United States of America (Stanford off-campus)
Spring 2024 Rising Bird Fellows Stipend Program
Sponsored by
Stanford Career Education
Internships, externships, and projects are great ways to apply what you are learning in class to real world environments while exploring different industries and roles, learning new skills, and making professional connections. The Rising Bird Fellows Stipend allows students who have secured a qualifying unpaid internship, externship, or project during Winter Quarter 2024 to apply for up to $2,325 in funding.
Funding Criteria:
Funding is awarded based on the length of the opportunity, weekly hours, financial need, and availability of funds. Date of application may be considered if eligible applications exceed available funds, so submit your application as early as possible.
To Apply:
Application Instructions:
- Confirm that your opportunity meets the Rising Bird Fellows requirements, and confirm the following logistical details with your supervisor: supervisor name and contact information, start and end dates, hours per week, # of weeks you will work, worksite location, and scope of planned work
- Have a copy of your resume and unofficial transcript available to attach to the application
- Rising Bird Fellows stipends can only be offered to financial aid recipients during the academic year if they have a Student Responsibility (Academic Year Job Earnings, Federal Work-Study, and/or Student Contribution) not already replaced by other aid. You will need to verify and share your remaining Student Responsibility amount which can be found on your most recent Financial Aid Notification in Axess. If you have questions, please reach out to a Financial Aid Office representative.
- Complete the application, which should take approximately 20 minutes if you have all of the needed information and documentation
- Upon completion of your portion of the Rising Bird Fellows Application, your supervisor will receive an electronic Employer Agreement. Please follow up with your supervisor to ensure they receive and complete their portion of the application as soon as possible, and no later than February 23rd 2024 as that is the application deadline. (Students are not allowed to complete the form on behalf of their employer, and applications will not be considered without the completed form.) If your supervisors responses do not align with yours you will be required to update your application and a new employer agreement will be sent.
- If we have any follow up questions to determine eligibility we will schedule a brief interview with you or reach out directly to your employer.
- If your application or employer agreement responses indicate that your opportunity is not eligible based upon the criteria below, you will receive an email with that information as soon as possible. All other applications will be reviewed and outcomes shared within two weeks of the application close date. We do not have the ability to provide outcomes or likelihood of funding prior to that time since it will be dependent upon the full pool of eligible applicants.
Application Deadline:
- Deadline for Spring Quarter 2024: Friday February 23, 2024 at 11:59p.m. PST
- Applications for Spring will not be accepted after this date
- Date of submission will be used to help prioritize applications if needed
- We are unable to provide outcomes or likelihood of funding before all applications have been received
Eligibility and Requirements:
Before you apply for the Rising Bird Fellows program, please make sure that you and your opportunity meet the following qualifications.
Student Qualifications
- You're an undergraduate student who is currently enrolled and in good academic standing
- You have already received an offer for an unpaid internship, externship, or project.
- You have not previously received over $10,000 in funding from Rising Bird, CareerEd, or BEAM Fellows
Your opportunity must...
- Be unpaid and meet unpaid internship requirements outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act from the Department of Labor.
- Take place during Spring quarter 2024 between April 1st and June 14th (funding is not available for work done outside of these dates)
- Be three (3) or more weeks in duration and between 5 and 15 hours per week
- Have a supervisor who is willing to confirm the opportunity meets the eligibility requirements, provide guidance throughout their employment, certify completion of the opportunity and provide final feedback, and who is not a family member or friend, is not a current student, and is a paid full-time employee of the organization.
- Not be a company/organization that is owned/run by you, your family or friends.
- Include professional experience and skill development opportunities that are aligned with your interests.
Ineligible Opportunities and Limitations
- Research-related opportunities: Research done on campus or at another higher education institution typically will not be considered for funding. For grants supporting research, please explore grants offered through Undergraduate Research.
- Stanford-based opportunities: A goal of the Rising Bird Fellows program is for students to explore career opportunities outside of the Stanford environment, and to begin to build a professional network. Opportunities based at Stanford may not qualify for Rising Bird Fellows Stipends.
- Student- or Volunteer-led organizations: Opportunities must include supervision by a full-time paid employee of the company/organization. Organizations that are student-led, whether by Stanford students or students from another school, or organizations that are volunteer-led are not eligible because they can not meet this requirement.
- Fees for placement/sending organizations: Rising Bird Fellows Stipends will not be issued for opportunities that require the student to pay fees (e.g. third-party placement organizations, volunteer sending organizations, etc).
- Faith-based organizations: Working with a faith-based organization may be supported by Rising Bird Fellows, but the organization must be inclusive in who they serve, non-proselytizing, and nonpartisan.
- Political-related opportunities: Rising Bird Fellows stipends cannot be used for work with political campaigns or partisan organizations, including any official party work.
- Previously funded opportunities: Students are only eligible to receive a Rising Bird Fellows stipend twice for the same organization, and the second opportunity must include unique or expanded professional experience.
If you receive a Rising Bird Fellows stipend, you will be required to complete the associated canvas course and all related assignments which may include the following:
- Pre-Internship Survey
- In-person or virtual cohort meetup
- Establishing Learning Goals
- Midpoint Update/Reflection on Learning Goals
- End of quarter Student Feedback Survey
- Share Your Story assignment, providing a short video clip or written content about your opportunity.
- If your opportunity is international, completing the International Academy Canvas course.
Check the Rising Bird Fellows Webpage for a more comprehensive list of requirements.
