Admissions · United States
Stanford Acceptance Rate: Admissions Statistics and English Requirements
Stanford admitted 2,302 of 60,646 first-year applicants for fall 2025 (the Class of 2029), an acceptance rate of 3.8%, according to its 2025–26 Common Data Set.
Stanford does not announce admission numbers when decisions go out; its official figures appear in the Common Data Set published by Stanford's Office of Institutional Research & Decision Support. Below are the last three reported cycles, transfer admission, what Stanford does and does not publish about Restrictive Early Action, and its English test guidance.
Figures read from official sources on · LingoLeap Admissions Research
Stanford University acceptance rate by year
Stanford transfer acceptance rate
What the numbers mean
Stanford's acceptance rate has stayed below 4% for three reported cycles: 3.9% for fall 2023, 3.6% for fall 2024 and 3.8% for fall 2025. Applications rose each year, to 60,646 for the Class of 2029, and admits rose to 2,302 that year as Stanford enlarged its entering class to 1,866 first-years. The fall 2023 totals are the sum of the men and women counts in that year's Common Data Set.
Stanford does not offer Early Decision. Its early plan is Restrictive Early Action (REA), which it calls its non-binding early application option: REA applicants may not apply early to other private colleges, and are admitted, denied or deferred to Regular Decision in mid-December. Stanford has not reported REA or Regular Decision applicant and admit counts in its recent Common Data Sets, so there is no official REA or RD acceptance rate.
Stanford reinstated its testing requirement for applicants entering in fall 2026: ACT or SAT scores are now required, and English proficiency tests cannot be used in their place. Stanford does not publish undergraduate admit rates by school or major, including engineering.
International students were 13% of the Class of 2029, from 64 countries outside the U.S. Stanford does not publish a minimum TOEFL score for undergraduate admission.
Stanford University TOEFL and IELTS requirements
Minimums for international applicants from the university's own pages. Since 21 January 2026 TOEFL iBT reports a 1–6 band score; the notes give the older 0–120 equivalent where the university states one. Convert TOEFL and IELTS scores.
Undergraduate (university-wide)
TOEFL iBT: Not yet published for the 2026 test
Stanford does not publish a minimum TOEFL score for undergraduate admissions. TOEFL is accepted but no hard threshold is stated.
Official page · checked 22 March 2026
Master's (university-wide)
TOEFL iBT: 4.5 overall (1–6 scale)
Minimum score for admission consideration. Individual programs may require higher scores. English placement test exemption threshold is 5.5 on the new scale.
Official page · checked 19 March 2026
Check your score against Stanford University
Take a free 2026-format TOEFL mock test for a 1–6 band estimate, then compare it with the minimum above and with other universities' requirements.
Free TOEFL mock testFAQ
What is Stanford's acceptance rate for 2025?
For fall 2025 entry (the Class of 2029) Stanford admitted 2,302 of 60,646 first-year applicants, an acceptance rate of 3.8%, according to Stanford's 2025–26 Common Data Set. Stanford has not yet published figures for the Class of 2030.
Does Stanford have Early Decision?
No. Stanford's early plan is Restrictive Early Action (REA): it is non-binding, so admitted students have until May 1 to decide, but REA applicants may not apply early to other private colleges. The REA deadline is 1 November and decisions come out by mid-December.
What is Stanford's REA acceptance rate?
Stanford does not publish it. Its recent Common Data Sets list the REA dates but leave the early action applicant and admit counts blank, and Stanford has not released REA numbers elsewhere. Any REA rate you see is an estimate, not an official figure.
What is Stanford's regular decision acceptance rate?
Stanford does not publish a separate Regular Decision rate. The only official figure is the combined first-year rate: 3.8% for fall 2025, covering REA and Regular Decision together.
What is the Stanford engineering acceptance rate?
Stanford does not publish one. Its Common Data Set reports a single first-year admit figure for the whole university (3.8% for fall 2025), with no breakdown by school or intended major.
What is Stanford's transfer acceptance rate?
Stanford admitted 102 of 4,532 transfer applicants for fall 2025 (2.3%) and 65 of 4,120 for fall 2024 (1.6%), according to its Common Data Sets.
What TOEFL score does Stanford require?
Stanford does not publish a minimum TOEFL score for undergraduate admission, and English proficiency tests cannot replace the required SAT or ACT. For graduate admission, Stanford's minimum is 4.5 on the 2026 1–6 TOEFL scale; individual programmes may require more.