172-513: The Big Three , also known as HYP ( H arvard, Y ale, P rinceton), is a historical term used in the United States to refer to Harvard University , Yale University , and Princeton University . The phrase Big Three originated in the 1880s, when these three colleges dominated college football . In 1906, these schools formed a sports compact that formalized a three-way football competition which began in 1878. This early agreement predated
344-741: A census-designated place within unincorporated Santa Clara County , although some of the university land (such as the Stanford Shopping Center and the Stanford Research Park ) is within the city limits of Palo Alto . The campus also includes much land in unincorporated San Mateo County (including the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ), as well as in
516-580: A " Special Relationship " with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Japan , South Korea , Israel , and several European Union countries ( France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and Poland ). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through
688-437: A GPA of 3.94 or higher. Admissions officials consider a student's grade point average to be an important academic factor, with emphasis on an applicant's high school class rank and letters of recommendation. In terms of non-academic materials as of 2019, Stanford ranks extracurricular activities, talent/ability and character/personal qualities as 'very important' in making first-time, first-year admission decisions, while ranking
860-530: A Local Favorite." Burt continued, "Every city sends or has sent its Socially Registered sons to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, in some preferred order, and to one local institution. This order varies. New York sets the pattern with Yale first, Harvard second, Princeton third, then Columbia. St. Louis and Baltimore are Princeton towns. Most other cities (Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati) are Yale towns. Only Boston, and occasionally Washington, are Harvard towns." The connection between certain colleges and social ranking
1032-588: A common measure of low-income students at a college. In 2022, Stanford started its first dual-enrollment computer science program for high school students from low-income communities, as a pilot project which then inspired the founding of the Qualia Global Scholars Program. Stanford plans to expand the program to include courses in Structured Liberal Education and writing. Stanford follows a quarter system with
1204-584: A competing company, Fairchild Semiconductor . The presence of so many high-tech and semiconductor firms helped to establish Stanford and the mid- Peninsula as a hotbed of innovation, eventually named Silicon Valley after the key ingredient in transistors. Shockley and Terman are both often described as the "fathers of Silicon Valley". In the 1950s, Stanford intentionally reduced and restricted Jewish admissions, and for decades, denied and dismissed claims from students, parents, and alumni that they were doing so. Stanford issued its first institutional apology to
1376-542: A coordinated, continent-wide military effort. Finally, deteriorating relations between the British military establishment and the colonists, relations that were already less than positive, set the stage for further distrust and dislike of British troops. Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance ; one of
1548-545: A cumulative score of 82-0. This led to a hiatus in games between Harvard and Princeton which caused Big Three competition to be suspended for eight years, although Yale continued to play both opponents during that period. Before the American Civil War , Union College was one of a "big four" along with Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Student attrition due to the Civil War and a scandal over college finances led to
1720-534: A decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida . The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which
1892-475: A decline at Union that caused it to lose ground and drop from the group. United States The United States of America ( USA ), commonly known as the United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a country primarily located in North America . It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to
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#17327732779432064-407: A few prominent industrialists , largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad , petroleum , and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality , slum conditions , and social unrest , creating
2236-666: A global reach. The U.S. is a founding member of the World Bank , Organization of American States , NATO , and the United Nations , as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council . The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan , a Continental Army aide to General George Washington , wrote to Joseph Reed , Washington's aide-de-camp , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from
2408-597: A master's degree as a 1-to-2-year extension of their undergraduate program. In 2010, 15% of undergraduates were first-generation students. By 2013, 89% of undergraduate students lived in on-campus university housing. First-year undergraduates are required to live on campus, and all undergraduates are guaranteed housing for all four undergraduate years. Undergraduates live in 80 different houses, including dormitories, co-ops, row houses , and fraternities and sororities . At Manzanita Park, 118 mobile homes were installed as "temporary" housing from 1969 to 1991, but have become
2580-646: A memorial to their only child. The center's collection of works by Rodin is among the largest in the world. The Thomas Welton Stanford Gallery, which was built in 1917, serves as a teaching resource for the Department of Art & Art History as well as an exhibition venue. In 2014, Stanford opened the Anderson Collection, a new museum focused on postwar American art and founded by the donation of 121 works by food service moguls Mary and Harry Anderson . There are outdoor art installations throughout
2752-464: A national competition as a memorial for two brothers in the class of 1949, William White and John White II, one of whom died before graduating and one shortly after in 1952. Stanford is a private, non-profit university administered as a corporate trust governed by a privately appointed board of trustees with a maximum membership of 38. Trustees serve five-year terms (not more than two consecutive terms) and meet five times annually. A new trustee
2924-654: A new library and gymnasium were demolished, and some original features of Memorial Church and the Quad were never restored. During the early-20th century, the university added four professional graduate schools. Stanford University School of Medicine was established in 1908 when the university acquired Cooper Medical College in San Francisco; it moved to the Stanford campus in 1959. The university's law department, established as an undergraduate curriculum in 1893,
3096-643: A new mascot (Indian). The Indian symbol and name were dropped by President Richard Lyman in 1972, after objections from Native American students and a vote by the student senate. Stanford is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in most sports, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in several other sports, and the America East Conference in field hockey with the participation in
3268-598: A period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country , which would be reinforced by
3440-488: A prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism . The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality . It also encouraged open defiance of
