Academic Programs

Overview

Academic Freedom

Stanford students enjoy a remarkable degree of academic freedom in comparison to our Ivy League peers. Our academic programs develop the knowledge you need while preserving the flexibility you may want. Consider the following:

• Stanford’s unique quarter-system calendar allows students to take advantage of dozens of additional courses not possible under a more traditional semester calendar.
• Approximately 25% of our students pursue interdisciplinary programs such as Human Biology, Earth Science, International Relations, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, or Urban Studies.
• The student to faculty ratio on campus is a virtually unrivaled and intimate 6 to 1.
• Approximately 70% of Stanford classes have fewer than 20 students.
• Each year, over 200 seminars are offered exclusively to freshmen, each capped at 16 students.
• Stanford students can pursue double-majors, add a minor, write an honors thesis, take graduate level courses, or graduate with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree (often in as little as 5 years.)
• Pre-professional advising in law, business and medicine is available. Undergraduate students can also participate in seminars taught by faculty from Stanford’s School of Law, School of Business and School of Medicine.

The Pioneering Spirit of the American West

Stanford is known internationally for its entrepreneurial culture, and the pioneering spirit of the American west pervades the intellectual climate on campus.  The reputation of Stanford’s academic enterprise is a globally powerful one.  Consider the following:

• $4 million is ear-marked annually for undergraduate research—more than at any other college or university in the U.S.
• The graduate program of the Stanford Department of Classics ranks at the top of 31 Classics programs in the United States rated by the National Research Council.
• Since the university’s founding, 26 faculty members have won the Nobel Prize. 
• Both Black Enterprise Magazine and Hispanic Magazine rank Stanford among their top 10 colleges for African-Americans and Latinas/os respectively.
• The Chronicle of Higher Education ranks Stanford among the top 10 universities in the U.S. for federal research expenditures in science and engineering.
• Stanford’s graduate programs in Business, Engineering, Education, Medicine and Law are ranked among the top 5 in the nation (U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools).