College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Stanford University

CAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #28 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Return ranked #3 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Stanford University is a private nonprofit university in California whose degree mix is led by Social Sciences, Computer & Information Sciences, and Engineering. Return is among the highest we track.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes more of that to what it cannot explain than to the factors it measures. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study.

At the bottom of the income scale, aid can exceed the published cost entirely. Pell students complete within a few points of the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and access is well above average.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools. The largest program is also the best-paid one.

Stanford University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
3.6%
Six-year completion[2]
91.9%
Four-year earnings[3]
$136,959

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$3,212
Median student debt[4]
$12,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$38,333

Stanford University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Stanford University is a private nonprofit university in Stanford, California, enrolling 7,554 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the very top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (98th percentile).

The university's strongest pillar is return, and its weakest is access, with mobility and affordability falling between them. The university admits 3.6% of applicants, a rate far below the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Of students who start full time, 98.2% return for a second year and 91.9% finish within six years. Both figures run well above the peer medians of 83.4% and 68.8%.

An estimated 3.2% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes the experience of the large majority who begin here. The four pillars sit far apart.

Return is the strongest, access is the weakest, and mobility and affordability fall between them. The shape is a highly selective private university where the earnings picture is the headline, and the financial-access measures sit lower than the return pillar.

Azimuth ranks Stanford University #28 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The university's strongest pillar is return, in the 99th percentile, while access is the weakest, in the 86th percentile.

The mobility pillar sits in the 90th percentile and affordability in the 89th percentile.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 1,510 and 1,580, and the middle 50% of submitted ACT scores fell between 34 and 35. 19.2% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.

Azimuth ranks Stanford University #212 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients complete at 87.6%, a rate that sits 4.3 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (91.9%).

Azimuth ranks the university #149 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $40,186 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Stanford University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#28
California#14
West#16

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 90
Access & reach
National percentile: 86
Affordability
National percentile: 89
Return on investment
National percentile: 99

Top-ranked majors

  1. Engineering, Other#1
  2. Cognitive Science#2
  3. Human Biology#2

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Stanford University briefing

Stanford University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Stanford University publishes a cost of attendance of $87,833, with tuition and fees at $65,910 and room and board at $21,315. For the average aid recipient, the net price falls to $13,807—a savings of $74,026 against the sticker total.

That runs below the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $13,564. Azimuth ranks Stanford University #162 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is -$2,536, meaning aid typically exceeds the full cost of attendance for qualifying students in that band.

Stanford University publishes a cost of attendance of $87,833, with tuition and fees at $65,910 and room and board at $21,315. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is -$2,536, meaning aid exceeds the full cost for qualifying families.

The average net price is $3,212 for the $48,001–$75,000 band and $53,882 for families earning over $110,000, a spread of $56,418 between the lowest and highest bands. Azimuth ranks the university #162 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 84% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $74,026 against the sticker price. Across all aid recipients, the average net price is $13,807, which sits below the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $13,564.

Among students who borrow federal loans, the median federal student debt at completion is $12,000. About 45.0% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and the median debt runs below the peer median of $24,199 by $12,199.

For parents who borrow through Parent PLUS, the median amount is $38,333. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $136 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$3,212

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Net price can be negative: when grants and scholarships exceed the listed cost of attendance, students can receive the difference as a refund for other expenses.

Borrowing and repayment at Stanford University

Borrowers who complete a degree at Stanford University leave with a median of $12,000 in federal student loans. That is $12,199 below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

45.0% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program hold a separate median of $38,333.

Graduates of Stanford University earn about $40,186 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that places the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings four years after completion reach $136,959, which sits in the 99th percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix point to a typical outcome of $136,959. A downside scenario, reflecting lower-earning program clusters, lands at $54,490, while an upside scenario reaches $183,471.

For those who borrow, the median federal student debt at completion is $12,000, a figure that is below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). The estimated monthly payment if repaid over ten years is $136.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $38,333. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $136.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$12,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$38,333

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$136/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$487/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Stanford University briefing

Stanford University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $136,959, at the 99th percentile nationally. That is $68,709 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $40,186 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 99th percentile.

Azimuth places the university in the 99th percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $9,357.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $30,829. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $6,902.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of Stanford University graduates reach $136,959, a figure drawn from 1,096 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That places the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $40,186 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 99th percentile nationally. The university's program mix yields a wide range of earnings scenarios: a typical outcome of $136,959, a downside scenario of $54,490, and an upside scenario of $183,471.

An estimated 32.9% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a share derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Four years after completion, Stanford University graduates earn a median of $136,959, placing the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs above the median of $68,250 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $68,709.

Graduates earn about $40,186 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 99th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,357.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $30,829. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $6,902.

Azimuth ranks the university #3 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $54,490 and an upside of $183,471.

The largest program, Computer Science, awarded 277 degrees and shows median earnings of $214,907 four years after completion, which is 2.01x the national median for the field. Human Biology follows with 114 degrees awarded and median earnings of $81,529.

Cognitive Science graduates earn a median of $131,650 on 64 degrees awarded, and Mechanical Engineering reaches $117,072 on 49 degrees awarded.

The earnings scenarios for Stanford University span a wide range, from a downside of $54,490 to an upside of $183,471 four years after completion. That spread reflects the variation across the university's 10 fields with published earnings data.

