Stanford University's ranking in the 2024 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, #3. Its tuition and fees are $62,484. Stanford University's pristine campus is located in California's Bay Area, about 30 miles from San Francisco.

Stanford does not belong to the Ivy League — that pack of New England universities that includes centuries-old colleges like Harvard and Yale — but it is the most elite university on the West Coast, topping any list of public Ivies and Ivy equivalents.

How much will Stanford tuition plus room and board and other expenses run you for a four-year degree? Based on 2022-23 numbers, the full cost would be $328,648. In comparison, the average cost for a private university is $57,570 a year, totaling $230,280 for four years, according to CollegeData.com.

In most ranking systems, both schools consistently break the top five universities in the world. In many rankings, Harvard ranks as slightly better than Stanford. US News ranks both schools as equal.