Stanford University — All Rankings Are Wrong

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Basic Information

Type Private

Geographical Reach National

Location Palo Alto, CA

Population 2,800,000

Website http://www.stanford.edu/

Weather

Comfortable Days 200 (100% 😎)

Sunshine Hours 2,972 (87%)

Days Without Precipitation 303 (93% 🏖️)

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 7,788

Men / Women 49% / 51%

From State 39%

From Region 3%

Athletes 12.3%

Racial/Ethnic

Asian 29%

White 23%

Hispanic 17%

International 13%

Mixed 10%

Black 8%

Native American 1%

Men in the Entering Class

Men

Entering Class by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of the full-time first-time degree-seeking cohort. Groups IPEDS reports separately — two or more races, and race unknown — are left out, so the lines don't sum to 100%.

Enrolled Undergraduates by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, not just the entering class. Same excluded groups as above.

IPEDS Admissions (2011–2024), Graduation Rates (2011–2024) and 12-month Enrollment (2020–2025) surveys. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Schools & Majors

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
School of Engineering	828	61% / 39%	10%	$175,839	100	95%
Aeronautics and Astronautics	17 —	94% / 6%	6%	$129,532	99	94%
Bioengineering	42 —	38% / 62%	7%	$65,531	45	80%
Biomechanical Engineering	14 —	50% / 50%	7%	$94,053	89	—
Chemical Engineering	14 —	50% / 50%	21%	$126,054	99	—
Civil Engineering	13 —	38% / 62%	8%	$109,439	96	94%
Electrical Engineering	53 +1	60% / 40%	23%	$167,867	100	87%
Engineering Physics	9 —	56% / 44%	0%	$149,161	100	—
Environmental Systems Engineering	14 —	21% / 79%	0%	$99,903	92	—
Management Science and Engineering	69 +1	62% / 38%	6%	$151,221	100	94%
Materials Science and Engineering	14 —	43% / 57%	7%	$101,304	93	—
Mechanical Engineering	57 —	65% / 35%	5%	$125,956	99	96%
Computer Science	446 —	65% / 35%	11%	$221,819	100	98%
Atmosphere and Energy	18 —	50% / 50%	6%	$75,279	68	—
Biomedical Computation	16 —	50% / 50%	6%	$80,111	76	—
Architectural Design	5 —	60% / 40%	0%	$80,116	76	—
Product Design	27 +1	52% / 48%	7%	$129,548	99	—

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
School of Humanities and Sciences	1,281	40% / 60%	9%	$90,175	86	92%
Data Science	23 —	43% / 57%	13%	$142,805	100	—
Chemistry	11 —	55% / 45%	0%	$80,215	76	—
Mathematics	82 +11	76% / 24%	16%	$141,974	100	—
Physics	24 +7	83% / 17%	17%	$96,532	90	—
Biology	71 +5	38% / 62%	7%	$68,195	52	86%
Human Biology	141 +3	19% / 81%	4%	$70,806	59	92%
Economics	112 +4	69% / 31%	17%	$133,104	99	91%
African and African American Studies	6 —	17% / 83%	0%	$39,932	2	91%
American Studies	8 —	12% / 88%	0%	$85,008	82	92%
Anthropology	7 +3	14% / 86%	14%	$68,088	52	—
Archaeology	4 —	25% / 75%	0%	$75,885	69	—
Asian American Studies	3 —	33% / 67%	0%	$39,932	2	91%
Classics	10 +1	40% / 60%	0%	$100,781	93	—
Communication	22 —	41% / 59%	0%	$152,368	100	92%
Comparative Literature	9 —	33% / 67%	33%	$67,562	50	—
Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity	28 —	25% / 75%	0%	$39,932	2	91%
East Asian Studies	1 —	0% / 100%	100%	$85,008	82	92%
English	37 +5	38% / 62%	5%	$50,486	9	86%
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies	50 —	28% / 72%	4%	$59,255	26	—
French	2 —	50% / 50%	0%	$79,116	75	—
German	3 +1	33% / 67%	33%	$79,732	75	—
Hispanic American Studies	1 —	0% / 100%	0%	$40,593	2	—
History	22 +4	32% / 68%	5%	$98,808	92	—
Iberian and Latin American Cultures	1 —	100% / 0%	0%	$72,393	62	—
International Relations	79 +3	29% / 71%	10%	$115,196	98	92%
Italian	— —	—	—	$79,404	75	—
Jewish Studies	1 —	100% / 0%	0%	$85,008	82	92%
Linguistics	11 +1	27% / 73%	18%	$78,601	74	—
Native American Studies	1 —	0% / 100%	0%	$39,932	2	91%
Philosophy	15 +1	60% / 40%	7%	$88,628	85	—
Philosophy and Religious Studies	3 —	67% / 33%	33%	$90,293	86	—
Political Science	69 +4	39% / 61%	6%	$65,545	45	91%
Psychology	142 +12	20% / 80%	7%	$71,830	61	—
Public Policy	19 +2	47% / 53%	5%	$92,157	87	—
Religious Studies	4 —	25% / 75%	50%	$71,257	60	—
Russian	1 —	0% / 100%	0%	—	—	—
Science, Technology, and Society	74 +3	47% / 53%	7%	$82,619	79	96%
Sociology	34 +2	18% / 82%	6%	$68,027	52	—
Symbolic Systems	113 —	54% / 46%	13%	$115,491	98	96%
Art History	5 +2	0% / 100%	20%	$49,490	8	—
Art Practice	10 +4	10% / 90%	20%	$51,597	10	—
Film and Media Studies	1 —	100% / 0%	0%	$48,589	7	—
Music	6 +5	83% / 17%	17%	$47,610	6	—
Theater and Performance Studies	3 +4	33% / 67%	33%	$46,000	5	—
Urban Studies	12 +2	50% / 50%	0%	$74,846	67	—

