Housing

No. Stanford does not arrange for your stay prior to your scheduled arrival date. Host families cannot accommodate students before or after the official program dates. Similarly, the residence cannot check students in early or extend stays beyond the program's conclusion due to strict academic-year booking contracts. Your room (in your homestay or at the residence) will not be ready and available if you arrive before the program begins. The Paris Center can suggest a list of cheap hotels in Paris, should you be arriving early or leaving late. Please note that you cannot arrive late for orientation and must arrive on the scheduled arrival date (no later). In case of an emergency before the beginning of the program, please contact the Center.

Our host families provide Internet access to the students. The type of connection and the availability of the network however may vary, but it is guaranteed to be enough for students to be able to complete school work. Students staying at the residence will have access to a dedicated, high-speed Wi-Fi network throughout the building, including within their individual rooms, suitable for all academic needs.

We maintain a network of French hosts carefully selected with the students’ profiles in mind. Hosts come from a cross‐section of society; they belong to no particular professional or social milieu, but all are carefully chosen, and many have hosted American students for several years. Most homestays consist of a two‐parent household, but some may be single or retired women whose children have grown up and moved out. Students are seldom housed with families with young children, simply because most families with young children live in the suburbs due to the lack of space inside the city limits.

For the Residence: The residence provides a more independent, student-focused living environment, typically housed in a modern residential building. You will live alongside other international and French students, offering a vibrant, collegiate atmosphere. While you won't have the immediate cultural immersion of a local family, the residence features on-site staff, common study areas, and social spaces that foster a community of your peers.

For Homestays: All students are housed conveniently near a metro or tram station. All of our host families live in Paris or on the border of Paris. The commute one-way from your homestay to the Stanford Center should not exceed 40 min from door to door when taking the metro during peak hours, which is considered reasonable by Parisian standards. Our criteria in selecting hosts is not foremost based on geography, but above all on their ability to provide a positive atmosphere in the home.

For the Residence: Like our homestays, the residence is selected for its excellent proximity to public transit, ensuring you are never more than a short walk from a metro or tram station. The commute from the residence to the Stanford Center is highly accessible and falls well within the standard 40-minute Parisian commute.

No. While we do need to know the kind of environment most suitable for you (for example, are you sensitive to noise and would you prefer living on a quiet street), we do not place students according to their preferred neighborhoods or allow specific residence building selections. We do, however, ensure that students live close to metro stations to facilitate commuting to and from the Stanford Center.

In a Homestay: This is a difficult question to answer. While personality and lifestyle are considered when matching students and hosts, the quality and extent of the relationship is unpredictable and will depend on the effort made by each party. No matter what the configuration of the homestay, all enjoy having students live with them and sharing their culture. All families are welcoming, but participants are expected to adapt to the traditions and rules of their host family.

In the Residence: Living in the residence requires a strong sense of community responsibility and respect for your neighbors. You are expected to maintain courteous relationships with the residence staff and fellow students, adhere to building guidelines regarding noise and shared spaces, and independently manage your day-to-day schedule while representing Stanford positively.

Yes. Whether living at the residence or in a homestay, all students are provided with their own bedroom. For residence students, rooms are typically studio-style or single units; in rare instances in homestays, students have their own bathrooms.

In a Homestay: Some of our families have two rooms available. If you clearly state that this is your priority on the online orientation form, the housing coordinator will take your request into consideration. Please make sure you and your friend both agree on living together, that you have the same diet and you both desire this arrangement before submitting your online orientation form. On the other hand, if you do not wish to be placed with someone, please mention this as well.Your request will remain confidential.

In the Residence: Because residence housing consists of individual, single-occupancy rooms, you cannot share a room with a friend. However, if you and a friend both prefer the residence option, you may request to be placed in the same building, which the housing coordinator will consider based on availability.

In a Homestay: Bed sheets and towels are provided for. The family is responsible for providing laundry facilities, but it may be up to the student to wash their clothing themselves. In all cases, the student should use dry-cleaning services for any delicate items to prevent damage. The norms are one load of personal laundry per week and change of linen every 2 weeks.

