Knight-Hennessy Scholars: Program, Funding & Deadlines

Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS) is a unique and highly selective scholarship program for students pursuing graduate degrees at Stanford University. The program fosters a model of forward-thinking leadership among participants as part of the wide-ranging graduate education they’re pursuing at Stanford. The goal is to educate a new generation of global leaders.

The program not only pays for successful applicants’ graduate degrees, it also aims to build up a community of scholars to collaborate on impactful multidisciplinary projects. Scholars participate in an extensive leadership development program alongside their degree programs, as well as attending additional KHS events.

The funding, learning, and networking opportunities offered by KHS make it a highly attractive prospect for anyone considering graduate study at Stanford. They also make it exceptionally competitive, with an acceptance rate of around 1% each year. Let’s look at some key facts about the program.

Tuition Funding & More

Knight-Hennessy scholars receive generous financial support, consisting of

• Full coverage of up to three years of tuition fees (for degrees longer than three years, the relevant graduate school covers the remaining years)
• An annual stipend to cover living and academic expenses (rent, textbooks, transportation, etc.), for three years
• A travel stipend covering one annual trip to and from Stanford (e.g., to visit family), for three years
• A one-time relocation stipend to offset costs of moving to the area and/or making technology purchases needed for the degree
• In the second and third years, potential funds for conference travel and the like, if relevant

Graduate study at Stanford can be an expensive commitment, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars when factors like housing and living expenses are included. The full funding provided by KHS covers virtually all costs, in essence giving you a free ride.

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program

While the funding may be what first attracts many applicants to KHS, there’s much more to it than money. The Knight-Hennessy program aims to foster a vibrant community, allowing scholars to network and collaborate beyond their field. Scholars participate in a variety of KHS events and projects alongside their main degree programs, which are explored below.

Denning House, described as KHS’s “convening space,” is a beautiful building on the Stanford campus, overlooking Lake Lagunita. It houses classrooms, lecture halls, meeting rooms, a lounge, and a dining room—as well as an art collection. This is the center of most activities hosted by KHS.

King Global Leadership Program

The King Global Leadership Program (KGLP) is the core of the KHS curriculum. It’s designed to complement scholars’ main graduate programs by developing their “transformational leadership capabilities.”

KGLP is structured around quarterly themes (such as civil rights or the future of education). The program consists of a variety of sessions—lectures, workshops, and so on—running throughout the year. 

Scholars are given flexibility regarding how much they engage with the program, given the demands made of Stanford graduate students. Events are typically scheduled during breakfast, lunch, or dinner to accommodate scholars’ schedules. KGLP thus supplements scholars’ other commitments rather than distracting from them.

Some key parts of KGLP include

• KHommon Ground: Weekly leadership skills development sessions held on Mondays and Wednesdays, improving participants’ storytelling, communication, and other leadership skills
• Keynote events: A variety of special events on Thursday evenings, including the KHS Town Hall, McMurtry Leadership Lectures, Ideas Festival, and Spring Showcase
• Elective events: A variety of events scholars may choose to participate in, including Curiosity Corner, where experts share their insights interactively, and Case Studies examining real-world leadership issues

KHeystone Projects

A unique opportunity afforded to scholars is participation in KHeystone Projects. These are yearlong collaborative projects proposed and led by the scholars themselves to address key global or regional challenges.

At the Ideas Festival held each year in the fall, scholars can pitch their ideas for KHeystone Projects and form teams with scholars from other fields. Projects can be closely aligned with the scholar’s field of study or completely unrelated.

Project teams are then supported by KHS throughout the year with mentorship, funding, and workshops as they develop and implement their ideas. At the KHeystone Project Showcase in the spring, teams present their activities and what they learned from the experience. Some projects continue beyond this and develop into commercial or nonprofit ventures.

Projects from current scholars and recent alumni that are still ongoing include

• Stanford Housing Equity Project: A student-led project connecting Stanford resources with Bay Area community partners to provide housing and health equity resources and combat homelessness.
• Myna (aka Myna Mahila Foundation): A social enterprise aiming to empower women in India through improved access to healthcare, information, and economic opportunities.
• Skywalk: A cutting-edge AI and prosthetics project aiming to develop a wearable interface for AI.

Guest Speakers

KHS also brings in a range of high-profile guest speakers to address special topics throughout the year, giving scholars exceptionally direct access to expert perspectives. Past speakers have included

• Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, education activist
• Melinda Gates, philanthropist, cofounder of Gates Foundation
• Condoleeza Rice, former Secretary of State
• Ken Burns, acclaimed documentary filmmaker
• Al Gore, former Vice President
• Susan Wojicki, CEO of YouTube
• Fareed Zakaria, CNN host, journalist, political commentator
• Phil Knight, cofounder of Nike, philanthropist, cofounder of KHS

Retreats & Global Travel/Study Program

KHS also hosts retreats in the Stanford area to foster a sense of community among scholars. These retreats can involve talks and social activities. Each year, there’s an introductory Autumn Retreat attended only by first-year scholars and a Spring Retreat attended by all scholars.

