Admissions & selectivity
Stanford University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Stanford University?
Stanford University’s reported acceptance rate is 3.6%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 3.6%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Stanford University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
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.
What SAT and ACT scores do Stanford University students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 97% of enrolled first-time, first-year students who reported a class rank finished in the highest tenth of their high-school class. The share in the highest quarter was 100%.
The middle half of enrolled students who submitted SAT scores earned between 1,510 and 1,580. For ACT submitters, the middle range was 34 to 35.
These ranges describe enrolled students who provided scores, not a minimum for admission. Applicants can compare their scores with the university's own SAT and ACT ranges above, keeping in mind that those describe enrolled students who submitted scores, not minimums for admission.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Stanford University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
- Approximate lower endpoint
- 1510
- 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.
- 25th percentile
- 34
- 75th percentile
- 35
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at Stanford University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 19.2%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 3.2%
- First-year retention
- 98.2%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Stanford University enrolls 7,554 undergraduates, and Pell Grant recipients make up 19.2% of the undergraduate body. An estimated 3.2% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 60,646 first-year applicants, 2,302 admitted, and 1,839 enrolled. For transfer entry, 4,532 applicants yielded 102 admitted and 89 enrolled.
The composition reflects a student body drawn overwhelmingly from the first-year pool, with a modest Pell share alongside the university's broader access profile. Pell-eligible and transfer applicants should prepare strong academic records.
Among full-time students in the bachelor's-seeking entering class, Stanford University retains 98.2% into the second year, a share that surpasses the peer median of 83.4%. Six-year graduation for the entering class reaches 91.9%, a level that also exceeds the peer median of 68.8%.
For Pell recipients, the six-year completion figure is 87.6%, falling short of the overall rate of 91.9% by 4.3 percentage points. The overall six-year graduation rate exceeds the peer median.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.