3612-526: A sense of manifest destiny . The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans,
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#17327732779433784-614: A sense of American identity as well. Men who otherwise never left their own colony now traveled across the continent to fight alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds but who were no less "American". British officers trained American officers for battle, most notably George Washington ; these officers would lend their skills and expertise to the colonists' cause during the American Revolutionary War to come. In addition, colonial legislatures and officials found it necessary to cooperate intensively in pursuit of
3956-403: A unique pipeline of mega-donors including from alumni-founded companies with Google ( Sergey Brin and Larry Page ), Nike ( Phil Knight ), Hewlett-Packard ( David Packard and Bill Hewlett ), and Sun Microsystems ( Vinod Kohsla ) as examples. Further, the university's global reputation and continued leadership in technology has attracted large donations from prominent figures such as
4128-464: A year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in
4300-738: Is a research center based on history of 20th-century. Stanford University Libraries (SUL) held a collection of more than 9.3 million volumes, nearly 300,000 rare or special books, 1.5 million e-books, 2.5 million audiovisual materials, 77,000 serials, nearly 6 million microform holdings, and thousands of other digital resources. The main library in the SU library system is the Green Library , which also contains various meeting and conference rooms, study spaces, and reading rooms. Lathrop Library (previously Meyer Library , demolished in 2015), holds various student-accessible media resources and houses one of
4472-515: Is also consistently been amongst the two most selective law schools in the world and consistently ranked 1st in the list of best law schools year-over-year consecutively for 2024 in U.S. News & World Report . In a 2022 survey by The Princeton Review , Stanford was ranked 1st among the top ten "dream colleges" of America, and was considered to be the ultimate "dream college" of both students and parents. From polls of college applicants done by The Princeton Review , every year from 2013 to 2020
4644-1627: Is also one all-female non-sorority house, Roth House. In most residences, men and women live on the same floor, but some have single-gender floors. Several residences are considered "theme" houses; predating the current classification system are Columbae (Social Change Through Nonviolence, since 1970), and Synergy (Exploring Alternatives, since 1972). The Academic, Language, and Culture Houses include EAST (Education and Society Themed House), Hammarskjöld (International Themed House), Haus Mitteleuropa (Central European Themed House), La Casa Italiana (Italian Language and Culture), La Maison Française (French Language and Culture House), Slavianskii Dom (Slavic/East European Themed House), Storey (Human Biology Themed House), and Yost (Spanish Language and Culture). Cross-Cultural Themed Houses include Casa Zapata (Chicano/Latino Theme in Stern Hall), Muwekma-tah-ruk (American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Themed House), Okada (Asian-American Themed House in Wilbur Hall), and Ujamaa (Black/African-American Themed House in Lagunita Court). Focus Houses include Freshman-Sophomore College (Academic Focus), Branner Hall (Community Service), Kimball (Arts & Performing Arts), Crothers (Global Citizenship), and Toyon (Sophomore Priority). Co-ops or "Self-Ops" are another housing option. These houses feature cooperative living, where residents and eating associates each contribute work to keep
4816-591: Is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed agriculture , architecture , and complex societies . In the post-archaic period , the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern , eastern , and southern regions, and the Algonquian in
4988-553: Is chosen by the current trustees by ballot. The Stanford trustees also oversee the Stanford Research Park , the Stanford Shopping Center , the Cantor Center for Visual Arts , Stanford University Medical Center , and many associated medical facilities (including the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital ). The board appoints a president to serve as the chief executive officer of the university, to prescribe
5160-499: Is headed by a dean with the assistance of a senior associate dean and an associate dean. Stanford Memorial Church , in the center of campus, has a Sunday University Public Worship service (UPW) usually in the "Protestant Ecumenical Christian" tradition where the Memorial Church Choir sings and a sermon is preached usually by one of the Stanford deans for Religious Life. UPW sometimes has multifaith services. In addition,
5332-850: Is home to the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, which grew out of and still contains the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project, a collaboration with the King Center to publish the King papers held by the King Center. It also runs the John S. Knight Fellowship for Professional Journalists and the Center for Ocean Solutions, which brings together marine science and policy to address challenges facing
Big Three (colleges) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5504-498: Is known as the presidential system , in contrast to the parliamentary system , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States , especially in the Americas. The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then,
5676-438: Is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through
5848-587: Is old; Jerome Karabel, in a note citing Kenneth Davis, says that "in the mid-eighteenth century, the [president of Harvard] personally listed students when they enrolled, according to ... 'to the Dignity of the Familie whereto the student severally belong'—a list that was printed in the college catalogue and that determined precedence in such matters as table seating, position in academic processionals, even recitations in class." Ronald Story, however, says that it
6020-630: Is one of the most successful universities worldwide in creating companies and licensing its inventions to existing companies, and it is often considered the model for technology transfer . Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing is responsible for commercializing university research, intellectual property, and university-developed projects. The university is described as having a strong venture culture in which students are encouraged, and often funded , to launch their own companies. Companies founded by Stanford alumni generate more than $ 2.7 trillion in annual revenue and have created some 5.4 million jobs since
6192-528: Is organized around seven schools of study on an 8,180-acre (3,310-hectare) campus, one of the largest in the nation. It houses the Hoover Institution , a public policy think tank , and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Students compete in 36 varsity sports, and the university is one of eight private institutions in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Stanford has won 131 NCAA team championships, and
6364-461: Is the Stanford Band 's mascot and the unofficial mascot of Stanford University. Stanford's team name is the " Cardinal ", referring to the vivid Stanford Cardinal Red color (not the common songbird as at several other schools); the university does not have an official mascot. The Tree has been called one of America's most bizarre and controversial college mascots; it regularly appears at
6536-552: Is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues . The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act . The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in
