University replaces diversity-based graduate program

Stanford will terminate aspects of two diversity and low-income themed graduate student programs under the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) and the School of Engineering starting as early as 2026.

These changes are due to budgetary constraints and the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, according to the VPGE and the School of Engineering.

Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education Doctoral Fellowship (EDGE), designed to increase inclusion and diversity in Stanford’s graduate program, is one of the discontinued programs. During the 2026-2027 academic year, it will be replaced by the Thrive at Stanford program (Thrive) for first year Ph.D. students.

Starting this summer, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), a program which has long provided students from traditionally-underrepresented communities with immersive research and graduate school preparation at the School of Engineering, will also terminate housing and dining support for students from institutions outside of the Bay Area. 

The new limits on SURF mean the loss of a traditional pipeline for students from other undergraduate institutions to engage in engineering research — especially for first-generation students or those from communities systematically minoritized in STEM. 

“Thrive is targeted at PhD students in their first year of studies and, like EDGE, will support them through peer mentoring and a curriculum focused on academic success and professional development,” wrote Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs Kenneth Goodson, Associate Vice Provost Chris Gonzalez Clarke Ph.D. ’13 and EDGE Associate Director Chad Coates in a message to current EDGE fellows sent in November 2025. 

Thrive is a part of a series of programs VPGE is launching called “Empowering Your Journey” to support approximately 150 first-year Ph.D. students, aiming to fill the gap these terminated programs may leave. These changes follow the University’s closure of the Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence (DARE) Doctoral Fellowship Program, which was announced last year. 

While focused on supporting graduate students, the new programs do not incorporate the theme of diversity and inclusion that their predecessors, including EDGE and DARE, did. 

“Thrive will incorporate some aspects of EDGE including peer mentorship, which our EDGE annual evaluations consistently revealed was a particularly well-regarded component of that program,” wrote Goodson in an email to The Daily. 

According to the VPGE, one of the new programs they are launching in addition to THRIVE is called “Maintaining Momentum” and is aimed to help doctoral students after they qualify for candidacy in respective departments. 

However, former EDGE and SURF participants say the key differences in the new program still have major drawbacks.

“As an international student, EDGE made Stanford feel like a safer institution to consider,” wrote an EDGE alumni who requested anonymity due to their fear of retaliation in an email to The Daily. “I am concerned that future international applicants may read the closure of programs like this as a signal that their experiences are no longer being explicitly recognized or supported.”

Marigold Gil Malinao, fifth year Ph.D. candidate, participated in SURF as an undergraduate from UCSD in 2020 when she knew almost nothing about graduate school. This experience, however, set the stage for her later graduate studies at Stanford and was “life changing,” according to Malinao.

Under the new policy, an applicant like Malinao would not be eligible to receive any financial aid from Stanford when applying for SURF. 

“As a first-generation college student, I would not have been able to travel to the Bay Area or take any opportunities that expected financial contribution from me,” said Malinao. “The SURF program appealed to me because we would be able to focus on research and learning without having to worry about travel expenses or housing, and even made a stipend in the process.” 

According to Thomas Kenny, Senior Associate Dean for Education and Student Affairs of the School of Engineering, the School of Engineering will continue to accept applications for SURF, but with enrollment limited to students from local institutions who also reside locally during the summer.

The change would reduce the cost of program operations while maintaining the main benefits of the original program within the budget constraints that “we are all facing at Stanford,” according to Kenny.

The official website of SURF has updated the abbreviation to SURF Bay Area, signifying the change in the program’s focus. While SURF Bay Area was originally meant to only admit students from the Bay Area, eligibility requirements have since been revised to include other domestic students if they are able to arrange housing and dining themselves. 

“I have trust in the wonderful community that runs the SURF program to prioritize and lift-up our underrepresented and disadvantaged students,” Malinao wrote in an email to The Daily. “However, I do feel grief when I think about the students from all around the U.S. and the world that will no longer have the ability to participate in SURF.”

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