by our College Data Analytics TeamHere’s the full picture on paying for Stanford University, including attendance costs, projected four- and two-year degree costs, average net price, debt outcomes, and how aid is distributed across income levels.
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What it costs to attend Stanford University stands at about $82,162.00 for a single academic year.
Cost is shown below as the full sticker price, the average net price after aid, and the low-income net price.
| Tuition and fees | $65,910.00 |
| + Room, board & other expenses | $16,252.00 |
| Total cost | $82,162.00 |
| That is 150% above the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $82,162.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$74,026.00 |
| Net price | $8,136.00 |
| That is 75% below the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $82,162.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$90,369.00 |
| Net price | $-8,207.00 |
| That is 125% below the national average net price. | |
| Go deeper on the components with tuition and fees plus room and board. |
Published costs have climbed year over year at a recent average of 5.5% annually, so the projections below total more than one year of attendance. The tables below project the cost forward across a full degree, side by side for a low-income student with aid, a typical student with average aid, and a student paying full sticker price with no aid. Loan math assumes ten-year repayment at 6.8% interest.
| Projected 4-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 5.5% | 5.5% | 5.5% |
| Freshman year | $-8,657.00 | $8,582.00 | $86,666.00 |
| Senior year | $-10,160.00 | $10,072.00 | $101,717.00 |
| Total 4-year net price | $-37,581.00 | $37,256.00 | $376,231.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $-14,317.00 | $14,193.00 | $143,330.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $-432.00 | $429.00 | $4,330.00 |
| Total amount paid | $-51,898.00 | $51,449.00 | $519,561.00 |
| Projected 2-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 5.5% | 5.5% | 5.5% |
| Freshman year | $-8,657.00 | $8,582.00 | $86,666.00 |
| Senior year | $-9,132.00 | $9,053.00 | $91,418.00 |
| Total 2-year net price | $-17,788.00 | $17,635.00 | $178,084.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $-6,777.00 | $6,718.00 | $67,844.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $-205.00 | $203.00 | $2,049.00 |
| Total amount paid | $-24,565.00 | $24,353.00 | $245,928.00 |
Read more in the net-price section.
Net price strips out grant and scholarship aid to show what families really pay. It is usually a better planning number than the sticker cost above.
| Average net price (on-campus) | $13,807.00 |
| Average net price (off-campus) | $12,136.00 |
What families actually pay shifts with income, since need-based grants are larger for lower-income students. The table below shows the average net price by family-income bracket:
| Family income | Average net price |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | $-79.00 |
| $30,000 to $48,000 | $-350.00 |
| $48,001 to $75,000 | $1,323.00 |
| $75,001 to $110,000 | $8,816.00 |
| Over $110,000 | $50,452.00 |
Estimate your specific net price using the school’s Stanford University Net Price Calculator, or contact the financial aid office.
Curious how grants and scholarships are distributed? Explore the financial aid breakdown.
The median graduating debt at Stanford University comes to $9,851.00, landing it in the Very Low (<$10k) debt-burden bucket.
Here’s how debt at graduation distributes across borrowers:
| Percentile | Debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| 10th | $2,750.00 |
| 25th | $5,500.00 |
| Median (50th) | $9,851.00 |
| 75th | $21,500.00 |
| 90th | $28,846.00 |
The 10th-to-90th-percentile spread is one signal of how variable debt outcomes are across the student body.
Explore borrowing, repayment, and default in detail on the student loan debt detail.
Debt outcomes vary substantially with family income. The figures below split graduating borrowers into three income brackets:
| Family income | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,500.00 |
| Middle income | $7,213.00 |
| High income | $12,000.00 |
Debt at graduation often differs for first-generation students.
| Student group | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $8,413.00 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,067.00 |
Pell Grant eligibility is a useful proxy for low-income status among undergraduates. Contrasting Pell and non-Pell borrowers shows how need shapes debt.
The median debt gap between Pell and non-Pell graduates of Stanford University comes to $-4,500.00.
The default-rate category at Stanford University is Low (<5%).
| Window | Cohort default rate |
|---|---|
| 2-year | 1.0% |
To give some context for these rates, Stafford loans disbursed at Stanford University amount to $236,251,216.00 spread across 9,386 borrowers.
Veteran and active-military students often access dedicated federal aid programs including the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Department of Defense Tuition Assistance.
| GI Bill recipients | 127 |
| Avg GI Bill amount | $30,023.00 |
Explore GI Bill and military aid in detail on the college veterans page.
The data above is a foundation; round it out by asking yourself about Stanford University, a few questions are worth asking:
For a closer look at any of these topics, follow the links below:
Data sources. Figures on this page draw from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and MediaFactual editorial review. Net-price calculator and financial-aid office links are taken from the institution’s own published data.