Stanford vs Brown University

Stanford University and Brown University, both esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Stanford, situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, is renowned for its strength in STEM fields, while Brown, located in historic Providence, Rhode Island, emphasizes a liberal arts curriculum. With acceptance rates of 4.7% and 7.1%, respectively, both universities are highly selective. Stanford's student body is more diverse, with 51% female and 22% international students, compared to Brown's 50% female and 13% international students. While Stanford boasts higher graduation rates, Brown offers a more intimate learning environment with a lower student-to-faculty ratio. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover more key differences between these two prestigious universities and determine which one aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.
Brown University logo

Brown University

Stanford University logo

Stanford University

Overview

Location Providence, Rhode Island Stanford, California
Campus setting City: Midsize Suburb: Large
College type 4 year 4 year
Control/business model Private (Non Profit) Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system Semester Quarter
Degrees offered Undergraduate and Graduate Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate 98.0% 98.0%
Common app member Yes No
Religious affiliation

Admission

Acceptance rate 5.5% 3.9%
Application fees
Undergraduate: $75

Graduate: $75
Undergraduate: $90

Graduate: $125
SAT range 1460 - 1570 1470 - 1570
ACT range 33 - 35 34 - 35
Students submitting SAT score 51.0% 15.0%
Students submitting ACT score 30.0% 11.0%
Total number of applicants 46,568 55,471
Total number of admissions given out 2,568 2,190
Admitted students who chose to enroll 1,705 1,757
Yield rate 66.4% 80.2%
Test scores (SAT/ACT) N/A N/A
High school GPA Not required Not required
Recommendation letters Required Required
High school transcript Not required Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL) Not required Not required

Tuition and Fees

Sticker price $82,570 $78,898
Average net price $25,028 $14,402
Tuition $60,944 $55,473
Room & board
Room/dormitory: $10,054

Meal plan: $6,292
Room/dormitory: $11,166

Meal plan: $6,694
Available payment plans
  • Prepaid tuition plan
  • Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid

Students receiving financial aid

(Grants & scholarships)

46.0%
Average amount $55,420
61.0%
Average amount $56,211
Students receiving federal student loan 9.0%
Average amount $5,159
5.0%
Average amount $5,151
Students taking out private loans 2.0%
Average amount $27,008
1.0%
Average amount $17,186

Students and Campus

Undergraduate students 7,349
Men 48.1% Women 51.9%
7,645
Men 49.4% Women 50.6%
Graduate students 3,347
Men 50.0% Women 50.0%
10,035
Men 56.5% Women 43.5%
Racial/ethnic diversity
Moderate
Moderate
Out-of-state students 96.5% 58.5%
International students 18.6% 24.4%
Campus local/setting City: Midsize Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity 5,013 14,621
First year students are required to live on campus? Yes Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from New York California Mississippi New Jersey Texas California Texas Washington New York Illinois

Academics

Popular study areas
  • Health Professions
  • Social Sciences
  • Biological and Biomedical Sciences
  • Computer and Information Science
  • Engineering
  • Engineering
  • Computer and Information Science
  • Business
  • Biological and Biomedical Sciences
  • Physical Science
Students to faculty ratio 6:1 5:1
Institutional accreditation New England Commission on Higher Education Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome

Graduation rate 95.8% 95.5%
Dropout rate 3.7% 1.7%
Transferred out N/A 0.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)
Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $130,101
  • Year 2: $153,718
  • Year 3: $184,762
Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $105,532
  • Year 2: $88,506
  • Year 3: $97,037
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $66,171
  • Year 2: $73,769
  • Year 3: $91,029
Engineering, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $70,583
  • Year 2: $75,921
  • Year 3: $80,783
Economics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $64,028
  • Year 2: $63,302
  • Year 3: $78,949
Public Policy Analysis (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $59,505
  • Year 2: $61,020
  • Year 3: $74,894
Medicine (First Professional Degrees)
  • Year 1: $60,843
  • Year 2: $61,294
  • Year 3: $73,224
International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $37,882
  • Year 2: $50,105
  • Year 3: $65,953
Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $61,247
  • Year 2: $58,673
  • Year 3: $63,507
Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $50,186
  • Year 2: $53,108
  • Year 3: $62,581
Law (First Professional Degrees)
  • Year 1: $151,574
  • Year 2: $170,457
  • Year 3: $210,837
Computer Science (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $159,729
  • Year 2: $168,942
  • Year 3: $203,193
Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $164,734
  • Year 2: $163,337
  • Year 3: $187,054
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Doctoral Degrees)
  • Year 1: $137,457
  • Year 2: $150,874
  • Year 3: $173,548
Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $136,126
  • Year 2: $136,499
  • Year 3: $165,375
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $128,556
  • Year 2: $135,709
  • Year 3: $157,500
Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $123,354
  • Year 2: $106,421
  • Year 3: $139,234
Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $105,326
  • Year 2: $111,435
  • Year 3: $126,185
Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $108,457
  • Year 2: $90,856
  • Year 3: $107,477
Economics (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $60,475
  • Year 2: $85,391
  • Year 3: $104,592