6708-760: Is the student government for Stanford and all registered students are members. Its elected leadership consists of the Undergraduate Senate elected by the undergraduate students, the Graduate Student Council elected by the graduate students, and the President and Vice President elected as a ticket by the entire student body. Stanford is the beneficiary of a special clause in the California Constitution , which explicitly exempts Stanford property from taxation so long as
6880-821: Is widely considered one of the most prestigious universities in the world by leading sources including U.S. News & World Report , Times Higher Education , and QS World University Rankings . As noted in The Wall Street Journal 's 2024 rankings, "the usual players are almost always going to come out on top: The Princetons, the Stanfords, the Yales, the Harvards. They will jockey for those first few spots on whatever ranking you happen to be looking." In 2022, Washington Monthly ranked Stanford at 1st position in their annual list of top universities in
7052-428: Is within 100 of Stanford's total. Stanford have won 25 consecutive NACDA Directors' Cups, from 1994–1995 through to 2018–19, awarded annually to the most successful overall college sports program in the nation. 177 Stanford-affiliated athletes have won a total of 296 Summer Olympic medals (150 gold, 79 silver, 67 bronze), including 26 medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 27 medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In
Big Three (colleges) - Misplaced Pages Continue
7224-603: The Allies of World War I , helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers . In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression , which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with
7396-553: The Atlantic slave trade . The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of Great Britain , and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners . The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for
7568-817: The Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies . British colonization led to the first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution , with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in
7740-549: The Environmental Performance Index . The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a separate federal capital district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions . The U.S. is
7912-500: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights , national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts ' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions . There is no unified "criminal justice system" in
8084-720: The Great Lakes , Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico . British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what
8256-719: The Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard , while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest . Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California . France established its own settlements along
8428-524: The House of Representatives , a lower house based on population; and the Senate , an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while the country's political culture promotes liberty , equality , individualism , personal autonomy , and limited government . One of the world's most developed countries , the United States has had
8600-523: The Ivy League by nearly a century. Today, the term is used to refer to the comparable levels of prestige, tradition, elitism, and academic and intellectual superiority affiliated with the schools. The rivalry remains intense today, though the three schools are no longer national football powerhouses, and schools continue to refer to their intercollegiate competitions as "Big Three" or "Harvard-Yale-Princeton" meets. In 1908, Scotsman Robert Knox Risk wrote
8772-596: The Midwest . At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England . During the Great Migration , millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics . African Americans endured
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#17327732779438944-688: The National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States . Most of this land is protected , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy , air and water pollution , biodiversity , logging and deforestation , and climate change . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
9116-652: The New Deal , a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II , the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . The U.S. developed
9288-508: The Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement . In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia , the Marshall Islands , and Palau through the Compact of Free Association . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India , but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014,
9460-539: The Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law , rechargeable lithium-ion batteries , the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait . The September 11 attacks on
9632-501: The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (originally the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), the Stanford Research Institute (an independent institution which originated at the university), the Hoover Institution (a conservative think tank ), and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (a multidisciplinary design school in cooperation with the Hasso Plattner Institute of University of Potsdam that integrates product design, engineering, and business management education). Stanford
9804-418: The Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding significant geopolitical influence globally . The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches : legislative , executive , and judicial . It has a bicameral national legislature composed of
9976-399: The Spanish–American War . (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War . The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. The United States entered World War I alongside
10148-405: The United States Congress . Stanford University was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford , dedicated to the memory of Leland Stanford Jr. , their only child. The institution opened in 1891 on Stanford's previous Palo Alto farm. The Stanfords modeled their university after the great Eastern universities, specifically Cornell University in Ithaca, New York . Stanford was referred to as
10320-399: The cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites . This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America , while the other states remained in the Union . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter . After
10492-413: The fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower . The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history , a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates , and advances in technology . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web , the evolution of
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#173277327794310664-445: The largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of the global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness , productivity , innovation , human rights , and higher education . Its hard power and cultural influence have
10836-444: The " Indian " name along with what they had come to perceive as an offensive and demeaning mascot. Stanford's teams reverted unofficially to the name "Cardinal", the color that had represented the school before 1930. From 1972 until 1981, Stanford’s official nickname was the Cardinal, but, during this time, there was debate among students and administrators concerning what the mascot and team name should be. A 1972 student referendum on
11008-539: The "Cornell of the West" in 1891 due to a majority of its faculty being former Cornell affiliates, including its first president, David Starr Jordan , and second president, John Casper Branner . Both Cornell and Stanford were among the first to make higher education accessible, non-sectarian, and open to women as well as men. Cornell is credited as one of the first American universities to adopt that radical departure from traditional education, and Stanford became an early adopter as well. From an architectural point of view,
11180-418: The "Faculty Ghetto", within walking or biking distance of campus. The Faculty Ghetto is composed of land owned by Stanford. Similar to a condominium , the houses can be bought and sold to other Stanford faculty but the land under the houses is leased for 51 years with the possibility of extensions. Houses in the "Ghetto" appreciate and depreciate, but not as rapidly as overall Silicon Valley values. Some of
11352-406: The 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , igniting the American Revolutionary War . At the Second Continental Congress , the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army , and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence . Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration
11524-408: The 1775–1783 Revolutionary War , the country continued to expand westward across North America , resulting in the dispossession of native inhabitants . As more states were admitted , a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of
11696-508: The 1894 title for the University of Pennsylvania, the consensus national champion was either Princeton (16 titles), Yale (13) or Harvard (2). Football between Harvard and Yale was suspended for two years after the 1894 game in Springfield, Massachusetts was so violent that it was referred to as "The Springfield Massacre." Other sports including baseball and crew were suspended as well. The Big Three made further formal agreements in 1916 and 1923, and although in part they have now been superseded by
11868-434: The 1930s on, Big Three admissions became progressively more meritocratic, but still included non-academic factors such as “lineage.” Ivy League schools including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have in the past been regarded as the goals for many children in WASP circles. Some educators have attempted to discourage this fixation. Jay Mathews, author of Harvard Schmarvard , addresses seniors obsessed with Ivy League schools with
12040-409: The 1930s. When combined, these companies would form the tenth-largest economy in the world. Some notable companies closely associated with Stanford and their connections include: Stanford enrolled 6,996 undergraduate and 10,253 graduate students in the 2019–2020 school year. Women made up 50.4% of undergraduates and 41.5% of graduate students. In the same academic year, the freshman retention rate
12212-423: The 1950s, he established Stanford Industrial Park , a high-tech commercial campus on university land. Also in the 1950s, William Shockley , co-inventor of the silicon transistor, recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize for Physics , and later professor of physics at Stanford, moved to the Palo Alto area and founded a company, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory . The next year, eight of his employees resigned and formed
12384-520: The 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état . The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and
12556-531: The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Stanford-affiliated athletes won 26 medals, more than any other university. Students and staff at Stanford are of many different religions. The Stanford Office for Religious Life's mission is "to guide, nurture and enhance spiritual, religious and ethical life within the Stanford University community" by promoting enriching dialogue, meaningful ritual, and enduring friendships among people of all religious backgrounds. It
12728-596: The American West have an alpine climate . The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California , and oceanic in coastal Oregon , Washington , and southern Alaska . Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar . Hawaii , the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical . States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of
12900-467: The Cornell campus, to design the Stanford campus. When Leland Stanford died in 1893, the continued existence of the university was put in jeopardy due to a federal lawsuit against his estate, but Jane Stanford insisted the university remain in operation throughout the financial crisis. The university suffered major damage from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake ; most of the damage was repaired, but
13072-535: The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government , with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to
13244-665: The Dish . Frank Lloyd Wright 's 1937 Hanna–Honeycomb House and the 1919 Lou Henry Hoover House are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places . White Memorial Fountain (also known as "The Claw") between the Stanford Bookstore and the Old Union is a popular place to meet and to engage in the Stanford custom of "fountain hopping"; it was installed in 1964 and designed by Aristides Demetrios after
13416-573: The District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km ). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest . The Mississippi River System ,
13588-573: The Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a " world war ". The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. The war increased
13760-606: The Ivy League, formed for football in 1945 and for other sports in 1954, the three universities still sponsor events that involve only themselves. The first Big Three agreement in 1906 was the result of a conference on football called by President of the United States and Harvard alumnus Theodore Roosevelt in October 1905 as a result of deteriorating relations, caused once again by increasing violence of play, more recently between Harvard and Princeton. The agreement of June 1916,
13932-735: The January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , many freed slaves joined the Union army . The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House . The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect
14104-502: The Jewish community in 2022 after an internal task force confirmed that the university deliberately discriminated against Jewish applicants, while also misleading those who expressed concerns, including students, parents, alumni, and the ADL . Stanford was once considered a school for "the wealthy", but controversies in later decades damaged its reputation. The 1971 Stanford prison experiment
14276-611: The Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera , is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian , the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid . Many mountainous areas of
14448-919: The Stanford Improvisors, the Stanford Shakespeare Company, and the Stanford Savoyards, a group dedicated to performing the works of Gilbert and Sullivan . Stanford is also host to ten a cappella groups , including the Mendicants (Stanford's first), Counterpoint (the first all-female group on the West Coast ), the Harmonics , the Stanford Fleet Street Singers , Talisman , Everyday People , and Raagapella . Stanford
14620-489: The Stanfords wanted their university to look different and sought to emulate the style of English university buildings. They specified in the founding grant that the buildings should "be like the old adobe houses of the early Spanish days; they will be one-storied; they will have deep window seats and open fireplaces, and the roofs will be covered with the familiar dark red tiles." The Stanfords also hired renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted , who previously designed
