Stanford University
Region: Northern America
Country/Region: United States
Found Year: 1885
Address: 450 Serra Mall
Introduction

Stanford University is a research university that offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and professional degrees. Stanford includes seven schools: Business, Earth, Engergy & Environmental Sciences, Education, Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, Law and Medicine. In addition, multidisciplinary research and teaching are at the heart of university-wide initiatives on human health, the environment and sustainability, international affairs and the arts. These initiatives offer our faculty and students opportunities for collaboration across disciplines that will be key to future advances. Stanford University was founded in 1885 by former California Governor and Senator Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane, to memorialize their son, Leland Stanford Junior. Their intent was to establish a "University of high degree" that would “qualify students for personal success and direct usefulness in life and promote the public welfare by exercising an influence on behalf of humanity and civilization.” Stanford opened in 1891. Stanford is highly selective for both undergraduate and graduate students. In 2018, Stanford accepted 5 percent of undergraduate applicants and 8 percent of graduate school applicants. Stanford enrolls about 7,000 undergraduate students and over 9,000 graduate and professional school students. Students who derive pleasure from learning for its own sake thrive at Stanford. We look for distinctive students who exhibit energy, curiosity and a love of learning in their classes and lives. Academic excellence is the primary criterion for admission, and the most important credential is the transcript. We seek outstanding students who have selected a rigorous academic program and achieved distinction in a range of courses. 122 Stanford students have been Rhodes Scholars. Stanford has 2,240 members of the professoriate faculty. Fifty-three percent of the faculty have earned tenure. Faculty at Stanford are expected to be among the best teachers and researchers in their fields. Stanford faculty have won 31 Nobel Prizes since the university's founding. The faculty currently includes 17 Nobel laureates, 4 Pulitzer Prize winners, 31 MacArthur Fellows and 13 recipients of the National Medal of Science. The synthesis of teaching and research is fundamental to Stanford. All faculty do scholarly research, most often in association with graduate students or advanced undergraduates. The synthesis of teaching and research is fundamental to Stanford. All faculty do scholarly research, most often in association with graduate students or advanced undergraduates. Stanford is noted for multidisciplinary research within its schools and departments, as well as its independent laboratories, centers and institutes. There are more than 6,000 externally sponsored projects throughout the university, with the total budget for sponsored projects at $1.63 billion during 2018-19, including the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, a facility run by Stanford for the U.S. Department of Energy. Of these projects, the federal government sponsors approximately 80 percent, including SLAC. In addition, nearly $330 million in support comes from non-federal funding sources. Approximately 2,300 postdoctoral scholars are involved in research at the university. Basic research at Stanford has made possible applications from microwaves to GPS, heart transplants to gene splicing, digital sound synthesis to modern web-search algorithms. Stanford’s entrepreneurial spirit, the result of its California location and the legacy of Leland and Jane Stanford, has helped spawn more than 3,000 companies in high technology and other fields. Stanford played a key role in the creation of the high-technology region known as Silicon Valley. Among the companies started by Stanford graduates or faculty are Google, Yahoo, Hewlett-Packard, Gap, eBay, Electronic Arts, Taiwan Semiconductor, Cisco Systems, Nike, Sun Microsystems and VMware. Stanford has 19 libraries that support Stanford’s mission of teaching, learning and research. The libraries have amassed collections of books, journals, scores and printed reference works numbering more than 8.5 million physical volumes. The libraries hold 1.5 million e-books, nearly 1.5 million audiovisual materials, more than 75,000 serials, thousands of other digital resources and nearly 6 million microform holdings. Stanford also houses one of the most extensive computing environments of any university. There are more than 220,000 Stanford alumni living in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. There are alumni in 158 countries and territories worldwide. Stanford offers its students study opportunities at Stanford centers in Australia, Beijing, Berlin, Cape Town, Florence, Kyoto, Madrid, Oxford, Paris and Santiago. The Bing Stanford in Washington Program enables undergraduates to work and study through courses and internships in a residential program in the U.S. Capital. The Hopkins Marine Station allows students to live in Pacific Grove while studying marine biology. Stanford is located in California on the San Francisco Bay Peninsula, midway between San Francisco and San Jose. With more than 49 miles of roads, a 49-megawatt power plant, three separate water systems, three dams and lakes, 88 miles of water mains, a central heating and cooling plant, a high-voltage distribution system and a post office, the university is a self-sustaining community. There are more than 690 major buildings at Stanford that incorporate 14.7 million square feet. Stanford is considered one of the top universities in the United States for sustainable practices and development. Ninety-seven percent of undergraduates live on campus, as do about 66 percent of graduate students and 30 percent of faculty members.

