Admit rate has ranged 4%–5% over the last 5 years. Source: IPEDS via Urban Institute.
Acceptance & SAT from Common Data Set / IPEDS; net price, earnings & graduation from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~1–2 years — verify with the school.
Stanford University isn't just a university—it's a Silicon Valley launchpad with a 3.9% acceptance rate, a $70K average financial aid package, and a 93% graduation rate funneling students into median earnings of $153K. Its 8,180-acre campus blends rigorous academics (top-ranked in engineering, business, and medicine) with an inclusive, if sometimes subdued, social scene where 'all-campus parties' coexist with Nobel laureate office hours.
Admission requirements
Test-optional — scores considered if submitted
Required
High school transcript
Grade point average
Letters of recommendation
Considered (not required)
Class rank
Test scores (SAT/ACT)
College-prep program
Demonstrated competencies
TOEFL (non-native English)
Source: IPEDS Admissions survey (2022) via Urban Institute. Covers formal factors only — it does not reflect essays, extracurriculars, or other holistic criteria.
More details
Undergrad enrollment
7,554
In-state tuition
$65,910
Out-of-state tuition
$65,910
Notable Alumni
30+ billionaires (including Google founders)
Acceptance Rate
3.9%
Graduation Rate
93%
Student-Faculty Ratio
6:1
Median Early-Career Salary
$153K
Average Financial Aid Package
$74,244
Outcomes & value
Outcomes & value
Median earnings (10 yr)
$124,080
Value (earnings ÷ net price)
9.0×
Median debt at graduation
$12,000
Graduation rate
92%
First-year retention
98%
Reducing loan balance (3 yr)
90%
Pell (lower-income) share
65%
First-generation share
30%
Endowment / student
$4,981,607
Financial health
2.6 / 3.0Meets the federal financial-responsibility standard
U.S. Dept. of Education Financial Responsibility Composite Score (FY2022-23). Scale −1.0 to 3.0; ≥1.5 meets the standard. Reported for private nonprofit & for-profit institutions only — public universities are state-backed and not scored, so this is a stability signal, not a ranking.
Top-earning majors
Median earnings by field of study (highest credential), ~2 years after completion.
Computer Science$136,499
Applied Mathematics$97,071
Engineering-Related Fields$92,632
Cognitive Science$92,632
Chemical Engineering$91,744
Economics$85,391
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering
Campus & location
Campus safety
On-campus violent crimes (2024)
55
Per 1,000 students
7.28
On-campus criminal offenses classed as violent (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the most recent reported year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education Campus Safety and Security (Clery Act). Counts reflect what’s reported to the school, and urban campuses often report more partly due to non-student incidents nearby — read alongside campus size and setting, not as a standalone safety verdict.
Climate
Pleasant days / yr
202
Summer high
82°F
Winter low
45°F
Annual rain
22.1"
Natural-hazard risk
Very High
Pleasant days counts days per year with a mean temperature of 55–75°F, a high at or below 90°F, a low at or above 45°F, and little precipitation — a transparent comfort measure, not a weighting we invented. Computed from Open-Meteo ERA5 daily history (2019–2023). Natural-hazard risk is the county’s composite rating from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Deep dive — research, future-scholar output & economic mobility▾
Research output
Institutional h-index
2,478
Scholarly works
526,804
Institutional research volume and impact from OpenAlex. The h-index reflects large research universities and will be low for teaching-focused liberal-arts colleges — not a measure of undergraduate quality.
Share of this school’s graduates who go on to earn research doctorates (2010–20), by national rank and per-capita yield (NSF institutional-yield ratio). A signal of a research-oriented student culture — not a causal promise, since it partly reflects who enrolls. Only top producers appear. Source: NSF NCSES, Baccalaureate Origins of U.S. Research Doctorate Recipients.
Economic mobility
Quick answers
What is the acceptance rate at Stanford University?
Stanford University's acceptance rate is approximately 4% (Stanford, CA), based on the most recent figures we compiled from public and primary sources.
What SAT score do you need for Stanford University?
Admitted students at Stanford University typically score 1510–1580 on the SAT (the middle-50% range). Scores outside this band are still admitted, especially with strong applications.
How much does Stanford University cost?
At Stanford University, the average net price (after aid) is about $13,807 per year. Actual cost varies with financial aid and residency.
How many undergraduates attend Stanford University?
Stanford University enrolls approximately 7,554 undergraduate students.
Where is Stanford University located?
Stanford University is located in Stanford, CA.