14792-547: The Triple Agreement, was originally proposed by President and Princeton alumnus Woodrow Wilson in December 1909 out of a desire to reduce injuries, and took several years to come to fruition, resulting in common eligibility requirements. The Three Presidents' Agreement addendum of January 1923 covered financial arrangements, scouting and scholarships, among other things. In 1926, tensions arose once more after Princeton had shut out Harvard for three consecutive games by
14964-647: The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion . The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Department of Defense , which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of
15136-661: The U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons , state prisons , local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities . Federal prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under
15308-464: The United States and the peaceful transfer of power , respectively. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained , leading to the War of 1812 , which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward , many with
15480-831: The United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs . The U.S. utilized the policy of containment to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the Space Race , which culminated with the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth , urbanization , and population growth following World War II . The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming
15652-666: The United States has operated as a de facto two-party system , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican . The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative . In the American federal system , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in
15824-593: The United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror , and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in
15996-656: The United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence . The Second Continental Congress adopted
16168-661: The United States, slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power , a status solidified after its involvement in World War I . After Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II . Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War , during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence . Following
16340-541: The United States, despite the usage of "the Americas " as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb. The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture , which appeared around 11,000 BC,
16512-624: The United States, except Iran , North Korea , and Bhutan . Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has
16684-614: The United States. Edward Digby Baltzell wrote: "The three major upper-class institutions in America have been Harvard, Yale, and Princeton." These colleges have, in the past, been set apart from others by a special historic connection with the White-Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) establishment . Of the three, Princeton University was traditionally the preferred choice of the Southern upper class. While describing
16856-555: The United States. In 2019, Stanford University took 1st place on Reuters' list of the World's Most Innovative Universities for the fifth consecutive year. Stanford Graduate School of Business has consistently been both the most selective business school in the world and consistently ranked 1st in the list of best business schools year-over-year consecutively by various reputed studies including Bloomberg Businessweek and U.S. News & World Report for 2024. Stanford Law School
17028-509: The United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in
17200-491: The University [of Pennsylvania]. Upper-class boys from all over the country, including Philadelphia, go to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Only from Philadelphia do upper-class boys go in any significant numbers to Penn. This is of course a universal national phenomenon. The pattern of upper-class male college preference, as deduced from a counting of noses in the various Social Registers, can be summed up as "The Big Three and
17372-504: The analysis: “It does not matter where you go to school, it matters what you do when you get there and what you do after you graduate.” The "Big Three" schools: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are often rated among the top three institutions in the National Universities category along with Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Over the past eighteen years ending with the 2018 rankings, U.S. News has named as
17544-564: The annual " Big Game " between the Cal and Cardinal football teams gains custody of the Stanford Axe . As of May 23, 2024, Stanford has won 136 NCAA team championships, more than any other school. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 48 consecutive years, from 1976–77 through to 2023–24. As of January 1, 2022, Stanford athletes have also won 529 NCAA individual championships. No other Division I school
17716-551: The autumn quarter usually beginning in late September and the spring quarter ending in mid-June. The full-time, four-year undergraduate program has arts and sciences focus with high graduate student coexistence. Stanford is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges with the latest review in 2023. Stanford is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." The university's research expenditure in fiscal years of 2021/22
17888-429: The best national university Princeton eleven times, Harvard twice and the two schools tied for first five times. As Jerome Karabel, a Harvard graduate and the author of The Chosen detailing the history of the admissions process at HYP, noted: The Big Three are notoriously lacking one of [diversity's] most critical dimensions: class diversity. In a study of the percentage of low-income students in 2000 (as measured by
18060-658: The blood stirred with the same impulse which once sent the Vikings over sea. The Saturday Review found in 1963 that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton enrolled 45% of boys on the New York Social Register . That year Nathaniel Burt described the social prestige of the Big Three: It is, above all, the national social prestige of the Big Three which is competition with the purely local social prestige of
18232-564: The campus, primarily sculptures, but some murals as well. The Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden near Roble Hall features wood carvings and " totem poles ." The Stanford music department sponsors many ensembles, including five choirs, the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Stanford Taiko , and the Stanford Wind Ensemble. Extracurricular activities include theater groups such as Ram's Head Theatrical Society,
18404-534: The city limits of Menlo Park (Stanford Hills neighborhood), Woodside , and Portola Valley . The central campus includes a seasonal lake ( Lake Lagunita , an irrigation reservoir), home to the vulnerable California tiger salamander . As of 2012, Lake Lagunita was often dry and the university had no plans to artificially fill it. Heavy rains in January 2023 refilled Lake Lagunita to up to 8 feet of depth. Two other reservoirs, Searsville Lake on San Francisquito Creek and Felt Lake, are on more remote sections of
18576-513: The co-founder of Netscape ( Jim Clark ), founder of SAP SE ( Hasso Plattner ), co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz ( Marc Andreessen and Laura Arillaga-Andreessen ), chairman of Kleiner Perkins ( John Doerr and his wife Ann). Stanford is considered by US News to be 'most selective' with an acceptance rate of 4%, one of the lowest among US universities. Half of the applicants accepted to Stanford have an SAT score between 1440 and 1570 or an ACT score between 32 and 35, typically with
