Knight-Hennessy Program at Stanford University

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program will annually identify a group of up to 100 high-achieving students from around the world with demonstrated leadership and civic commitment to receive full funding to pursue a wide-ranging graduate education at Stanford, with the goal of developing a new generation of global leaders. The Knight-Hennessy Scholars is the largest fully endowed scholars program in the world.

Each year up to 100 high-achieving students (50 in the first year) who are independent thinkers, display purposeful leadership, and have a civic orientation will receive full funding to pursue a graduate education at Stanford.

• Full funding includes tuition, stipend, graduate program and related academic expenses, with additional financial support available.
• Pursue any graduate degree at Stanford, from PhDs in arts, education, engineering, humanities, or social sciences to professional degrees in business, law, or medicine.
• Build skills in leadership and communication that will empower you to work across disciplines and to scale creative solutions for complex challenges.

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program is designed to build a multidisciplinary community of Stanford graduate students dedicated to finding creative solutions to the world’s greatest challenges.

As a Knight-Hennessy Scholar you will develop both the depth and range of subject expertise to confront the numerous grand challenges and opportunities of the future. You will be part of a unique community of change agents from a diverse range of backgrounds. This is a community that will support you, motivate you, and hold you accountable for achieving your goals even when the odds of success seem likely against you.

The program includes aspects of 

• Leadership Development
• Mentorship
• Experiential Learning

There are two applications: one is for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program, and the other is for your Stanford graduate degree program. 

Visit the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship Website for information about the Application Requirements.

Check out the summer online information sessions

Campus deadline to request the institutional endorsement is September 6. The institutional endorsement is entirely optional and not guaranteed. If you choose to request the endorsement please follow the instructions below.

1. Register for the Application through the Knight-Hennessy website
2. Contact your referees as soon as possible. Once they agree to write on your behalf you will register them to submit a letter using the Recommendation Registration Form. You must register your writers before you submit your application and inform them that the letters are due by the campus deadline.
3. You will upload your transcripts and a confidentiality waiver (if you do not have one on file) using the Recommendation Registration Form, please be prepared to do this when you go to complete the Recommendation Registration form.
4. Submit a PDF version of the online application, including copies of your essay, your short video and any other supplemental materials to fellowships@vassar.edu by the campus deadline. 
5. You will have an interview with the Dean of Studies which will take place in the fall after the September 6 deadline.

Candidates will also formally register those writing a letter of recommendation on their behalf through the Knight-Hennessy application. This is separate from the campus process which means your letter writer will be asked to submit their letter twice through two different systems.

For Letter Writers: Candidates should register their references through the Vassar College online application for the campus deadline. Once registered, writers will receive a link to this Letter of Recommendation Submission Form. If you haven’t received an email please follow up with the applicant to ensure that you have been registered to write on his/her behalf. You may access this form at any time through this site, however, you cannot save the information and return to the form at a later date.