Residential Programs

Founded in 1999, FroSoCo has no course requirements. However, we do attract intellectually intense students looking for an environment where their passions will be shared by other students. FroSoCo consists of approximately 100 freshmen and 60 sophomores living in two adjoining houses with rooms for freshmen and sophomores interspersed on all floors. Admission is by application and once admitted students can opt to stay for their sophomore year. In addition to the wide range of workshops and tutorials provided by our large staff, our sophomores lead mini-seminars on a diverse array of subjects exclusively for our residents. The College brings in distinguished professors, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and artists to meet with the students and have dinner with them at the Dean's residence.

Structured Liberal Education (SLE) is among Stanford’s longest-running programs designed especially for freshmen. Since 1974 it has served as the liberal arts college within the research university: an integrated program in humanities classics (literature, philosophy, and the arts) and writing instruction in which the 90 students live together in the three houses of East Florence Moore Hall. All components of the course take place in the residence: lectures, discussion sections, film screenings, and special events (SLE Salons). The thrice-weekly lectures by distinguished humanities faculty from across the University introduce students to scores of scholars with whom they might like to do further study in sophomore through senior year.

ITALIC is a residence-based program built around a series of big questions about the historical, critical and practical purposes of art and its unique capacities for intellectual creativity. This year-long program fosters close exchanges among faculty, students and guest artists in class, over meals and during excursions to arts events. All lectures, sections, arts workshops and guest talks, and student creative projects take place in a cluster of on-site seminar and practice rooms. Through a series of close readings and analyses of canonical works of theater, film, dance, music and visual arts as well as street art, comics, and popular culture, freshmen live and learn together in Burbank Hall.