- Antitrust
- The main characters who are computer geniuses are Stanford alumni and they live in Palo Alto.
- Das Experiment
- This movie is inspired by the Stanford Prison Experiment.
- The Great Raid
- Captain Prince (James Franco) explains at the beginning of the movie that he had just graduated from Stanford University.
- How Stella Got Her Groove Back
- At the end of the film, Stella's beau, Winston Shakespeare, is planning to head to Med school at Stanford (Stella lives in nearby San Francisco).
- Invasion: Stanford 1991 A.D.
- Two alien janitors are stranded at Stanford University and plot to take over the world after cloning the bodies of two Freshmen.
- I.Q.
- James (Stephen Fry) gets a full professorship in applied psychology at Stanford.
- Jaws
- "The producers gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of The Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University."
- Lions for Lambs
- The Stanford Business School is mentioned in one of the scenes during a presentation done inside a classroom.
- Mei
- Filmed at Stanford University.
- RV
- Cassie Munro (JoJo) wants to go to Stanford. Later it is revealed that Mr. Gornickle (Jeff Daniels) went to Stanford University.
- The Spirit of Stanford
- The Spirit of Stanford finds high school quarterback Frankie Albert (Frankie Albert), cocky because of his football abilities, heading for Stanford.
- The Stanford Prison Experiment 2009
- Upcoming movie still in production. A drama based on the Stanford Prison Experiment which was ostensibly a psychological study of human responses to captivity and its behavioral effects on both authorities and inmates in prison. It was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University. Undergraduate volunteers played the roles of both guards and prisoners living in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Within one day things got out of hand, and the "guards" used unmonitored brute force on many of the inmates. The psychological profiles of the students had changed, and the interaction between prisoners and guards grew violent. When the prisoners staged a revolt, the study was immediately shut down, creating a legacy that grows more popular as years pass.
- Union Pacific
- The gold spike used at the ceremony to mark the end of the construction was the same spike actually used in the May 10, 1869 event, on loan from Stanford University.
- Chuck
- Chuck (Zachary Levi) gets kicked out of Stanford when he is accused of cheating. He returns to Stanford (filmed at UCLA) for a job with the CIA/NSA, and there are many other CIA operatives posing as Stanford Students
- Gilmore Girls
- Season 3, Episode 16, "The Big One", It is revealed that Max Medina (Scott Cohen) left his teaching position at The Chilton School and moved out of state when Lorelai broke off their engagement. He taught at Stanford for a while before eventually returning to his teaching position at Chilton.
- Greek
- Season 1, Episode 1,Scenes from Stanford University including Main Quad and Hoover Tower are featured in the opening credits.
- Journeyman
- Season 1, Episode 6, "Keeper", the brilliant brother Steven was attending Stanford University and getting his PhD in math before he cracked and started creating bombs.
- King of the Hill
- Connie (Lauren Tom) applies to a summer program at Rice University and doesn't get in, despite being a brilliant and accomplished student. Her father, Kahn (Toby Huss) is devastated. Frustrated with his dead-end high tech job, he comes to believe that his family's striving has been pointless. He quits his job and becomes a redneck layabout who doesn't pay the bills. Connie uses her parents' transformation from middle- to lower-class as leverage to get into a summer program at Stanford University instead.
- Veronica Mars
- Season 2, Episode 4, "Green-Eyed Monster", Veronica (Kristen Bell) says to her father (Enrico Colantoni) that the tip money she gets from working at "Java the Hut" won't pay for Stanford.
- Season 2, Episode 22, "I Am God", Veronica gets into Stanford. Angie (Kayla Ewell) also gets in. Logan (Jason Dohring) congratulates her for singlehandedly fulfilling the Stanford bitch quota.
- Season 3, Episode 20, "The Bitch is Back", Hearst, the founder of the fictional Hearst College, was a member of the Yale secret society, Skull and Bones. He started a secret society at Hearst and Stanford called, "The Castle."