Additionally, the KHS Global Travel/Study Program takes groups of scholars on weeklong trips, led by Stanford faculty, to destinations across the globe to experience different cultures. Trips are organized in the winter and summer breaks. Each scholar may participate in one such trip during their time in the program

Eligibility Requirements & Evaluation Criteria

To be eligible for KHS, you must already have an undergraduate degree—or, if you’re still in college, be on track to earn your degree before the start of the KHS program you’re applying for.

Your degree must also be recent enough—for the 2026 KHS program, you need to have earned your undergrad degree no earlier than January 2019. This requirement is looser for military applicants—in their case, no earlier than January 2017.

You must, of course, also apply for a Stanford graduate degree program—for instance, the Stanford MBA, JD, or PhD. Undergraduate degrees are not included in the program.

KHS also states that the following graduate degrees are not eligible:

• Honors Cooperative Program
• Master of Liberal Arts
• Doctor of Science of Law (JSD)
• Master of Legal Studies (MLS)

You don’t need to have been accepted for, or enrolled in, your chosen program before applying for KHS—generally, you’ll apply for both the program and the scholarship concurrently.

Bear in mind that these are two separate applications with different requirements; be prepared to put extra work into the KHS application alongside your degree application! You’ll only move forward in the KHS selection process if you have been accepted, or are likely to be accepted, for your specific program—far from easy in itself!

The criteria stated by KHS for their evaluation of candidates consist of three key values:

1. Independence of thought: Curiosity, open-mindedness, analytical thinking
2. Purposeful leadership: Resilience, decisiveness, ethics, demonstrated leadership experience
3. Civic mindset: Empathy, humility, prosocial goals, civic commitment

Application Process & Deadlines

In order to have a shot at becoming a Knight-Hennessy scholar, you need to get through the program’s highly selective application process. Admission to KHS depends on successfully making it through several stages of selection.

A summary of the key stages, deadlines, and decision dates is shown in the table below. Make sure you check how this timeline matches up with your main Stanford application, which you’ll have to complete at the same time.

Stage 1: Online Application	You must submit your online application by October 8, 2025. This includes the application form and your resume, transcripts, standardized test scores, recommendation letters, and essay responses.
Stage 2: Invitation-Only	Invitations to submit a video statement will be sent out on a rolling basis during January 2026 to up to 500 applicants. If you’re invited, the deadline for submitting your statement will be 5–10 days after the invitation.
Stage 3: Finalists	On January 28, you’ll be notified if you’re a finalist. Finalists will participate in a remote interview (conducted via Zoom) in mid-February and must attend the Immersion Weekend (which includes a group interview) on campus on March 6–7.
Final Decision	Finally, candidates who are selected as scholars will be notified on March 17!

The History & Mission of Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Knight-Hennessy Scholars was founded in 2016 by Phil Knight and John Hennessy:

• Phil Knight is known for cofounding Nike and for his extensive philanthropic work. Back in 1962, he earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB).
• John Hennessy is Chairman of Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company). He served as President of Stanford University from 2000 to 2016 and as Director of KHS since its inception.

Other major benefactors included Dorothy and Robert King (hence the King Global Leadership Program) and Roberta and Steven Denning (hence Denning House). The founding gifts from all benefactors totaled more than $750 million, making KHS the world’s biggest fully endowed, university-wide graduate fellowship program.

The program enrolled its first cohort, consisting of 51 scholars, in 2018. Cohort size has risen slightly since then—it was 84 in 2025.

The stated mission of KHS is to prepare scholars for leadership roles in a wide variety of fields: government, industry, academia, and so on. The approach taken to leadership is intended to be multidisciplinary and multicultural, fostering dialogue among scholars coming from a wide variety of backgrounds and fields of study.

Hennessy describes the long-term goal of KHS as “a global community … that can work together towards a better world.” The three values said to define KHS are independence of thought, purposeful leadership, and civic mindset.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars Useful Links

Admissions Info	Before You Apply Preparing Your Applications After You Apply FAQs About Admissions
How to Apply	Application Portal Admissions Events
Learn About KHS	About KHS About Denning House KHS News KHS Video Resources
Learn About Stanford	Stanford GSB Stanford Law School Campus Life

Considering Stanford Graduate Study?

Are you considering Stanford University for your graduate degree and wondering about your chances of acceptance—to the degree program itself, and to the even more exclusive KHS program?

If you’re considering a Stanford MBA or JD, we strongly encourage you to reach out for a free consultation with one of our elite MBA admissions consultants or law school admissions consultants, who can carefully review your profile, help you evaluate your chances, and figure out strategies to maximize them.