18748-457: The contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in
18920-556: The country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons —the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under
19092-469: The country's territory would expand with the admission of new states , rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances . George Washington
19264-713: The development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening , a series of Christian revivals , fueled colonial interest in religious liberty . For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples allied with Britain's colonial rivals , especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt
19436-461: The duties of professors and course of study, to manage financial and business affairs, and to appoint nine vice presidents. Richard Saller became the interim president in September 2023. On April 4, 2024, the board of trustees announced that Jonathan Levin would become the thirteenth president on August 1, 2024. The provost is the chief academic and budget officer, to whom the deans of each of
19608-456: The endowment covered approximately 22% of university expenses in the 2023 fiscal year. Since inception, the university has been the beneficiary of large donations. The endowment began in 1885, six years before the opening of the university, when Leland Stanford and his wife Jane conveyed approximately $ 20 million to the university. The university's pioneering of technology intellectual property transfer created both direct investments and enabled
19780-580: The environment for labor unions to begin to flourish . This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era , which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy ; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico , the Philippines , and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in
19952-552: The faculty are vested in the Academic Council, which is made up of tenure and non-tenure line faculty, research faculty, senior fellows in some policy centers and institutes, the president of the university, and some other academic administrators. But most matters are handled by the Faculty Senate, made up of 54 elected representatives of the faculty for 2021. The Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU)
20124-541: The federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation . The Trail of Tears (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands far to the west. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas
20296-606: The first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the " Four Policemen " who met to plan the post-war world , alongside the United Kingdom , Soviet Union , and China . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence . After World War II,
20468-538: The following about the state of American universities during the early 20th century. Princeton, like [Harvard and Yale], confers some social distinction upon its graduates. In this respect Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are the Western Counterparts of Oxford and Cambridge , and are maintained largely for the sons of rich men. Members of the American aristocracy would send their boys to one or other of these three universities if there were any aristocracy in
20640-422: The founding grant. The central campus is adjacent to Palo Alto, bounded by El Camino Real , Stanford Avenue, Junipero Serra Blvd, and Sand Hill Road , off State Route 82 . The United States Postal Service has assigned it two ZIP Codes : 94305 for campus mail and 94309 for P.O. box mail. It lies within area code 650 . On the founding grant: Off the founding grant: Many Stanford faculty members live in
20812-939: The golf course can also be used by the general public. Contemporary campus landmarks include the Main Quad and Memorial Church , the Cantor Center for Visual Arts and the Bing Concert Hall , the Stanford Mausoleum with the nearby Angel of Grief , Hoover Tower , the Rodin Sculpture Garden, the Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden , the Arizona Cactus Garden , the Stanford University Arboretum , Green Library and
20984-409: The house running, such as cooking meals or cleaning shared spaces. These houses have unique themes around which their community is centered. Many co-ops are hubs of music, art and philosophy. The co-ops on campus are 576 Alvarado Row (formerly Chi Theta Chi), Columbae, Enchanted Broccoli Forest (EBF), Hammarskjöld, Kairos, Terra (the unofficial LGBT house), and Synergy. Phi Sigma, at 1018 Campus Drive
21156-463: The integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state , and federal agencies such as
21328-492: The inter-collegiate NCAA's Division I FBS . The two official colors of the university are Stanford Cardinal Red and Palo Alto Green . From 1930 until 1972, Stanford's sports teams had been known as the Indians and during the period from 1951 to 1972, Prince Lightfoot (portrayed by Timm Williams, a member of the Yurok tribe ) was the official mascot. But in 1972, Native American students and staff members successfully lobbied University President Richard Lyman to abolish
21500-511: The interview, whether the applicant is a first-generation university applicant, legacy preferences , volunteer work and work experience as 'considered'. Of those students accepted to Stanford's Class of 2026, 1,736 chose to attend, of which 21% were first-generation college students. Stanford's admission process is need-blind for U.S. citizens and permanent residents; while it is not need-blind for international students, 64% are on need-based aid, with an average aid package of $ 31,411. In 2012,
21672-406: The issue was in favor of restoring the Indian, while a second 1975 referendum was against. The 1975 vote included new suggestions, many alluding to the industry of the school's founder, tycoon Leland Stanford : the Robber Barons , the Sequoias, the Trees, the Cardinals, the Railroaders, the Spikes, and the Huns. Its traditional sports rival is the University of California, Berkeley . The winner of
21844-494: The land is managed to provide revenue for the university such as the Stanford Shopping Center and the Stanford Research Park . Stanford land is also leased for a token rent by the Palo Alto Unified School District for several schools including Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School . El Camino Park, the oldest Palo Alto city park, is also on Stanford land. Stanford also has the Stanford Golf Course, and Stanford Red Barn Equestrian Center, used by Stanford athletics though
22016-408: The largest East Asia collections with 540,000 volumes. Stanford University Press , founded in 1892, published about 130 books per year has printed more than 3,000 books. It also has fifteen subject areas. Stanford is home to the Cantor Center for Visual Arts , a museum with twenty-four galleries, sculpture gardens, terraces, and a courtyard first established in 1891 by Jane and Leland Stanford as
22188-467: The largest in the United States. It is 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 approximately 20 miles (30 km) northwest of San Jose . Stanford received $ 4.5 billion in 2006 and spent more than $ 2.1 billion in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. In 2008, 60% of this land remained undeveloped. Stanford's main campus includes
22360-427: The military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw
22532-612: The most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable. The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species : about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians , and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks , and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas , managed by
22704-499: The most commonly named "dream college" for students was Stanford; separately, parents, too, most frequently named Stanford their ultimate "dream college." The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranked Stanford second in the world (after Harvard) most years from 2003 to 2020. Times Higher Education recognizes Stanford as one of the world's "six super brands" on its World Reputation Rankings , along with Berkeley , Cambridge , Harvard , MIT , and Oxford . Stanford
22876-478: The most violent, the California genocide of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws , though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states , as inventions such as
23048-440: The next two—the University of Southern California and New York University —were private. And one university in the top 10, California Institute of Technology , is among the most selective private institutions in the nation. More recently, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton instituted no-loan financial aid policies which provide students with need-based aid from private funds held by the universities. This enables greater attendance from
23220-584: The ocean. It focuses on five points: climate change, overfishing, coastal development, pollution, and plastics. Together with UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco , Stanford is part of the Biohub , a new medical science research center founded in 2016 by a $ 600 million commitment from Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg and pediatrician Priscilla Chan . This medical research center is working for designing advanced-level health care units. By 2014, Stanford University Libraries (SUL) had twenty-four libraries in total. The Hoover Institution Library and Archives
23392-408: The policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation . An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by
23564-737: The poorer classes than Pell Grant statistics would indicate, since many recipients of university grants do not receive Pell Grants. The athletic agreements among the three universities were first formalized in 1906, although their football teams had been engaging in three-way competitions, which newspapers had been referring to as "HPY," since 1878. (Princeton and Yale first played in 1873, Harvard and Yale in 1875, with Harvard and Princeton first meeting in 1877.) The Big Three teams had an outsized hold on popular culture as they dominated college football during its early formative years, when there were few competing spectator sports besides fledgling professional baseball teams. In 25 seasons spanning 1869 through
23736-420: The primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen , particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in
23908-424: The property is used for educational purposes. Stanford's endowment includes real estate and other investments valued at $ 36.5 billion as of August 2023, and is one of the four largest academic endowments in the United States. The endowment consists of $ 29.9 billion in a merged pool of assets and $ 6.6 billion of real estate near the main campus. Stanford is the largest landowner in the Silicon Valley Payouts from
24080-540: The proportion of federal Pell Grants - need-based awards that do not have to be repaid and make up the bulk of many poorer students' aid) at the nation's leading universities, the Big Three were found to be among the nation's least economically diverse schools. Of the 40 universities studied, Harvard and Princeton ranked 39th and 38th respectively, with Yale at 25th. While the three top universities in economic diversity were all public institutions (the University of California at Los Angeles , UC-Berkeley , and UC-San Diego ),
24252-399: The recruiting process for the Rough Riders , Theodore Roosevelt , mentioned the Ivy League schools including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton as target schools. We drew recruits from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and many another college; from clubs like the Somerset , of Boston, and Knickerbocker , of New York; and from among the men who belonged neither to club nor to college, but in whose veins
24424-515: The rights of African Americans . National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads , spurred growth in the American frontier . From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City , and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish , Irish , and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to
24596-437: The rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua , Sonoran , and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona , carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast . The lowest and highest points in
24768-474: The seven schools report. Jenny Martinez became the fourteenth provost in October 2023. The university is organized into seven academic schools. The schools of Humanities and Sciences (twenty-seven departments), Engineering (nine departments), and Sustainability (nine departments) have both graduate and undergraduate programs while the Schools of Law , Medicine , Education , and Business have graduate programs only. The powers and authority of
24940-440: The site of newer dorms Castano, Kimball, Lantana, and the Humanities House, completed in 2015. Most student residences are just outside the campus core, within ten minutes (on foot or bike) of most classrooms and libraries. Some are reserved for freshmen, sophomores, or upper-class students and some are open to all four classes. Most residences are co-ed; seven are all-male fraternities , three are all-female sororities , and there
25112-464: The six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force . The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $ 916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of
25284-407: The sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor . They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933 , which created the Guard and provides for
25456-572: The south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and the archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands . The country has the world's third-largest land area , largest exclusive economic zone , and third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and its three most populous states are California , Texas , and Florida . Paleo-Indians migrated across
25628-543: The states are also represented by local elected governments , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents , and further divided into municipalities . The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. . The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations . The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has
25800-451: The structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances . The three-branch system
25972-453: The time as related directly to the university's defense contracts..." Wallace Sterling was the President from 1949 to 1968 and he oversaw the growth of Stanford from a financially troubled regional university to a financially sound, internationally recognized academic powerhouse, "the Harvard of the West". Achievements during Sterling's tenure included: Most of Stanford is on an 8,180-acre (12.8 sq mi; 33.1 km ) campus, one of
26144-414: The top of Internet "worst mascot" lists, but has also appeared on at least one list of top mascots. The Tree is a member of the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) and appears at football games, basketball games, and other events where the band performs. In 1930, following a unanimous vote by the executive committee for the Associated Students, the athletic department adopted