The highest-earning programs anchor the upper end of the range. Computer Science completers earn a median of $214,907, and Cognitive Science graduates reach $131,650.

Mechanical Engineering completers earn a median of $117,072, rounding out the top three fields.

Graduates of Stanford University earn about $40,186 more than the model expects for similar students, and the median federal debt for borrowers who finish is $12,000. That is $12,199 below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $136 a month. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $13,807.

That is $13,564 below the $27,371 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Aid covers about 84% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, but this is an average rather than a personal quote.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $38,333 in Parent PLUS loans. The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $56,418, so the price a family sees depends heavily on where they sit in the income scale.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$9,357
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$30,829
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$40,186

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Stanford University briefing

Stanford University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Stanford University admitted 3.6% of its applicants, well below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 60,646 applicants, 2,302 admitted students, and 1,839 enrolled first-year students.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
3.6%
Approximate lower endpoint
1510
Reported average
1553
Approximate upper endpoint
1580

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Stanford University briefing

What are the largest majors at Stanford University?[12]

At Stanford University, the largest program also has the highest median earnings four years after completion. Computer Science is the largest program, with 277 degrees awarded and median earnings of $214,907 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #4 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Human Biology awards 114 degrees and its graduates earn $81,529, a more moderate figure.

Azimuth ranks it #2 nationally. Economics and Engineering sit between the two, with 108 and 91 degrees awarded and earnings of $112,700 and $115,206, respectively. Azimuth ranks Economics #34 and Engineering #1 nationally.

Stanford University has 5 nationally ranked bachelor's programs among nonprofit four-year institutions. The five largest programs all report median earnings above the national median for their fields.

Computer Science is the largest, with 277 degrees awarded and median earnings of $214,907 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks it #4 nationally.

Human Biology follows at 114 degrees awarded and median earnings of $81,529, ranked #2 nationally. Engineering and Cognitive Science complete the top five, with Engineering ranked #1 nationally and Cognitive Science ranked #2.

Stanford University awards degrees across 5 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 10 with published four-year earnings data. The degree mix is led by Social Sciences, which accounts for 16.8% of bachelor's degrees awarded, closely followed by Computer & Information Sciences at 16.4% and Engineering at 15.5%.

The largest single programs are Computer Science with 277 degrees awarded, Human Biology with 114, and Economics with 108. Engineering is the highest-ranked program, with 91 degrees awarded and median earnings of $115,206 four years after completion.

It ranks #1 in California within its field. Human Biology ranks #2 nationally and #1 in California within its field, with median earnings of $81,529.

Computer Science, the largest program, is also the highest-earning, with a median of $214,907. It ranks #1 in California within its field, and carries a benchmark ratio of 2.01x against the national median for its field.

Cognitive Science follows at $131,650, from 64 degrees awarded, and ranks #2 nationally within its field. The largest program is also the highest-earning, and the earnings spread between it and the rest is wide.

51.7% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the highest-earning programs sit squarely within that group. Four-year earnings for fields where graduate study is common may understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Computer Science 277 degrees awarded
$214,907
Human Biology 114 degrees awarded
$81,529
Economics 108 degrees awarded
$112,700
Engineering, Other 91 degrees awarded
$115,206
Political Science and Government 78 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Engineering-Related Fields 77 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Stanford University briefing

How does Stanford University serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places the mobility pillar of Stanford University in the 90th percentile. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 91.9%, while Pell recipients complete at a rate of 87.6% — below the overall rate by 4.3 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $40,186 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 99th percentile nationally.

Stanford University enrolls 7,554 undergraduates and admits 3.6% of applicants, a rate far below the peer median of 71.2%. Pell Grant recipients make up 19.2% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 3.2% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 86th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Stanford University briefing

What colleges are similar to Stanford University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Stanford University.

Admissions peerPomona College7.1% admitted
Comparison with Stanford University
MeasureStanford UniversityPomona College
Peer earnings · 4 years$136,959$77,544-$59,415 vs Stanford University
Average annual net price$13,807$19,285+$5,478 vs Stanford University · higher cost
Admission rate3.6%7.1%
Explore Pomona College →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis89.8% admitted
Comparison with Stanford University
MeasureStanford UniversityUniversity of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis
Peer earnings · 4 years$136,959$131,813-$5,146 vs Stanford University
Average annual net price$13,807$31,817+$18,010 vs Stanford University · higher cost
Admission rate3.6%89.8%
Explore University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis →
Nearby alternativeClaremont McKenna CollegeNearby option · CA
Comparison with Stanford University
MeasureStanford UniversityClaremont McKenna College
Peer earnings · 4 years$136,959$110,798-$26,161 vs Stanford University
Average annual net price$13,807$28,849+$15,042 vs Stanford University · higher cost
Admission rate3.6%9.6%
Explore Claremont McKenna College →
Similar profileSanta Clara UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Stanford University
MeasureStanford UniversitySanta Clara University
Peer earnings · 4 years$136,959$108,517-$28,442 vs Stanford University
Average annual net price$13,807$50,062+$36,255 vs Stanford University · higher cost
Admission rate3.6%48.0%
Explore Santa Clara University →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings