Physics at Stanford University

If you plan to study physics, take a look at what Stanford University has to offer and decide if the program is a good match for you. Get started with the following essential facts.

Stanford is located in Stanford, California and has a total student population of 15,953. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 28 students received a bachelor's degree in physics from Stanford.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Physics section at the bottom of this page.

Stanford Physics Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Physics
• Master’s Degree in Physics
• Doctorate Degree in Physics

Stanford Physics Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks physics programs across the country. The following shows how Stanford performed in these rankings.

Note: While rankings may be a good starting point when you're researching a school, they don't necessarily highlight all of a school's strengths. Don't forget to check out the other details that are available for a school to see if it has what you're looking for in a program.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The physics major at Stanford is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Physics. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Physics Master’s Degree Schools	1
	1
Best Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools	1
Best Physics Schools	1
Most Popular Physics Doctor’s Degree Schools	2
Best Value Physics Schools	69

In 2021, 16 students received their master’s degree in physics from Stanford. This makes it the #34 most popular school for physics master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 41 students who received their doctoral degrees in physics, making the school the #2 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Physics Student Demographics at Stanford

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the physics majors at Stanford University.

Stanford Physics Bachelor’s Program

Of the 28 students who earned a bachelor's degree in Physics from Stanford in 2020-2021, 75% were men and 25% were women.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 11% more racial-ethnic minorities in its physics bachelor's program than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's in physics.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	6
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	10
International Students	6
Other Races/Ethnicities	3

Stanford Physics Master’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 16 physics majors earned their master's degree from Stanford. Of these graduates, 100% were men and 0% were women.

In the physics master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 38% of degree recipients. That is 9% better than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Stanford University with a master's in physics.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	3
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	3
International Students	7
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

Stanford also has a doctoral program available in physics. In 2021, 41 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Related Majors

• Chemistry
• Geological & Earth Sciences

Careers That Physics Grads May Go Into

A degree in physics can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for CA, the home state for Stanford University.

Occupation	Jobs in CA	Average Salary in CA
High School Teachers	112,960	$80,510
Natural Sciences Managers	7,870	$168,790
Physicists	3,200	$115,970
Physics Postsecondary Professors	1,190	$138,250

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
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Pere Joan under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.