Leland Stanford Junior University , commonly known as Stanford University , is a private research university in Stanford , California , northwest of Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto. His academic reputation , distinguished alumni , influence, and wealth have become one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
The university was founded in 1885 by Leland Stanford, former governor and U.S. senator California main railroad magnate and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford, in memory of his son, Leland Stanford Jr. , who died of typhoid two months before his 16th birthday in 1884 ; the October 1, 1891 . The university was established as a coeducational institution and non-denominational . Tuition was free until the 1930s . The university struggled financially after the 1893 death of Leland Stanford and after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 - San Francisco Earthquake . After World War II , Provost Frederick Terman supported faculty and local business industry self-sufficient graduates to build what will be known as the Silicon Valley has become . In 1970 , Stanford was home to a linear accelerator , was one of the original four nodes of ARPANET ( precursor to the Internet).
Stanford is organized into seven academic schools with a student population of approximately 7,000 students and 8,900 graduates. The 8180 - acres ( 3,310 ha) campus is the largest contiguous campus in the United States.Since 1952 , 58 Nobel laureates affiliated with the University . It has the largest number of Turing award winners for a single academic institution and is the alma mater of 30 and 17 living billionaires astronauts. Stanford is one of the main producers of the members of the Congress of the United States. Teachers and students have founded many companies including Google , Hewlett -Packard , Nike, Sun Microsystems, and Yahoo! , and companies founded by alumni of Stanford generate more than $ 2700000000000 in annual revenue, equivalent to 10th largest economy in the world . Stanford is also home to the papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Stanford University is more selective research in the United States, with an acceptance rate of 5.07 % for 2018.
Stanford competes in 36 varsity sports and is one of two private universities in Division I FBS Pacific - 12 Conference. He has won 104 NCAA championships , the second highest for a university, and every year the victory of the NACDA Director's Cup from 1994-5 .
Campus :
Main Campus :
Stanford University is located on a 8180 - acre ( 3,310 ha) campus on the San Francisco Peninsula , in the northwest part of the Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley) approximately 37 miles (60 km ) southeast of San Francisco and about 20 miles (32 km ) northwest of San Jose. The main campus is adjacent to Palo Alto, bounded by El Camino Real, Stanford Avenue, Junipero Serra Boulevard, and Sand Hill Road. The University is also working on several other remote places.
The main campus of Stanford is a census - designated place within unincorporated Santa Clara County , although some of the land university ( including the Stanford Shopping Center and the Stanford Research Park ) is within the limits of Palo Alto. The campus also includes much land in unincorporated areas of San Mateo County (including the National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC and the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ) , as well as in the city limits of Menlo Park ( neighborhood Stanford Hills) , Woodside and Portola Valley.The United States Postal Service, Stanford two ZIP codes : 94305 for campus mail and 94309 for PO box mail . Located in the 650 area code .
The campus of the university in September 2011 by Travel + Leisure listed as one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States and MSN as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world .
Other campus :
Stanford operates or intends to operate in various locations outside the main campus.
The inaugural award, but away from the main campus :
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve is a 1,200 - acre ( 490 ha) nature reserve owned by the university and used by wildlife biologists for research , located south of the main campus.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a facility located west of the main campus and originally owned by Stanford but now operated by the University for the Department of Energy. Includes accelerator in the world longest linear particle , 2 miles (3.2 km ) to 426 acres ( 172 ha) of land.
Golf course and a seasonal lake : The university also has its own golf course and a seasonal lake ( Lake Lagunita , actually an irrigation reservoir ) , both home to the vulnerable California Tiger Salamander . Lake Lagunita is often dry , but the university has no plans to artificially fill.
Off the founding grant :
Hopkins Marine Station , located in Pacific Grove, California, is a center of marine biology research university property since 1892.
Study abroad locations : unlike typical programs of foreign study, Stanford itself operates in locations around the world ; So every place , from Beijing to Cape Town, the Stanford faculty in residence and staff in addition to students , creating a "mini Stanford. "
Locations in development:
Redwood City : in 2005 , the university purchased a small , 35 - acres ( 14 ha) campus in the midpoint of staff for offices Technological Park , but has not been developed .
China: the university is building a small campus for researchers and students in collaboration with Peking University .
Canceled Project:
New York applied sciences campus : In 2011 , the university has also participated in the tender for the applied sciences campus in New York City , but eventually the project was canceled at the end of the year.
Academy :
Stanford University is a large, highly residential research university with a majority of enrollments coming from graduate and professional students . The full-time four - year undergraduate program is classified as " low selective transfer - in" and the arts and sciences focus with greater community of graduate students. Stanford University is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges .
Stanford is one of the most selective in the world for many years , beginning with the class of 2017 institutions, more selective research university in the United States for undergraduate students (even more than Harvard). For the class of 2016 , Stanford received 36,631 applications and accepted 2427 or 6.6 %, the second lowest in the country . His most recent rate support ( for the class of 2018 ) has been further reduced to 5.07 % , the lowest in the history of the university.
Undergraduate enrollment of full-time was $ 42,690 for 2013-2014 . Stanford admissions process is necessary - blind for U.S. citizens and permanent residents ; while necessary is not blind for international students , 64% are of the need-based aid , with an average aid package of $ 31.411 . In 2012/13 , the university awarded $ 126 million in need -based financial aid to 3,485 students, with an average aid package of $ 40.460 . Eighty percent of students in a form of financial aid. Stanford is not - loan policy waives tuition, room and board for most families with incomes of less than $ 60,000 and not most families required with incomes below $ 100,000 to teach (those with incomes up to $ 150,000 can significantly reduce tuition ) to pay 0.17% of students receive Pell Grants , a common measure of low-income students in a school .
The University is organized into seven academic schools . Schools of Humanities and Sciences ( 27 departments ) , Engineering ( 9 departments ) and Earth Sciences (4 departments ) have advantages and undergraduate programs , while only programs the Schools Act , medicine, education and graduate business . Stanford follows a trimester system with autumn term usually begins in late September and the beginning of spring quarter ended in June.
Reputation and rankings :
Surveys of the Princeton Review in 2010 and 2013 , Stanford is the "dream college", more commonly called , for both students and for parents.In 2012 U.S. Classification Best Graduate News , Stanford is in the top 5 of each top discipline in which they are part. A 2003 Gallup poll , which asked about the best universities in the U.S. , Found that Stanford is the second- most prestigious university (behind Harvard) in the eyes of the general public and the U.S. are roughly equal in prestige to Harvard among college - educated people .