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability	44	30% / 70%	5%	$65,111	43
Energy Science and Engineering	1 —	0% / 100%	0%	$114,422	98	—
Earth Systems	36 —	31% / 69%	6%	$63,321	38	—
Geological Sciences	6 —	33% / 67%	0%	$67,285	50	—
Geophysics	1 —	0% / 100%	0%	$67,234	50	—

Financial

Tuition & Fees $70,371

ROI Percentile 99th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 98%

4-Year Graduation Rate 51%

6-Year Graduation Rate 92%

Transfer-Out Rate 1%

Six-Year Graduation Rate

Graduated

Students finishing within 150% of normal time. Each year labels the cohort that entered six years earlier — 2024 tracks the class that started in 2018.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Gender

Men Women

IPEDS reports the cohort as men and women only.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Race & Ethnicity

Asian Black Hispanic White International

Each group's completers over its own share of the entering cohort. Groups making up less than 2% of everyone this college graduated over the period are left off — their rates swing on a handful of students and read as noise.

IPEDS Graduation Rates survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Academics

⇅	%	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Humanities & Social Sciences	36.2%	780	35% / 65%	8%	$83,994	81	93%
Computer Science	21.8%	469	64% / 36%	11%	$217,944	100	98%
Engineering	14.7%	317	56% / 44%	9%	$126,950	99	91%
Life & Natural Sciences	10.6%	228	27% / 73%	5%	$70,646	58	90%
Physical Sciences & Math	8.3%	178	62% / 38%	11%	$106,441	95	—
Business & Economics	5.2%	112	69% / 31%	17%	$133,104	99	91%
Arts	3.2%	69	45% / 55%	10%	$87,423	84	—

Research R1

⇅	Research $	Rank	Federal	Industry $	PhDs	Rank	PhD students	Postdocs
Health Sciences	$854M	#8	58%	$107M	15	#112	106	999
Life & Natural Sciences	$345M	#13	72%	$7.5M	99	#19	769	662
Engineering	$164M	#26	63%	$17.1M	239	#6	1,422	426
Physical Sciences & Math	$150M	#18	67%	$11.9M	132	#6	955	339
Education	$52.0M	#6	52%	$0.2M	24	#173	—	—
Humanities & Social Sciences	$39.6M	#55	38%	$0.9M	123	#34	306	127
Computer Science	$28.4M	#35	54%	$5.8M	53	#8	386	68
Business & Economics	$3.5M	#126	38%	$0	51	#10	147	15
Agriculture & Food Science	$2.0M	#130	58%	$0.8M	3	#92	44	9
Total	$1,641M	#8	62%	$152M	739	#15	4,135	2,645

Expenditure and funding source: NSF HERD, FY2024. Degrees: IPEDS completions, 2023–24. Students and postdocs: NSF Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates, fall 2024, which covers science, engineering and selected health fields only. An em dash means the source does not report the figure, which is not the same as zero.

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes

Acceptance Rate 4%

Yield (Unbound) 80%

Restrictive Early Action Nov 1

Regular Decision Jan 5

Acceptance Rates

	In-State	Out-of-State	International
Regular Decision	4%	4%	4%

Early Action and Restrictive Early Action applicants are reported at the regular-decision rate.

Acceptance & Yield

Acceptance Yield

Applicants, Admitted & Enrolled

Applicants Admitted Enrolled

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Standardized Tests

Test Policy required

Submitted Test Scores 77%

SAT Range 1520 – 1570

SAT Math Range 770 – 800

SAT RW Range 750 – 780

SAT Composite

25th 75th

SAT Math

25th 75th

SAT Reading & Writing

25th 75th

Submitting a Test Score

Submitted

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line. Test-score submission adds SAT and ACT submitters, capped at 100% — a student can send both.