Stanford University Overview
Stanford University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Stanford, California. Stanford is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center.
What Is Stanford University Known For?
- Stanford has an impressive student to faculty ratio of 4 to 1.
- Students at Stanford have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 1%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Stanford.
- In 2017-2018, 99% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, Stanford bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $94,000 a year. That's about 130% more than their peers at other schools.
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Stanford University Rankings
We have ranked Stanford as #5 out of 2,587 colleges and universities in the country in our 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation! It is also ranked #4 out of 204 schools in California.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
Stanford has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Doctor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#5 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#5 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#5 | Best Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Stanford.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Stanford has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Healthcare Schools | Healthcare Degree Search |
#1 | Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Psychology Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Computer & Information Sciences Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Engineering Technologies Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Stanford University?

Contact details for Stanford are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | Stanford, CA 94305 |
Phone: | 650-723-2300 |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/stanford |
Twitter: | http://twitter.com/stanford |
How Do I Get Into Stanford?
You can apply to Stanford online at: commonapp.org/
Admission Requirements for Stanford
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | recommended |
High School Rank | neither required nor recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | recommended |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Stanford?
Approximately 48% of accepted students are men and 52% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 5%, and the acceptance rate for women is 6%.
Average Test Scores
About 72% of students accepted to Stanford submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 700 and 770. Math scores were between 720 and 800.
Can I Afford Stanford University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Stanford, approximately 7% of students took out student loans averaging $11,765 a year. That adds up to $47,060 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Stanford is 0.5%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Stanford University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 9,587 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 5,752 full-time undergraduates at Stanford, 49% are male and 51% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Stanford University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 1,403 |
Black or African American | 456 |
Hispanic or Latino | 992 |
White | 1,616 |
International Students | 649 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 636 |
Geographic Diversity
California students aren't the only ones who study at Stanford University. At this time, all 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 127 countries are represented at Stanford. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Canada.
Online Learning at Stanford University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Stanford has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 18th most popular in California for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of Stanford
The following table shows how Stanford is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Physics | #4 | #4 |
Biomedical Engineering | #13 | #13 |
Applied Mathematics | #16 | #16 |
Statistics | #19 | #19 |
Materials Engineering | #25 | #25 |
General Biology | #25 | #25 |
Chemical Engineering | #28 | #28 |
Physical Sciences | #30 | #30 |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | #43 | #43 |
Biological & Biomedical Sciences | #49 | #49 |
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering | #61 | #61 |
Computer Science | #64 | #64 |
This is the #1,689 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Stanford regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Stanford majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering | 2% |
Civil Engineering | 2% |
Computer & Information Sciences | 1% |
Computer Science | 1% |
Health Professions | 9% |
Mathematics & Statistics | 8% |
Statistics | 21% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Stanford ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Stanford.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Applied Mathematics | #10 | |
Materials Engineering | #10 | |
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering | #22 | |
Chemical Engineering | #22 | |
Statistics | #25 | |
Mechanical Engineering | #40 | |
Civil Engineering | #49 | |
Electrical Engineering | #67 | |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | #73 | |
Computer Science | #85 | |
Mathematics & Statistics | #106 | |
Engineering-Related Fields | #116 | |
Engineering | #216 | |
Engineering Technologies | #339 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Stanford University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Pere Joan under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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