Stanford University, known officially as Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private university located in Stanford, California. With a campus spread over 8,180 acres, it has one of the largest campuses in the United States. Founded in 1885, Stanford houses 18 interdisciplinary schools and seven academic schools where more than 17,240 students are enrolled.
While three of the schools of the university comprise 40 academic areas at the undergraduate level, four professional schools are devoted to programs at the graduate level in business, education, law, and medicine.
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International students opt to study at Stanford mainly for graduate-level courses. The university offers more than 200 graduate courses in 90 disciplines. The student registrations show that is popular for engineering courses. The acceptance rate of Stanford University for engineering programs is just above 5%.
Stanford University’s fees for students range between $50,458 and $73,841 per year based on the program. About 12% of the students of Stanford University are foreign nationals. The university has two intakes- Fall and Spring.
Stanford was ranked #3 in QS World University rankings in 2022.
Stanford has seven academic schools offering a diverse range of academic programs at various levels. A total of 550 programs are offered annually in Stanford’s Continuing Studies open to students globally and offered through a hybrid learning model consisting of on-campus and online. One of the most popular features includes the free-of-cost online programs by Stanford, with about 160 different classes being available to anyone and anywhere in the world.
Stanford offers undergraduate programs such as Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Sciences, and Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in 69 major disciplines. As per the 2021 statistics, the most popular bachelor courses that Stanford offers are economics, engineering, computer science, human biology, and management science and engineering.
International students can opt for any one of the 14 types of unique post-baccalaureate degrees in around 200 graduate programs that Stanford offers in its schools. About 34% of the total graduate student population are foreign nationals from across the globe.
The average cost of pursuing bachelor’s courses at Stanford University is around $82,000. The cost varies depending on the program type and ranges from around $36,000 to $67,000. The fees for Indian students at Stanford University are as follows:
Programs |
Total Annual Fees (USD) |
MBS Finance |
75, 113 |
MSc Data Science |
53,004 |
MBA |
75,113 |
MS Statistics |
75,742 |
MS Management Science and Engineering |
75,743 |
MSc Computer Science |
75,329 |
MS Mechanical Engineering |
56,333 |
MS Energy Resources Engineering |
70,701 |
MS Electrical Engineering |
55,146 |
MS Bioengineering |
56,333 |
MSc Computational and Mathematical Engineering |
72,796 |
MS Aeronautics and Astronautics |
56,333 |
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While studying degree courses at Stanford University, the cost of living is as follows:
Expenses |
Cost in INR |
Room & Boarding |
17,639 |
Student Fee Allowance |
2,022 |
Books & Supplies Allowance |
1,274 |
Personal Expenses Allowance |
2,230 |
Travel |
1,630 |
Application Portal: University Portal, Coalition Application, or Common Application
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For undergraduate admission, the minimum score in TOEFL (iBT) is 100 and the same is 7.0 in IELTS. At the graduate level, Stanford accepts only TOEFL exam scores. The minimum TOEFL scores that graduate students need to get in different courses are as follows:
Admission Processing Time: About three to four weeks.
Stanford University mostly offers need-based financial aid. About 5,000 students get financial aid in different forms at Stanford from internal as well as external sources. The number of scholarships available for international students is very few. In case, you want financial aid from Stanford, you need to specify it beforehand at the time of submitting your admission applications.
About 65% of students obtained financial aid, cutting their total cost of attendance. About 46% of students are granted need-based scholarships and grants. To qualify for scholarships, foreign students need to have either a Social Security number (SSN) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Foreign students are not qualified for student loans or federal assistance from US government agencies. They can, however, avail of fellowships and assistantship positions with work restrictions.
Some of the scholarships of the university are as follows.
Name of Scholarship |
Amount (USD) |
AMA Medical School Scholarships |
$10,000 |
African Service Fellowship |
$5,000 |
CAMS Scholarship Program |
$5,000 |
In Federal Work-Study (FWS) jobs, you are paid wages with federal funding, unlike conventional jobs where employers pay you wages.
The campus of Stanford University is located in the heart of the San Francisco Peninsula. The campus houses 700 buildings, 150 companies housed in the Stanford Research Park, and 140 retail stores in the Stanford Shopping Center, among others.
The university offers various housing options for undergraduate and graduate students besides their families. Students can also opt for off-campus accommodation.
For more than 11,000 students, who live on-campus, there are 81 student residences within. More than 97% of eligible undergraduates and 66% of eligible graduate students live in university-provided housing. Living options include housing for single students, couples (with or without children), and more.
Available for students are off-campus apartment complexes in different locations in order to cater to the demand for housing within the campus. Basic utilities are available like heat, water, electricity, laundry, garbage, and others in on-campus accommodations.
Type |
Cost |
Cost of On-campus housing |
$900 to $3,065 |
Cost of Off-campus housing |
$880 to $2,400 |
Available to |
Students of UG, PG, doctoral programs |
Stanford University offers a variety of career guidance options to students. Manpower companies conduct hiring activities in the university for the benefit of students. At the university, the highest paying degree is a bachelor’s which has an average annual salary of $249,000.
About 220,000 former students are members of the Stanford Alumni Association from various countries in the world. The alumni secretariat, named The Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center, offers support to existing students and acts as a link between the alumni network members and the university students.
Stanford has more than 7,700 that are externally sponsored amounts to $1.93 billion for its several research programs.
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