate students must maintain a significant physical presence on campus throughout each quarter a student is enrolled.

The unit requirements for degrees can represent solely course work required for the degree or a combination of course work, research, and a thesis or dissertation. Academic departments and schools offering degrees may establish unit requirements that are higher than the minimum University residency requirement, but they may not have a residency requirement that is lower than the University standard. In addition to the University's residency requirement based on a minimum number of units for each degree, the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Business may establish residency requirements based on the number of quarters of full-time registration in which students are enrolled to earn a degree. However, in no case may a student earn fewer units than the University minimum for each degree.

Students eligible for Veterans Affairs educational benefits should refer to the Veterans Educational Benefits.

It is Stanford University's general policy that units are applicable toward only one degree. Units may not normally be duplicated or double-counted toward the residency requirement for more than one degree, with the exception that up to 45 units of a Stanford M.A. or M.S. degree may be applied to the residency requirement for the Ph.D., D.M.A., or Engineer degrees. Other exceptions to this general policy for specified combinations of degree types, known as Joint Degree Programs, may be approved by agreement of the Faculty Senate and the deans of the schools affected, with review by the Committee on Graduate Studies. Students pursuing a Joint Degree that includes a Ph.D. may not also count a Stanford master’s degree or transfer units towards residency for the Ph.D. degree. See Joint Degree Programs policy page for more details.

Only completed course units are counted toward the residency requirement. Courses with missing, incomplete, in progress, or failing grades do not count toward the residency requirement. Courses from which a student has formally withdrawn do not count toward the residency requirement.

Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) is available to graduate students who have met all of the conditions listed in the TGR policy page.

University Minimum Residency Requirements for Graduate Degrees

University Minimum Residency Requirements for Graduate Degrees
Degree Type	Minimum # of Units	Maximum Allowable External Transfer Units
M.A., M.S., M.F.A., M.L.A.	45	0 (see note 4)
Engineer (see note 2)	90	45
M.B.A., M.P.P. (see note 3)	90	0 (see note 4)
Ph.D., D.M.A. (see note 5)	135	45
M.D.	235	90
M.S. in Physician Assistant Studies	186 (see note 6)	0 (see note 4)
J.D.	109	45
M.L.S., L.L.M., J.S.M.	35	0 (see note 4)
J.S.D.	44	0 (see note 4,7)

1. The University has authorized the granting of the M.A.T., Ed.S., and Ed.D. degrees, but they are not being offered.

2. Up to 45 units completed at Stanford toward an M.A. or M.S. degree or accepted as transfer credit, but not both, in an Engineering discipline may be used toward the 90 unit residency requirement for the Engineer degree. At least 45 units of work at Stanford are necessary to complete the 90 residency units for the Engineer degree.

3. Enrollment in the M.P.P. degree program is limited to candidates who have earlier been accepted to another Stanford graduate degree program and to recent (within three years) Stanford graduates.

4. Students eligible for Veterans Affairs educational benefits should refer to the Veterans Benefits section of "Admissions and Financial Aid" in this bulletin.

5. Up to 45 units completed at Stanford toward an M.A. or M.S. degree or accepted as transfer credit, but not both, may be used toward the 135 unit residency requirement for the Ph.D. or D.M.A. degree. At least 90 units of work at Stanford are necessary to complete the 135 residency units for the Ph.D. or D.M.A. degree.

6. 6 units of the total are in an area of scholarly concentration.

7. Up to 35 units completed at Stanford toward a J.S.M degree may be used toward the 44-unit residency requirement for the J.S.D degree.

University Minimum Residency Requirements for Graduate Degree Combinations

Students with multiple degree programs must complete the residency requirements for all their degree types. Students enrolled in a joint degree program should see this Joint Degree Program policy page.

A table of these residency requirements is also available on the Graduate Degree Residency policy page.

University Minimum Residency Requirements for Graduate Degree Combinations
Degree/Degree Combination	Minimum # of Stanford Units Required	Maximum # of External Units Allowed	Minimum # of Residency Units Required
MA/MS/MSM	45	0*	45
MA/MS/MSM + MA/MS	90	0*	90
Engineer	45	45	90
Engineer + MA/MS	90	0*	90
Ph.D.	90	45	135
Ph.D. + Ph.D Minor	90	45	135
Ph.D. + MA/MS	135	0*	135
Ph.D. + MA/MS + Transfer credit	135	45	180
Ph.D. + 2 MA/MS	180	0*	180
Ph.D. + Engineer	180	45	225
Ph.D. + Engineer + MA/MS	225**	0*	225**
Ph.D. + Ph.D.	180	90***	270*

* Students eligible for Veterans Affairs educational benefits should refer to the "Veterans Benefits" section of this bulletin.

** Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) students should refer to the CEE program page in the Stanford Bulletin for additional information regarding residency.

*** Up to 45 quarter units of work completed outside of Stanford may be applied towards a Ph.D. via the Graduate Residency Credit petition process. Students may apply up to 45 unduplicated units towards each Ph.D. (i.e., students may not use the same external course work towards both Ph.Ds).

Graduate Residency Transfer Credit

Students pursuing an Engineer, D.M.A., or Ph.D. may apply for transfer credit for graduate work done at another institution. Students in the following programs are not eligible to request graduate residency transfer credit:

Master's degree students
Engineer candidates who also earned their master’s at Stanford
MD students
GSB-MBA students

A maximum of 45 units of graduate-level work, either from completion of a Stanford masters degree or taken at an external institution, may be applied to the Stanford requirements for the degrees of Ph.D., D.M.A., or Engineer. Students who earn a Stanford master's degree and are subsequently awarded any amount of external graduate transfer credit will have their doctoral residency requirement raised from 135 to 180 units.

The J.D. program permits 30 transfer units (2.0 terms).

Students may apply for graduate residency transfer credit following successful completion of their first enrolled quarter of graduate work at Stanford. Students enrolled at Stanford who are going to study elsewhere during their degree program should obtain prior approval of any transfer credit sought before their departure.

Please review the Graduate Residency Transfer Credit process page for information on assessment criteria, and instructions for how to request credit.

Evaluation of Credit for Students Receiving VA Educational Benefits

Liaison among the university, its students, and the various federal, state, and local agencies concerned with veterans’ educational benefits is provided by the Office of the University Registrar. All students eligible to receive veterans’ educational benefits while attending the university are urged to complete arrangements with the appropriate agency well in advance of enrollment. In addition, students are required to have their degree program approve their study lists as meeting graduation requirements before the Office of the University Registrar can certify the courses for Veterans Affairs.