In the Residence: The residence is equipped with a communal card-operated laundry room located within the building for student use. Students living in the residence are entirely responsible for doing their own laundry, including washing their clothes and personal linens, and must provide their own detergent.

In a Homestay: Food is a fundamental aspect of French culture and the idea of sharing a communal meal is strongly valued in France. In France, it is awkward when adults dining together at home do not eat the same food as one another. This is a part of what it means to be a good host to French people. During your stay, you may encounter foods that you have never previously tried. It is important to sample new foods as a courtesy to your hosts. Indicate that this is your first time trying the food that is being offered and be respectful if you find it is not to your taste. Who knows, you may be surprised by what you will like! Remember that for most aspects of French life, assimilation is expected. The French find it odd to cater to individual needs. While some restaurants in Paris have become more Americanized as an effect of tourism, you may encounter difficulties when asking for substitutions or changes on menu items. Please note students are not allowed access to the apartment's cooking equipment.

In the Residence: Students in the residence enjoy full independence when it comes to meals. You will have access to a shared communal kitchen. While you will not have a host family introducing you to French cuisine, you will have the freedom to cook for yourself, shop at local Parisian markets, and navigate dietary preferences entirely on your own terms.

In a Homestay: 7 breakfasts and 4 dinners per week are provided by the host families. 4 dinners per week provide an agreeable time for structured interaction over mealtime, without being a burdensome daily time commitment for either student or host. The rest of the time, Stanford students have a food stipend included in their program fees which will cover the meals not provided by their hosts. It will allow them to eat some of their meals out.

In the Residence: There is no structured meal plan provided by the residence. Instead, residence students receive an adjusted, higher food stipend included in their program fees to cover all of their weekly meals. This stipend is intended to fund grocery shopping and eating out at local cafes and restaurants. Here is a sample list of places around the Stanford in Paris Center where students can eat within the stipend budget.

Please be sure to communicate clearly to both the program (on your application and upon arrival in Paris) and to your host family any food allergies AND their severity (will eating seafood give you a slight stomachache or will it send you to the hospital?). We take food allergies very seriously.

In a Homestay: Please be sure to communicate clearly to both the program (on your application and upon arrival in Paris) and to your host family any food allergies AND their severity. We take food allergies very seriously. If you are a vegetarian or if you have any other special dietary needs, we will do our best to place you in homestays where such needs are more readily accommodated. However, most of our host families do not know how to cook vegetarian meals. You need to remember that in France, special diets are uncommon, and it may be difficult to stick to a vegetarian or vegan diet.The key to living life to the fullest during your time in France is to stay flexible and adaptable.

In the Residence: Because you are responsible for preparing or purchasing your own food, the residence option offers the most flexibility for students with severe food allergies, strict medical diets, or specific lifestyles (such as veganism or keeping kosher). You will have total control over your ingredients and cooking environment, though you should still report any life-threatening allergies to the Paris Center upon arrival.

In a Homestay: No. You will be able to come and go as you wish if this does not interfere with the family’s schedule. For example, families should not be woken up in the middle of the night, due to the noise of doors frequently unlocked and locked in a small apartment. Remember that living in a French family means adapting to a new lifestyle and rhythm. In any case, you should be courteous and let the family know in advance if you are going to be out late.

In the Residence: No, there is no curfew at the residence. You will receive an electronic key badge or door code allowing you 24/7 access to the building and your room. However, quiet hours are strictly enforced by residence management during the night out of respect for neighbors, and students must remain mindful of building security when entering late.

No. Overnight guests, including family members, are not permitted in either homestays or the residence due to program regulations, liability, and building safety codes.

Under certain circumstances only. For example, you can invite a fellow student over at reasonable hours to work on a class assignment together. If this is the case, remember to ask permission beforehand from your hosts, and to introduce the student to the host family members when they come over.