The number of undergraduate Stanford University students will be rising soon! Why’s that? Because the university’s president, John Hennessy, recently announced a major plan to expand the student body on campus. Why the plan? Because Stanford wants to “keep pace with the growth of the graduate student population and allow Stanford to serve more students, a proposal with broad implications for University admissions, facilities and faculty,” according to “The Stanford Daily.” There are currently 8,871 graduate students at Stanford University as compared to only 6,999 undergraduate students. Up until 1990, according to “The Stanford Daily,” the undergraduate population of Stanford had always exceeded that of its graduate population, but that all sharply changed after that.

According to an article on the Stanford student body in “The Stanford Daily,” “Though the expansion could begin as early as 2014, according to [Jeff] Wachtel, [senior assistant to President Hennessy,] the growth in the population would also need to be accompanied by new facilities to maintain the University’s guarantee of housing to all undergraduates. The University, fresh off a Draw that left a record number of students unassigned after the first round, already plans to build new housing at Manzanita Park and Lagunita Court. ‘Since we believe strongly in a residential education system, we have to make sure there are adequate housing and facilities,’ Wachtel said. ‘It depends on the planning of the housing and raising the money for it.'”

What do you think about Stanford University’s plans to expand its undergraduate student body to keep pace with its graduate student body? Do you think that this will make it easier to get in since there will be more slots? Let us know your thoughts on the expansion by posting a comment below!