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.
Brown University Brown vs University of California-Berkeley University of California-Berkeley
Brown University Brown vs University of Southern California University of Southern California
Brown University Brown vs Wesleyan University Wesleyan University
Brown University Brown vs Yale University Yale University
Brown University Brown vs Georgetown University Georgetown University
Brown University Brown vs University of Georgia University of Georgia
Brown University Brown vs University of Chicago University of Chicago
Brown University Brown vs Northwestern University Northwestern University
Brown University Brown vs University of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame
Brown University Brown vs Tulane University of Louisiana Tulane University of Louisiana
Brown University Brown vs Bowdoin College Bowdoin College
Brown University Brown vs Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University
Brown University Brown vs University of Maryland-College Park University of Maryland-College Park
Brown University Brown vs United States Naval Academy United States Naval Academy
Brown University Brown vs Boston College Boston College
Brown University Brown vs Boston University Boston University
Brown University Brown vs Brandeis University Brandeis University
Brown University Brown vs Harvard University Harvard University
Brown University Brown vs Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Brown University Brown vs Tufts University Tufts University
Brown University Brown vs Wellesley College Wellesley College
Brown University Brown vs University of Michigan-Ann Arbor University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Brown University Brown vs Washington University in St Louis Washington University in St Louis
Brown University Brown vs Dartmouth College Dartmouth College
Brown University Brown vs Barnard College Barnard College
Brown University Brown vs Colgate University Colgate University
Brown University Brown vs Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Brown University Brown vs Cornell University Cornell University
Brown University Brown vs Jewish Theological Seminary of America Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Brown University Brown vs New York University New York University
Brown University Brown vs Duke University Duke University
Brown University Brown vs University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Brown University Brown vs Lehigh University Lehigh University
Brown University Brown vs University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania
Brown University Brown vs Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University
Brown University Brown vs The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University
Stanford University Stanford vs Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design
Stanford University Stanford vs California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology
Stanford University Stanford vs University of California-Berkeley University of California-Berkeley
Stanford University Stanford vs Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Southern California University of Southern California
Stanford University Stanford vs Yale University Yale University
Stanford University Stanford vs Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Georgia University of Georgia
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Chicago University of Chicago
Stanford University Stanford vs Northwestern University Northwestern University
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Notre Dame University of Notre Dame
Stanford University Stanford vs Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Maryland-College Park University of Maryland-College Park
Stanford University Stanford vs United States Naval Academy United States Naval Academy
Stanford University Stanford vs Brandeis University Brandeis University
Stanford University Stanford vs Harvard University Harvard University
Stanford University Stanford vs Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University Stanford vs Wellesley College Wellesley College
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Michigan-Ann Arbor University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Stanford University Stanford vs Washington University in St Louis Washington University in St Louis
Stanford University Stanford vs Dartmouth College Dartmouth College
Stanford University Stanford vs Barnard College Barnard College
Stanford University Stanford vs Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Stanford University Stanford vs Cornell University Cornell University
Stanford University Stanford vs Jewish Theological Seminary of America Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Stanford University Stanford vs New York University New York University
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Rochester University of Rochester
Stanford University Stanford vs Duke University Duke University
Stanford University Stanford vs University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Stanford University Stanford vs Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania
Stanford University Stanford vs Brown University Brown University
Stanford University Stanford vs Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University
Stanford University Stanford vs Baylor University Baylor University
Stanford University Stanford vs Rice University Rice University
Stanford University Stanford vs University of Virginia-Main Campus University of Virginia-Main Campus