Stanford University

Stanford University is a private, nonprofit school located in the suburban setting of Stanford, CA, less than an hour from San Francisco, San Jose.

Founded in 1891, the institution currently enrolls around 15,961 students a year, including 6,366 undergrads. The institution runs on a quarter academic calendar.

For each full-time student, Stanford spends about $104,781.

Admissions Facts About Stanford

Acceptance rate: 5%

Average GPA: 3.96

Early Decision or Early Action: No/Yes

2022 Regular Decision Deadline: January 2

2022 Regular Decision Notification Date: April 1

Stanford Acceptance Rate 2021

It is extremely difficult to get into Stanford University. The acceptance rate at Stanford is 5 percent.

The average high school GPA for a student at Stanford is 3.96 /4.0.

In 2021, 850 applicants were waitlisted and 259 students were ultimating offered a spot off the waitlist.

Is Stanford a good school?

Different people have different ideas about what makes a "good" school. Acceptance rate and average GPA are good indicators of how competitive an institution is, but they don't say much about the quality of the education or the student experience. There are a few statistics that can give you a good idea of how satisfied students are and how well a school supports its students.

Retention, graduation, and job placement statistics all give valuable information about the quality of the student experience, before and after graduation.

Retention and graduation rates

Out of all the first-year, full-time undergrads who start at Stanford, around 86 percent return for their sophomore year. Out of the 1,677 students who started at Stanford as first-time freshman, 1,241 graduate within four years.

Around 95 percent of students who started at Stanford earn their Bachelor's degrees within six years. The average six-year graduation rate for U.S. colleges and universities is 61 percent for public schools, and 67 percent for private, non-profit schools.

Job outcomes and student debt

Job placement rates after graduation, average starting salaries, and the debt students graduate with can all give important clues about the value of a degree from a specific school. Within six months of graduating, 50 percent of graduates receive at least one full-time job offer.

The average starting salary for recent grads is $78,000 a year. Students in the class of 2021 who had taken out student loans graduated with an average of $24,337 of debt. For context, compare this number with the average national debt, which is around $36,000 per borrower.

Based on this information, how does Stanford sound? Remember, a school that is perfect for one person may be a terrible fit for another! So the real question to ask yourself: is Stanford a good school for YOU?

Interested in applying to Stanford University?

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January 1 is the final deadline to submit an application for next Fall. All applicants will receive an admissions decision by April 1.

Read on to find out more about the admissions requirements and deadlines, student life, academics and majors and more. You can also see what others are saying about Stanford in the College Confidential forums and get personalized recommendations for more schools that might be a good fit for you.