Information on this page

• Overview
• General Information
• The Residences
• Accessibility
• Furnishings
• Floor Plan
• Common Areas

Overview

Known as “grad student heaven,” Schwab Residential Center is a short walk from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. First-year MBA, PhD, and Sloan students have priority for 200 apartments in this small three- and four-story complex. Additional spaces are reserved for other Stanford graduate students and participants in executive education programs.

Schwab provides each resident with a handsomely-furnished private living area and bath, plus a kitchen shared with one other student. Residents also share access to beautiful open courtyards, comfortable lounges, a computer cluster, exercise facility, and study rooms.

“Mind you, there was a certain bonding among [Stanford executive education] participants when they arrived at their dormitory and received desk fans to ward off the summer heat [and] directions to the appropriate rest room down the hall. Think boot camp.” - Stanford Business magazine, December 1997

Prior to the Schwab Residential Center opening in 1997, housing for students enrolled in Stanford's executive education program (established in 1952) was limited to summer housing in a vintage 1933 residence hall.

When executive education programs began booming in the early 1990s, Stanford seized the opportunity to build a center that would be part residence and part study areas for individuals and group work.

Named for lead donors Charles Schwab, MBA ‘61, and his wife, Helen, Schwab was designed by Ricardo Legorreta, a Mexican architect with an international reputation. “The genius of the building,” said then-president Gerhard Casper, “is that it has been designed to complement the campus and at the same time makes bold, original statements.”

Legorreta based his design on the traditional hacienda but with a belief that “People should sense spirituality, happiness, peace, love, mystery, optimism, surprise, and humor in their everyday use of a building.”

Steeped in Hispanic tradition, humor and drama, Schwab includes a courtyard planted with sandstone pillars from the University’s original quad; a square, pueblo-style window that frames an unexpected view of Hoover Tower; and a hallway whose barrel-vaulted ceiling is painted saffron yellow.

General Information

The Residences

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Seating Area and Desk		Kitchen
Bedroom		Bathroom

Accessibility

Furnishings

Note: Purchase bed linens for full extra-long beds (54″ x 80″). Two students share the kitchen. Students provide their own cookware, dishes, utensils, towels, and other kitchen items.

Sample Floor Plans

While Schwab suites accommodate two students, they provide a private entrance, living area, and bath for each student. The shared kitchen has locking doors for added privacy.

Top View

Common Areas