Academic Ranking of World Universities
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Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is recognized as the precursor of global university rankings and the most trustworthy one. ARWU presents the world's top 1000 research universities annually based on transparent methodology and objective third-party data.
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2021
2
2022
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2023
Global Ranking of Academic Subjects
All Subjects
Subject
Rank
Best Ranked Subjects
Subject Rank
Political Sciences
1
Chemistry
2
Computer Science & Engineering
2
Energy Science & Engineering
2
Medical Technology
2
Statistics
2
Sociology
2
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
3
Key Statistics
16163
Total Enrollment
3883(24.0%)
International Students
6994
Undergraduate Enrollment
747(10.7%)
International Students
9169
Graduate Enrollment
3136(34.2%)
International Students
Programs
Undergraduate Programs
Aeronautics and Astronautics
African and African American Studies
American Studies
Anthropology
Archaeology
Architectural Design
Art
Asian American Studies
Atmosphere/Energy
Bioengineering
Biology
Biomechanical Engineering
Biomedical Computation
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Chicana/o Studies
Civil Engineering
Classics
Communication
Comparative Literature
Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity
Computer Science
Drama
Earth Systems
East Asian Languages
East Asian Studies
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Energy Resources Engineering
Engineering Physics
English
Engr. Geol. & Hydrogeology
Environmental Engineering
Feminist Studies
French and Italian
Geological & Environmental Sciences
Geophysics
German Studies
History
Human Biology
Iberian and Latin American Cultures
Individually Designed Major
International Relations
Jewish Studies (Individually Designed)
Linguistics
Management Science and Engineering
Material Science and Engineering
Mathematical & Computational Science
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Music
Native American Studies
Philosophy and Literature
Philosophy and Religious Studies
Physics
Political Science
Product Design
Psychology
Public Policy
Religious Studies
Science, Technology, & Society (B.A.)
Science, Technology, & Society (B.S.)
Slavic Languages and Literatures
Sociology
Symbolic Systems
Urban Studies
Graduate Programs
Aeronautics and Astronautics
African Studies
Anthropology
Applied Physics
Art History
Art Practice
Biochemistry
Bioengineering
Biology
Biomedical Informatics (M.S.)
Biomedical Informatics (Ph.D.)
Biophysics
Business
Cancer Biology
Chemical and Systems Biology
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Classics
Communication
Comparative Literature
Computational and Mathematical Engineering
Computer Science
Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education (CTE)
Developmental and Psychological Sciences (DAPS)
Developmental Biology
Documentary Film and Video
Drama
East Asian Languages and Cultures
East Asian Studies
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources
Energy Resources Engineering
English
Environmental Earth System Science
Epidemiology
Financial Mathematics
French
French and Italian
Genetics
Geological and Environmental Sciences
Geophysics
German Studies
Health Services Research
History
Human Genetics
Humanities
Iberian and Latin American Cultures
Immunology Program
International Policy Studies
Italian
Latin American Studies
Law
Learning, Design and Technology (LDT)
Linguistics
Management Science and Engineering
Master of Liberal Arts
Materials Science and Engineering
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medicine
Microbiology and Immunology
Modern Thought and Literature
Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Music
Neurosciences
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Religious Studies
Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
Slavic Languages and Literatures
Social Sciences, Humanities & Interdisciplinary Policy Studies in Education (SHIPS)
Sociology
Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP)
Statistics
Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Structural Biology
Symbolic Systems