Main Quad

Commemorative class plaques line the walkway of the Inner Quad marking the year of each graduating class. Each graduating class installs their plaque during a special ceremony during Commencement Weekend. Over the years, the tradition has evolved from placing a class roster below the plaque to adding a time capsule commemorating events that shaped each class's experiences at Stanford.

Stanford is known for a collaborative intellectual environment that matches the pace and tone of our friendly and welcoming California setting. The university’s motto translates to "The winds of freedom blow," which is an idea that captures our academic culture and structure well. With a calendar that operates on the quarter system (or trimesters), students take 50% more courses per year than they would at a semester-based school. Undergraduates have two full years to explore courses before declaring a major and are able to create their own academic experience.

Distinctive undergraduate programs include the immensely popular Introductory Seminars (“IntroSems”), a robust and accessible Overseas Studies program, and boundless opportunities in research. The ability to combine academic areas of study through interdisciplinary majors and programs is a notable hallmark of a Stanford education. Undergraduates can also pursue a master's degree in many departments through the "coterminal degrees" program. With over 200 world class advanced degree programs, graduate education has been central to Stanford’s reputation for academic excellence, intellectual innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit since the university’s founding.

Stanford provides the opportunity for students to focus on areas of varied and unique interests as well as traditional canon. In addition to top-ranked programs across the entire liberal arts spectrum (from the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences to the Natural, Life, and Physical Sciences to Engineering and Technology), Stanford is known for its innovative opportunities for interdisciplinary study. Of the 70+ undergraduate majors offered, more than two dozen of them span multiple departments or schools in ways that provide unique opportunities to think, learn, and innovate.

Popular examples include the Symbolic Systems major, which combines coursework in computer science, mathematics, and statistics with studies in philosophy, psychology, and linguistics. Our interdisciplinary Human Biology major ‒ popular with both pre-meds as well as those interested in other health fields ‒ approaches understanding the human being from biological, behavioral, social, and cultural perspectives. The broad scope of the International Relations major draws upon the fields of political science, economics, history, sociology, data science, law, and foreign language.

Stanford students come from all around the world with approximately 7,000 undergraduates and 9,000-10,000 graduate students. Three of Stanford’s seven current schools award undergraduate degrees: Humanities and Sciences; Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences; and Engineering. Currently, over 9000 graduate students are pursuing degrees offered in all seven of Stanford’s schools ‒ those just referenced, as well as the professional schools of Business, Education, Law and Medicine. Starting in Fall 2022, the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (often referred to simply as “Stanford Earth”) will be merged with Stanford’s new School of Climate and Sustainability, offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees.