[Goose]

I looked up some facts to clarify the return policy.
 
To leave, you need to apply for an official Leave of Absence. If you leave without a LOA, or if you have a LOA but do not return after you have used up the maximum total of 8 quarters of LOA that are allowed, you will formally become a “Discontinued” student and the University is not obliged to reinstate you (you have to apply for reinstatement, and the bases for that decision are not given). A LOA requires approval by “your undergraduate Advising Director” and by the Dean of Students Office. (I do not know how restrictive those approvals are, but I would guess they have been mostly if not completely permissive). A LOA can be for up to one year, but then you can apply for an additional year (again I do not know how restrictive they are on granting these).

Thank you very much for looking up the facts. What a quaint notion :-).
I don't know how rigorously "policy" is enforced today. The cases I am familiar with (early 70s) indicate that "discontinued" students are administratively  granted reinstatement essentially routinely and immediately if the student left in good standing. You may not get reinstated exactly when you want if there is some kind of a crunch and there is no space. One of the students I know about had to go back home because his father was dying and the mother simply couldn't deal with it. He did apply for an LOA but left before it was actually granted. He was gone for an academic year and he did take a light load at the local college while he was gone. He came back, told his story and was reinstated immediately. He got to transfer some of his units without having any prior approval. That was no issue at all, except for the courses they simply wouldn't accept period. Another student had what amounted to a nervous breakdown. She left with no notice to anybody and definitely no LOA. When she returned after missing two quarters she too was immediately reinstated. The third case I know about is a bit different. The student had had significant academic problems, arguably due to a form of depression but that wasn't something Stanford cared about at the time. In any case he just left Stanford. No LOA or paperwork at all. He didn't know if he would ever be back and at the time doubted he would be. He was on academic probation at the time (end of junior year). He was gone for about 14 months. When he got his act together he applied to be reinstated. He had to jump through some hoops and have his advisor write a letter for him, but he was reinstated (but on probation still :-). All of these people graduated eventually. The idea that once you were in, you were in was pretty solid in those years. I don't know what the case is today, but I suspect it isn't much different. If you have a reasonable story they will reinstate you. Of course, you will probably lose any financial aid you previously had from Stanford, but not necessarily.

While on a LOA, you can receive transfer credit for classes at another university, but only a maximum total of 45 quarter units of transfer credit units are allowed will be credited by  Stanford degree (including any AP and IB credits and any outside credits previously transferred). As Goose pointed out, if you transfer in after 2 years elsewhere you can count 90 units, but if you started at Stanford you are allowed only up to 45 transfer credits. You must get approval from your undergraduate Advising Director to take courses while away; if approval is granted, you must submit a transfer credit form to the Registrar with the course syllabus and identify the matching Stanford course. 
 
You can try to scheme out what this might mean for various options for Canady. One year away to cash in the $ and then return for her senior year might be possible, but I’m skeptical that she’d get approval to become a full-time student at another university to play basketball, even for a year, on a LOA. Why not take those courses at Stanford? I doubt that the dean of students and the athletic department would both honor the reason for the LOA of playing for the other school! But who knows—maybe Goose has the pulse of 2024 college athletics correct?

If anything what I "know" may be very outdated. At that time the administration was very accommodating even for people who didn't follow the formal process. If you had a good reason, you were "forgiven" pretty easily. I would argue going elsewhere to make say $2.4 million would be a pretty good reason. It also probable that asking for forgiveness works at least as well as asking for permission. You can claim "I didn't know" :-). If one believes Stanford's raison d'être is to educate students, not to field sports teams then it doesn't matter at all whether you participated in athletics at another school. You have returned to finish the education you started at Stanford, and that should be considered a "good thing". It is still the 40 year decision.

I doubt Stanford would give her approval to graduate with a degree from another university—counting her Stanford credits as transfer units—after two years, then return, take 45 units at Stanford, and get a Stanford degree too. She’d have to stop short of graduating from the other university, get up to 45 units of transfer credit, and complete the required 180 units at Stanford (along with meeting the major's requirements--I saw somewhere that if you've already declared a major when applying for a LOA, you should or have to consult with the major department about what they will require of you to satisfy the major's requirements). But spending 2 years away would require getting approval to extend the LOA for a second year.

In point of fact I expect that few athletes that are eligible to graduate from their final "landing spot" will even want to return. Take the degree and move on. Undoubtedly you will take a big haircut in units even if Stanford does reinstate you. You also can only transfer 45 units (max). If you took reasonable loads at your destination you should have about 90 units. If you have any AP credits the haircut is even worse. It will cost you an extra year basically. Nobody is going to do that.

You can't transfer units that have already been used for a degree at another university. That isn't even a matter of obtaining "approval". You can't do it. You may be allowed to avoid some required courses if you already have taken them elsewhere, but you won't get to use the units.

