Apps Up But Stanford GSB’s Diversity Takes A Hit

Stanford joins other top U.S. and global business schools in reporting a huge rebound in MBA applications in 2023-2024. Stanford photo

The Great MBA App Rebound has been a major boon to business schools in the U.S. and globally. But it can’t solve all B-schools’ problems.

Stanford Graduate School of Business is the latest case in point. Poets&Quants‘ reigning No. 1 business school in the U.S., Stanford saw a nearly 18% jump in apps in 2023-2024 compared to the previous cycle that helped the school enroll a class that had more U.S. minorities and international students, the latter an especially impressive feat in a year when most B-schools are reporting declines in foreign student interest (more than made up for by a resurgence in domestic applications). Among its other noteworthy achievements the MBA Class of 2026 at Stanford matched the school record for average Graduate Management Admission test score.

But while minorities grew from half to 53% of the class, the increase was driven by Asian-American students, who comprised 24% of the previous class and make up 30% of the new one according to federal reporting guidelines. Unfortunately for Stanford, as at least a partial result of the 2023 Supreme Court decision gutting affirmative action in college admissions, the school saw a concomitant drop in Black and Latino enrollment — and a significant one.

STANFORD MBA CLASSES 2019-2026: BY THE NUMBERS

Source: Stanford GSB

MBA APP INCREASE ON PAR WITH PEER SCHOOLS

Stanford was one of the few top B-schools not to lose MBA app volume in 2022-2023, but that doesn’t mean the followup wasn’t a major success for the school. Its 7,295 apps in 2023-2024 represented the most the school received in three years since the MBA Class of 2023, which was inflated by applicants encouraged by the prospect of loosened admissions standards amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Stanford has a ways to go to get back to its record 8,173 apps received for the Class of 2019, but after two years in the low-6,000 range its admissions team surely breathed a sigh of relief when the last cycle concluded in the spring.

They weren’t the only ones. Among fellow M7 schools, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania’s 2023-2024 MBA app total of 7,322 missed being a school record by just 16 apps while representing an 18% bounce-back from the previous cycle, and Harvard Business School saw a 21% increase in apps. MIT Sloan School of Management saw a 16% increase in apps that allowed the M7 school to enroll a school record 49% women and a class that set a new school record for undergraduate GPA (3.7).

Other top schools that have reported their class profile data include:

Nor was the phenomenon restricted to the U.S.: In Spain, IESE Business School reported record apps, allowing the school to enroll its biggest-ever class and highest-ever percentage of women.

STANFORD VS. HARVARD VS. WHARTON: MBA CLASS OF 2026

*Median; Source: School class profiles

BIG DROPS IN BLACK & LATINO STUDENTS IN THE NEW MBA CLASS

The big bounce in apps helped Stanford remain a leader in GMAT (738) and GRE (327) scores over its rivals at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School (see above). But it was not enough ti reverse the headwinds of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending affirmative action in college admissions. Black students declined in fall 2024 to 8% of the class, compared to 11% in 2023, while Latino students dropped to 7% from 12%. Overall, under-represented minorities declined to 22% of the class from 27%, lower than even the fall 2020 mark of 24% that was the result of a pandemic-shortened app cycle.

Some U.S. schools have adjusted better than others to the 2023 SCOTUS ruling. NYU Stern School of Business reported an increase in URM students — that is, Black, Latino and other non-Asian minorities — in 2024, as did Dartmouth Tuck School of Business. Duke Fuqua School of Business reported that URM students jumped from 27% of the class to 40%, and Michigan Ross School of Business saw a 10-point jump in URM students, to 29%. Meanwhile, Wharton had a mixed bag (Hispanic students up, Black students down) and Yale School of Management saw a small decline.

Like Stanford, MIT Sloan School of Management struggled to enroll Black and Latino students. In August, The New York Times reported that MIT as a university saw a precipitous drop in Black and Latino enrollment. Sloan’s class profile shows that graduate business enrollment did not escape the decline. After reaching a high of 32% of the class four years ago, underrepresented minorities dropped to just 15% of Sloan’s MBA Class of 2026.

STANFORD GSB PRE-MBA INDUSTRIES & UNDERGRAD MAJORS MBA CLASSES OF 2017-2026

Source: Stanford GSB

CONSULTING TAKES TOP SPOT AMONG PRE-MBA INDUSTRIES OF THE CLASS

There were other noteworthy numbers in Stanford’s new MBA class profile. Among the most significant was the school taking a step back in the drive to gender parity: Stanford enrolled 44% women in the Class of 2026, down from 46% last year and the school-record 47% in each of the Classes of 2021 and 2022. Stanford currently trails both Harvard and Wharton in the enrollment of women, despite the latter finally dipping below 50% women this fall for the first time in four years.

Another interesting development is the growth of consulting as the dominant pre-MBA industry of new students. Consulting is the sole top sector among new students at Stanford for the first time since 2019, jumping from 17% to 20% while VC/PE/Investment Management remained stable at 19%. Tech, meanwhile, stayed in third place, growing to 14% from 13%.

In undergrad backgrounds, those with engineering, math, and natural science majors account for 41% of the class, same as the previous class, while those from the humanities, social sciences, and economics also comprise 41%, up from 39%. Business majors are 18% of the class, down from 20%.

DON’T MISS AT MIT SLOAN, HIGHER MBA APP VOLUME HELPS IN MANY WAYS — BUT DIVERSITY LAGS and MBA CLASS OF 2026: AT HARVARD, A MASSIVE REBOUND IN MBA APPLICATIONS 

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