Admissions
Getting into Stanford is harder than winning a rigged lottery—just 3.9% of applicants made the cut for the Class of 2025, with that rate dipping to 3.6% more recently. The middle 50% SAT range is a jaw-dropping 1510-1570, and 95.4% of admitted students had a 4.0 GPA. Though 2.7% of enrollees squeaked in with SATs below 1400, Stanford's Restrictive Early Action program favors the prepared. The admissions office weighs 'academic excellence' (read: near-perfect stats) alongside intangible 'intellectual vitality'—a euphemism for changing the world before you're 18.
Stanford's academic ecosystem is a choose-your-own-adventure of elite programs: its School of Medicine, Graduate School of Business, and School of Engineering are all top-ranked, while interdisciplinary majors like Symbolic Systems (a CS-philosophy-psychology hybrid) attract Silicon Valley-bound polymaths. The 6:1 student-faculty ratio means undergrads routinely co-author papers with Nobel winners—one Redditor boasted of meeting 'tons of famous and important people' between seminars. Unique offerings like the Mayfield Fellows Program (a tech entrepreneurship bootcamp) exemplify Stanford's 'applied genius' ethos, where even humanities courses are engineered to 'equip students with tools to be productive.'
Earnings = median of students working ~10 years after entry; debt = median of graduates. Value divides 10-yr earnings by one year’s net price — read it as earnings per dollar of annual cost, not a full lifetime ROI; it favors lower-cost schools. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~2 years and reflect all students, not your intended major.
$84,653
Science, Technology and Society$80,779
Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (field-of-study earnings). Figures cover graduates who received federal aid and lag ~2 years; not all programs report data.
Mobility rate
2.2%
Bottom → top quintile
63%
From bottom quintile
4%
Mobility rate = the share of students who both start in the bottom household-income quintile and reach the top quintile; bottom → top is that chance conditional on starting at the bottom. Source: Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Cards (Chetty, Friedman, Saez, Turner & Yagan). Reflects 1980–82 birth cohorts, so it’s directional, not current.
The 'Farm' (Stanford's nickname) is a paradox: an 8,180-acre playground with Olympic-sized pools and sculpture gardens, yet students describe the vibe as 'quieter and more conservative' than nearby UC San Diego. Social life orbits around dorm 'theme houses' (like the environmentalist Synergy) and all-campus parties where tech billionaires might mingle with frosh. Greek life exists but doesn’t dominate—one Plexuss.com reviewer praised the 'inclusive party culture,' while a Reddit thread lamented that 'parties are mid.' With Palo Alto's downtown a 10-minute bike ride away, students split between hackathons at the d.school and $18 avocado toast at Coupa Cafe.
Stanford’s ROI is the academic equivalent of a Tesla stock IPO: 93% graduate within six years, and alumni rake in a median $153K early-career salary (per College Scorecard)—outpacing even Harvard. The Wall Street Journal ranks Stanford #1 for 'salary impact,' with graduates earning 33% above expectations. Law school grads command $85K-$225K, while undergrads typically recoup their $18K Net priceWhat a family actually pays after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the sticker price — usually far less than the published cost. within 2.2 years. The secret sauce? A Silicon Valley pipeline—10% of grads launch startups, and LinkedIn profiles flaunt stints at Google or Andreessen Horowitz before graduation.
Stanford’s sticker price ($82K+) is eye-watering, but half of undergrads pay an average Net priceWhat a family actually pays after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the sticker price — usually far less than the published cost. of $18,279 thanks to Need-based aidFinancial aid awarded based on your family's ability to pay, as measured by forms like the FAFSA, rather than on achievements.—the university covers full tuition for families earning under $150K. The average aid package? A staggering $74,244, with middle-income families snagging $52K annually. The financial aid office even throws in free laptops and winter coats for recipients. One catch: aid is need-based only (no merit scholarships), turning Stanford into a 'billionaires and beggars' ecosystem where trust-fund kids coexist with First-generation (first-gen)A student who would be the first in their immediate family to earn a four-year college degree. Many colleges consider this in context. students paying $0.
Stanford isn’t just a university—it’s a geopolitical force. Its $36B endowment funds everything from AI ethics labs to a 100% need-blind admission policy, while its alumni (including 30 billionaires) dominate tech boardrooms. The campus culture prizes 'playful ambition'—where else could a sophomore skip class to demo a self-driving car prototype, then unwind at a dorm party with a Turing Award winner? With weather that’s '72 and sunny' year-round and a mascot (the Tree) that’s literally a student in a costume, Stanford turns the ivory tower into a sandbox for the world’s most driven (and lucky) 3.9%.
