The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program

• Knight-Hennessy Scholars has no restrictions based on age, college or university, field of study, or career aspiration. We encourage citizens and residents of all countries to apply. We do not require applicants to seek endorsements from colleges, universities, or other institutions.
• There are two baseline eligibility requirements.
  • First, in addition to applying to Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS), you must apply to, be accepted by, and enroll in a full-time Stanford graduate degree program including, but not limited to, DMA, JD, MA, MBA, MD, MFA, MPP, MS, or PhD programs.
  • Second, you must have earned your first U.S. bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from a college or university of recognized standing within the last seven years. For those applying this cycle to join the 2025 cohort, you must have earned your first undergraduate degree in 2018 or later. For applicants who served in the military, we extend the eligibility window by two years.

Selection criteria

1. Independence of Thought

   We seek visionary thinkers who are curious, open-minded, analytical, eager for cross-cultural perspective, and genuinely excited to boldly and creatively address our world’s important challenges.

   • Demonstrates intellectual ability and clear thinking
   • Communicates clearly based on reflection and introspection
   • Seeks out new knowledge, perspectives, and experiences
   • Makes sense of ambiguous circumstances
   • Generates ideas to solve problems

2. Purposeful Leadership

   We seek courageous leaders who are ethical, decisive, resilient, driven to achieve meaningful results, and motivated to inspire others to effect positive change at scale.

   • Achieves impactful results
   • Confronts challenges with courage, persistence, and resilience
   • Seeks to improve self and others
   • Includes and inspires others to effect change
   • Makes decisions in accordance with values

3. Civic Mindset

   We seek collaborative community members who are humble, empathetic, trustworthy, oriented to act in service of others, and deeply passionate about contributing to the greater good.

   • Demonstrates humility, kindness, integrity, and accountability
   • Makes a habit of serving and helping others
   • Thoughtful and considerate of others’ perspectives
   • Embraces difference and celebrates diverse opinions and experiences
   • Strives to make our world a better place