[Goose]

I looked up some facts to clarify the return policy.
 
To leave, you need to apply for an official Leave of Absence. If you leave without a LOA, or if you have a LOA but do not return after you have used up the maximum total of 8 quarters of LOA that are allowed, you will formally become a “Discontinued” student and the University is not obliged to reinstate you (you have to apply for reinstatement, and the bases for that decision are not given). A LOA requires approval by “your undergraduate Advising Director” and by the Dean of Students Office. (I do not know how restrictive those approvals are, but I would guess they have been mostly if not completely permissive). A LOA can be for up to one year, but then you can apply for an additional year (again I do not know how restrictive they are on granting these).

Thank you very much for looking up the facts. What a quaint notion :-).
I don't know how rigorously "policy" is enforced today. The cases I am familiar with (early 70s) indicate that "discontinued" students are administratively  granted reinstatement essentially routinely and immediately if the student left in good standing. You may not get reinstated exactly when you want if there is some kind of a crunch and there is no space. One of the students I know about had to go back home because his father was dying and the mother simply couldn't deal with it. He did apply for an LOA but left before it was actually granted. He was gone for an academic year and he did take a light load at the local college while he was gone. He came back, told his story and was reinstated immediately. He got to transfer some of his units without having any prior approval. That was no issue at all, except for the courses they simply wouldn't accept period. Another student had what amounted to a nervous breakdown. She left with no notice to anybody and definitely no LOA. When she returned after missing two quarters she too was immediately reinstated. The third case I know about is a bit different. The student had had significant academic problems, arguably due to a form of depression but that wasn't something Stanford cared about at the time. In any case he just left Stanford. No LOA or paperwork at all. He didn't know if he would ever be back and at the time doubted he would be. He was on academic probation at the time (end of junior year). He was gone for about 14 months. When he got his act together he applied to be reinstated. He had to jump through some hoops and have his advisor write a letter for him, but he was reinstated (but on probation still :-). All of these people graduated eventually. The idea that once you were in, you were in was pretty solid in those years. I don't know what the case is today, but I suspect it isn't much different. If you have a reasonable story they will reinstate you. Of course, you will probably lose any financial aid you previously had from Stanford, but not necessarily.

While on a LOA, you can receive transfer credit for classes at another university, but only a maximum total of 45 quarter units of transfer credit units are allowed will be credited by  Stanford degree (including any AP and IB credits and any outside credits previously transferred). As Goose pointed out, if you transfer in after 2 years elsewhere you can count 90 units, but if you started at Stanford you are allowed only up to 45 transfer credits. You must get approval from your undergraduate Advising Director to take courses while away; if approval is granted, you must submit a transfer credit form to the Registrar with the course syllabus and identify the matching Stanford course. 
 
You can try to scheme out what this might mean for various options for Canady. One year away to cash in the $ and then return for her senior year might be possible, but I’m skeptical that she’d get approval to become a full-time student at another university to play basketball, even for a year, on a LOA. Why not take those courses at Stanford? I doubt that the dean of students and the athletic department would both honor the reason for the LOA of playing for the other school! But who knows—maybe Goose has the pulse of 2024 college athletics correct?

If anything what I "know" may be very outdated. At that time the administration was very accommodating even for people who didn't follow the formal process. If you had a good reason, you were "forgiven" pretty easily. I would argue going elsewhere to make say $2.4 million would be a pretty good reason. It also probable that asking for forgiveness works at least as well as asking for permission. You can claim "I didn't know" :-). If one believes Stanford's raison d'être is to educate students, not to field sports teams then it doesn't matter at all whether you participated in athletics at another school. You have returned to finish the education you started at Stanford, and that should be considered a "good thing". It is still the 40 year decision.

I doubt Stanford would give her approval to graduate with a degree from another university—counting her Stanford credits as transfer units—after two years, then return, take 45 units at Stanford, and get a Stanford degree too. She’d have to stop short of graduating from the other university, get up to 45 units of transfer credit, and complete the required 180 units at Stanford (along with meeting the major's requirements--I saw somewhere that if you've already declared a major when applying for a LOA, you should or have to consult with the major department about what they will require of you to satisfy the major's requirements). But spending 2 years away would require getting approval to extend the LOA for a second year.

In point of fact I expect that few athletes that are eligible to graduate from their final "landing spot" will even want to return. Take the degree and move on. Undoubtedly you will take a big haircut in units even if Stanford does reinstate you. You also can only transfer 45 units (max). If you took reasonable loads at your destination you should have about 90 units. If you have any AP credits the haircut is even worse. It will cost you an extra year basically. Nobody is going to do that.

You can't transfer units that have already been used for a degree at another university. That isn't even a matter of obtaining "approval". You can't do it. You may be allowed to avoid some required courses if you already have taken them elsewhere, but you won't get to use the units.