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A Stanford education challenges students to take risks, to engage in dialogue across differences, and to solve problems with a curious and open mind.
Here you will find a community devoted to discovery and to the pursuit of knowledge as a shared project – one aimed not only at equipping individuals for success, but at deepening human understanding and solving the world’s challenges.
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Stanford’s first president chose as the university’s motto: “The wind of freedom blows.”
The freedoms to explore, choose a direction, and speak your mind have been hallmarks of a Stanford education from the start.
Stanford is home to outstanding teaching faculty, a robust and relevant curriculum, and a learning environment that fosters curiosity and inquiry. But it’s our collective ability to innovate across disciplines that yields a truly transformative education.
Action Lab courses pair students with nonprofits, government agencies, and industry partners to tackle real-world sustainability challenges.
In the political science class “Justice,” students investigate how collaboration shapes a pluralistic society and the challenges involved in fairly distributing benefits and burdens.
In COLLEGE 102, students drafted essays, styled as policy memos, on AI in the classroom. The winning proposal addressed the tension between AI’s capabilities and the need for critical thinking.
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Students can choose among 66 fields of study and have until the end of sophomore year to declare a major, offering ample time for intellectual exploration. Engineering students may elect to pursue an individually designed major.
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The bioengineering major and singer-songwriter researched a cure for the rare form of muscular dystrophy she was diagnosed with as a teenager.
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The science, technology, and society major and ACC champion says Stanford gave him space to grow, on and off the tennis court. After graduating, he plans to return to the professional circuit.
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At Stanford, the history and psychology double major made lifelong friendships, joined a multigenerational sisterhood, and deepened her commitment to serving her communities.
These small seminar classes, taught by esteemed educators from all seven schools, invite Stanford’s newest undergrads to get to know a discipline without having to go through survey classes or preliminary materials first.
Students study and live together in these immersive, three-week intensives, which often include hands-on learning outside the classroom. Small class sizes and destinations around the world allow for close connection with faculty and lifelong friendships with peers.
Stanford offers study abroad opportunities in Australia, Berlin, Cape Town, Florence, Hong Kong, Kyoto, Madrid, New York, Oxford, Paris, and Santiago. Also offered are faculty-led global seminars in locations worldwide. Each year, about 900 students study away on Stanford programs.
The Cardinal Quarter program, administered by the Haas Center for Public Service, connects students to public service jobs in the arts, technology, philanthropy, and more. Fellowship stipends cover living and transportation costs to ensure access for all undergraduates.
The Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education dedicates nearly $7.5 million each year to support approximately 1,200 students participating in diverse projects and programs on- and off-campus. About a third of all undergrads use VPUE funding to conduct research at some point in their time at Stanford.
The very first general education requirement at Stanford was a civics course. Learning how to live together in a complex society remains an emphasis of a Stanford education today.
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Students wrestle with contemporary debates in several courses that satisfy the Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) requirement.
For example, in Why College? Your Education and the Good Life, students examine their own decisions, identity, and values. And in Citizenship in the 21st Century, they explore what it means to participate in a self-governing community – whether a campus or a country.
These and other seminars are intimate learning communities, usually with fewer than 20 students.
Stanford’s highly collaborative intellectual community provides an unparalleled environment for graduate study and research. Many students engage in work that crosses fields, departments, and schools, including through joint degree programs.
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Graduate students (approximately)
Graduate degree programs
Distinct graduate degrees
Graduate students as percentage of Stanford’s overall enrollment
Graduate students pursuing a doctoral degree
In Stanford’s first year, 1891, 39 men and 12 women from 19 states enrolled as graduate students, representing one of the first opportunities for graduate study on the West Coast.
Today, around 10,000 students are pursuing 18 distinct postbaccalaureate degrees in about 150 graduate programs in all seven of Stanford’s schools.
Currently, graduate students constitute 57 percent of Stanford’s overall enrollment, and about half of them are pursuing a doctoral degree.
All seven schools at Stanford offer advanced degree programs. Each has its own requirements and admissions process.
Stanford offers several doctorates – the PhD, JSD, and DMA – and is consistently among the leading private U.S. universities awarding the highest number of PhDs each year.
Stanford offers three professional degrees: MBA, JD, and MD.
Stanford offers several master’s degrees, including the MS, MA, and MFA.
Knight-Hennessy Scholars is a fully endowed, multidisciplinary leadership development program for graduate students at Stanford. Scholars from around the globe receive up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at any of Stanford’s seven schools while engaging in experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders capable of taking on the world’s most difficult challenges.
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In spaces from fabrication studios to natural living laboratories, Stanford invites students to get their hands dirty in service of creativity and exploration.
Aboard the same fishing vessel Steinbeck used for his 1940 Sea of Cortez expedition, undergraduates studied science and literature while gaining a deeper appreciation for the ocean.
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Undergraduate fellows gained hands-on experience in botany and ecology at Stanford’s biological preserve this summer, making a trove of plant data available to the public and implementing and testing a wildfire management plan that reduces risk for the local community.
A Stanford field course takes students into the Bay Area’s geological past, visiting ancient beaches, landslides, and earthquake sites to examine how people are shaped by Earth’s shifting landscape.
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Stanford’s educational farm is devoted to the practice of sustainable agriculture and provides opportunities for research and teaching in ecology and engineering. Students help grow and tend more than 200 varieties of vegetables, flowers, herbs, field crops, and fruit.
In Environmental Storytelling, students learn to translate research into stories that reach beyond Stanford’s campus – starting with a farm 25 miles away in Fremont.
At the Doerr School of Sustainability, an initiative invites incoming PhD students to build meaningful social and scholarly connections through engaging events across seven departments.
A new solar-powered microgrid will meet on-site energy needs while providing students with hands-on experience.
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This 1,193-acre living laboratory in the Stanford foothills serves as an outdoor classroom where students learn ecology and natural history via expert lectures, discussions, and hands-on field experiences.
A Stanford study found that mountain lion visits to Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve triggered cascading effects on deer, smaller predators, and vegetation.
Whether captured with planes, drones, or satellites, staff and researchers at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma) have long relied on aerial imagery to enhance their understanding of landscape changes and ecological recovery.
For half a century, volunteer docents at the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma) have educated visitors, supported research, and helped steward a unique local ecosystem.
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This 11-acre coastal campus is home to a vibrant community that engages ocean-focused scholars across the globe. It also serves as an inspirational backdrop for students to experience a deep connection with the sea – many for the first time.
Stanford research finds that brief electrical pulses trigger a molecular “reboot and rebound” in sea squirts, pointing toward new strategies to mitigate age-related decline.
Stanford researchers are uncovering the journey of microplastics in our environment and their effects on human health, while developing practical solutions to mitigate their impact.
The space offers Stanford researchers the rare opportunity to study the cellular and molecular structures of marine organisms that hold clues to the evolution of life.
A diverse range of makerspaces across campus support thousands of students through classes and open working hours.
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