Stanford University Explore Courses
About Explore Courses and the Stanford Bulletin
The Stanford Bulletin is the official statement of degree programs and courses of instruction for Stanford University. For degree requirements and University regulations and requirements, see the University Bulletin web site.
The Bulletin’s Explore Courses site presents all active courses, whether or not offered in the current academic year, in the Catalog View, and all scheduled classes for the current year in the Schedule View.
Explore Courses is refreshed daily; course and class data is no more than 24 hours old. Students may consult latest scheduling information on Axess
When searched by subject, courses of instruction are listed numerically by catalog number.
Key term search result are displayed alphabetically by subject name, and then numerically by catalog number.
Search Tips
- If you are searching for a particular class, enter the subject and catalog number without a space (e.g. PHYSICS41). If you want to search for all the courses where that course is a prerequisite (or recommended preparation, etc.), enter the subject and catalog number with a space; e.g. PHYSICS 41.
- To show all the search results on a single page (instead of broken into individual pages of 10 courses), click on the “printer friendly page” link on the top of the right hand column.
Course Catalog Numbering
Stanford does not have a standard course catalog numbering system. In general, courses numbered from 1 through 99 are primarily for freshmen and sophomores. Courses numbered from 100 through 199 are primarily for juniors and seniors; some departments, however, offer courses numbered from 200 through 299 for juniors and seniors. Most courses numbered 200 and above are for graduate students; no graduate career course is numbered below 200, and all courses above 300 are for graduate students.
Variable Units
Courses offered for variable units require different amounts of work depending upon the units for which a student enrolls. Students are advised to consult with the department or instructor offering the course to determine the appropriate number of units.
Undergraduate University Requirements
WIM indicates courses that fulfill the undergraduate departmental Writing in the Major requirement.
AU indicates Activity courses that are subject to undergraduate University Activity Unit limitations (8 units maximum).
Overseas Studies
Undergraduate courses taught overseas at Stanford’s Bing Overseas Studies Program are listed under the relevant Overseas Studies Center subject code. Courses applicable to an undergraduate major are also listed in the relevant department’s entry in the University Bulletin
Instructor Profiles
Users can view an instructor’s profile by clicking the instructor’s name in the search results. Course instructors can manage their profile here: Manage My Profile
Autumn Enrollment
Axess Enrollment will open for students on September 1st.
Course Data API
A course data API is available to students and faculty. This API allows developers to programmatically query the course database. For more information, please contact Jim Sproch
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