Mindful that you’re a student-athlete, we are proud to offer our 4th Annual STACK Elite 50 Colleges, a ranking of the best schools for academically-minded athletes. After months of crunching numbers [wins, losses, championships, school rankings, academic progress and more], we improved on prior years’ compilations to help you choose a school with the right balance of academics and athletics.

With an impressive three-peat, Stanford holds its number one ranking, continuing to display the highest level of academic and athletic excellence.
Rank: 1
Total Points: 100.00
Top-15 Ranked Sports: 17
U.S. News Rank: 5
WHY THEY’RE ON TOP
Once again the Cardinal soared a mile above the competition to three-peat as Elite 50 champs. Despite a slight drop in academics, from [4] to [5] in the U.S. News rankings, Stanford over-compensated in athletics, as an unprecedented 10 of its teams finished in the number one spot. All hail the powerful Palo Alto dynasty.

Ranked Sports: Women’s Basketball [1], Men’s Golf [1], Women’s Soccer [1], Men’s Swimming [1], Women’s Swimming [1], Women’s Tennis [1], Men’s Track & Field [1], Women’s Track & Field [1], Men’s Cross Country [1], Women’s Cross Country [1], Volleyball [2], Men’s Tennis [3], Softball [5], Baseball [10], Women’s Golf [11], Wrestling [11] and Men’s Basketball [13] GENERAL INFORMATION:
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
Enrollment: 6,532
Year founded: 1891
Percentage of freshmen in top 10% of their graduating class: 92
Application fee: $75
Acceptance rate: 10%
Average GPA of incoming freshmen: 4.0
Male/female ratio: 51/49
Student/faculty ratio: 6/1
Percentage of students from out of state: 64
Tuition: $37,880

Admissions contact:
Rick Shaw, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid
Stanford University
Bakewell Building
355 Galvez Street
Stanford, CA 94305-3020
Phone: 650-723-2091
ATHLETIC INFORMATION
Nickname: Cardinal
Conference: Pac-10
National championships: 96 [59 men, 37 women] Longest coaching tenure: Mark Marquess, Baseball, 33 years
Nearest professional team: San Jose Earthquakes [MLS], 22 miles
FUN FACTS
Notable alumni: President Herbert Hoover, Nike founder Phil Knight, Hall of Fame QB John Elway, Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh, PGA legend Tom Watson

Fast fact: If you’ve ever seen the Tree dancing around at Cardinal athletic events, you’ve probably wondered why the school chose a plant as its mascot. Well, Stanford doesn’t officially have a mascot. From 1930 to 1972, their teams were known as the “Indians.” They became the Cardinal in 1981. The “Tree” is a member of the Stanford Band.
LINKS
University Website: stanford.edu
Wikipedia: Stanford University
Check out videos on STACK TV with former Cardinal athletes and current experts.
Go to elite50.stack.com to read more on Stanford and the rest of the STACK Elite 50 Colleges.
Previously posted:
#10 – USC
#9 – OSU
#8 – Texas A&M
#7 – Duke
#6 – UCLA
#5 – Virginia
#4 – UNC
#3 – Texas
#2 – Florida