In the next few weeks, the Provost and I intend to launch a committee to explore expanding the size of the undergraduate class, and to do so in a way that preserves the excellence and character of Stanford undergraduate education and the experience of being a Stanford student – both are critical.

Every time we admit an undergraduate to Stanford, we create an opportunity: for the admitted student, for the faculty who get to teach that student, and for a Stanford graduate to make a contribution to the world.

We believe there is a path to create more of these opportunities in ways that enhance the entire university. In the last 50 years, virtually everything at Stanford has grown – the size of the faculty, the number of graduate students, the annual budget, the physical campus, the array of programs and majors, the number of qualified applicants – but not the number of undergraduate students. We believe some growth is long overdue, and possible without changing the fundamental character of the experience we provide.

To understand this better, and after discussions with the faculty Committee on Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid, we expect to add around 150 additional students this year, primarily freshmen as well as transfer students. We saw that this was possible as we returned from the pandemic, and will apply those lessons.

I would note that I believe this can be an important response to an area of national concern, the creation of educational opportunity. We have made exceptional strides in financial aid. Today, domestic students whose families are in the bottom 80% of the U.S. income distribution pay zero tuition to attend Stanford. Eighty-eight percent of last year’s graduates left with zero debt. However, the fact of the matter is that we turn away many qualified students. It is within our capability to educate more of them, and to share the knowledge we create here in more expansive ways.