Students coming to Britain in the 1960s, '70s and early '80s lived in an idyllic rural setting, from which they emerged from time to time to make trips to London and elsewhere. For many their time at Harlaxton or Cliveden was one of the formative periods in their lives. The move to Oxford in 1984 changed the character of the programme in all kinds of ways. Students now live in the heart of a university city, the celebrated red door leading from the busy High Street into a residential centre made up of six old houses leased from Magdalen College. There are currently 50 students, and there are invariably many more applications than there are places available.
All students take tutorial courses with local faculty on subjects of their own choice.
Students are given access to the Bodleian Library - one of the great libraries of the world. Academic life is intense and demanding, but most students find themselves challenged and intellectually stretched in a novel and stimulating way. They can also join Oxford University clubs, and over the past few years many Stanford students have made a mark on Oxford life through sport, drama, music and other activities. The weather is still unpredictable, the English people still unfathomable, the Bodleian Library as Byzantine as ever in its impenetrability.