26316-559: 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 receive some form of financial aid. Stanford has a no-loan policy. For undergraduates admitted starting in 2015, Stanford waives tuition, room, and board for most families with incomes below $ 65,000, and most families with incomes below $ 125,000 are not required to pay tuition; those with incomes up to $ 150,000 may have tuition significantly reduced. Seventeen percent of students receive Pell Grants ,
26488-406: The world's fourth-longest river system , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado . Farther west are
26660-449: The world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024 . It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council , and home to the United Nations headquarters . The United States is a member of the G7 , G20 , and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with
26832-444: The world's oldest surviving federation, and its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization . It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law ". The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document , also establishing
27004-423: The world's tornadoes occur in the country , mainly in Tornado Alley . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest , droughts became more persistent and more severe. The regions considered as
27176-465: The world, with almost 2 million people incarcerated . An analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25 times higher". Stanford University Stanford University (officially Leland Stanford Junior University ) is a private research university in Stanford, California , United States. It
27348-458: Was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest . Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest . The California gold rush of 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of
27520-510: Was $ 1.82 billion and the total number of sponsored projects was 7,900. By 2016, the Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Research oversaw eighteen independent laboratories, centers, and institutes . Kathryn Ann Moler is the key person for leading those research centers for choosing problems, faculty members, and students. Funding is also provided for undergraduate and graduate students by those labs, centers, and institutes for collaborative research. Other Stanford-affiliated institutions include
27692-415: Was 99%. Stanford awarded 1,819 undergraduate degrees, 2,393 master's degrees, 770 doctoral degrees, and 3270 professional degrees in the 2018–2019 school year. The four-year graduation rate for the class of 2017 cohort was 72.9%, and the six-year rate was 94.4%. The relatively low four-year graduation rate is a function of the university's coterminal degree (or "coterm") program, which allows students to earn
27864-703: Was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty , inalienable individual rights ; and the sovereignty of the people ; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy , aristocracy , and all hereditary political power; civic virtue ; and vilification of political corruption . The Founding Fathers of the United States , who included Washington, Jefferson, John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , James Madison , Thomas Paine , and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman , Renaissance , and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established
28036-568: Was awarded the NACDA Directors' Cup for 25 consecutive years, beginning in 1994. Students and alumni have won 302 Olympic medals (including 153 gold) . The university is associated with 74 living billionaires , 58 Nobel laureates , 33 MacArthur Fellows , 29 Turing Award winners, as well as 7 Wolf Foundation Prize recipients, 2 Supreme Court Justices of the United States, and 4 Pulitzer Prize winners. Additionally, its alumni include many Fulbright Scholars , Marshall Scholars , Gates Cambridge Scholars , Rhodes Scholars , and members of
28208-432: Was criticized as unethical, and the misuse of government funds from 1981 resulted in severe penalties for the school's research funding, and the resignation of President Donald Kennedy in 1992. In the 1960s, Stanford rose from a regional university to one of the most prestigious in the United States, "when it appeared on lists of the "top ten" universities in America... This swift rise to performance [was] understood at
28380-481: Was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . Following World War II , university provost Frederick Terman inspired an entrepreneurial culture to build a self-sufficient local industry (later Silicon Valley ). In 1951, the Stanford Research Park was established in Palo Alto and is the world's first university research park. By 2021, the university had 2,288 tenure-line faculty, senior fellows, center fellows, and medical faculty on staff. The university
28552-407: Was during the [1920s] that certain institutions of high prestige, such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton (and Stanford on the West Coast) became all-important as upper-class-ascribing institutions.” Not coincidentally, this was also the era when the Big Three became concerned by “the Jewish problem” and began instituting interviews, essays, and judgements of “character” into the admissions process. From
28724-406: Was during “the four decades from 1815 to 1855” that “parents, in Henry Adams′ words, began sending their children to Harvard College for the sake of its social advantages.” A further intensification of the importance of the Big Three occurred during the 1920s; According to E. Digby Baltzell, “in a … managerial society, the proper college degree became the main criterion for potential elite status… it
28896-404: Was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in
29068-529: Was formerly Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, but in 1973 became a Self-Op. By 2015, 55 percent of the graduate student population lived on campus. Stanford also subsidizes off-campus apartments in nearby Palo Alto , Menlo Park , and Mountain View for graduate students who are guaranteed on-campus housing but are unable to live on campus due to a lack of space. In 2016, Stanford had sixteen male varsity sports and twenty female varsity sports, nineteen club sports, and about 27 intramural sports. The Stanford Tree
29240-406: Was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford , the eighth governor of and then-incumbent senator from California , and his wife, Jane , in memory of their only child, Leland Jr . The university admitted its first students in 1891, opening as a coeducational and non-denominational institution. It struggled financially after Leland died in 1893 and again after much of the campus
29412-513: Was founded in 1925 at the urging of then-trustee Herbert Hoover . In 1919, The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace was started by Herbert Hoover to preserve artifacts related to World War I . The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory , established in 1962, performs research in particle physics. In the 1940s and 1950s, Frederick Terman , an engineering professor who later became provost, encouraged Stanford engineering graduates to start their own companies and invent products. During
29584-408: Was transitioned into a professional law school starting in 1908 and received accreditation from the American Bar Association in 1923. The Stanford University Graduate School of Education grew out of the Department of the History and Art of Education, one of the original twenty-one departments at Stanford, and became a professional graduate school in 1917. The Stanford Graduate School of Business
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