Multiple School Records Made Or Matched By NYU Stern’s MBA Class Of 2026

New York University Stern School of Business has released its MBA Class of 2026 data — and it’s a real “wow” moment for the school.

Like many of its peers, NYU Stern reports a big rebound in applications to its MBA program. But Stern’s rebound comes with an exclamation point: Its 4,550 total apps in 2023-2024 represent a 48% increase from the previous app cycle — entirely reversing a two-year decline that saw applications to the top-10 B-school fall more than 22%, among the biggest drop-offs of any leading B-school, as Stern and others grappled with fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a relatively strong economy that kept prospective students in the workforce.

With the deluge — Stern’s highest app total in 15 years — came a slew of positive effects in more areas than most other schools that have so far published their data. Among them, from applicants’ perspective: Stern admitted 18% more applicants this cycle, saying “yes” to more candidates than it has since before the turbulent era of Covid-19.

NYU STERN MBA CLASSES 2021-2026: BY THE NUMBERS

NYU Stern	MBA Class of 2026	MBA Class of 2025	MBA Class of 2024	MBA Class of 2023	MBA Class of 2022	MBA Class of 2021
Applications Received	4,550	3,075	3,553	3,958	3,652	3,518
Admits	1141	966	962	771	1,059	915
Admission Rate	25%	31%	27%	19%	29%	26%
Enrolled	352	327	324	360	317	359
GMAT Average	733	732	733	729	723	721
GMAT Range	650-780	650-780	640-800	620-770	640-780	600-780
GRE Average	328	326	325	324	324	NA
GRE Percentage	23%	22%	21%	18%	23%	18%
GRE Quant Average	164	163	162	162	161	NA
GRE Verbal Average	164	163	162	162	163	NA
GPA Average	3.64	3.61	3.62	3.59	3.6	3.52
GPA Range	3.03-4.00	2.96-4.0	3.03-4.0	3.0-4.0	3.01-4.0	2.84-3.99
Women	47%	43%	45%	41%	43%	36%
Underrepresented Minority	22%	17%	21%	17%	12%	9%
International	40%	48%	44%	32%	32%	33%
Countries	50	46	41	32	30	36
Average Work Experience	5 years	5.2 years	5 years	5.1 years	5.2 years	5.2 years
Average Age	28	28	NR	28	28	28
Age Range	22-39	21-37	23-42	23-40	22-40	21-39

Source: NYU Stern

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A RECORD-SETTING CLASS IN SEVERAL WAYS

NYU Stern’s successful application cycle is by no means singular. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania’s 2023-2024 app total of 7,322 missed being a school record by just 16 apps while representing an 18% bounce-back from the previous cycle. Other top B-schools in the U.S. and Europe that have also reported a big jump in MBA applications: At Harvard Business School, MBA apps were up 21%; Yale School of Management was up 21.5%, and Dartmouth Tuck School of Business was up an incredible 36%. Duke Fuqua was up nearly 16% to an all-time app record, while the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis doubled its apps, and Michigan Ross School of Business, one of the leading public B-schools in the country, was up more than 35%. And the phenomenon is not 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.

But Stern’s flood of apps brought more big changes than most of its peers. Even with 18% more admits, the B-school’s admission rate dropped to 25%, lowest in four years, and its class size grew to 352, biggest since the pandemic-inflated class that began studies in the fall of 2021. Further, Stern reports:

• A new school record for women in the class (47%)
• A new record undergraduate GPA (3.64)
• A Graduate Management Admission Test average (733) that ties the record held by the MBA Class of 2024

Moreover, Stern’s Graduate Record Exam averages were higher this year in both the verbal and quant portions of the test than they have been in at least five years.

PRE-MBA INDUSTRY OF NYU STERN MBA CLASSES, 2024-2026

Industry	Class of 2026	Class of 2025	Class of 2024
Financial Services	22%	26%	24%
Consulting	19%	12%	12%
Technology	10%	10%	7%
Military/Government	7%	8%	8%
Entertainment/Media	5%	6%	5%
Nonprofit/Arts/Education	4%	6%	6%
Healthcare/Pharma	5%	6%	4%
Consumer Products/Retail	6%	5%	8%
Real Estate	3%	5%	4%
Advertising/PR	5%	3%	4%
Manufacturing/Trade	1%	2%	3%
Law	3%	2%	3%
Engineering	2%	2%	1%
Energy	1%	1%	2%
Other	7%	6%	9%

Source: NYU Stern

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A ‘LABORATORY FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING’

Perhaps most impressively given the current state of diversification efforts in higher education, the Stern School this fall reports its percentage of underrepresented minorities in the class grew from 17% to 22%, the highest in at least six years — remarkable for the post-affirmative action era ushered in last summer by the U.S. Supreme Court. Two other groups — LGBTQ members of the class and those from the military — declined only slightly, each to 11% from 13%.

It’s close, but it’s not the perfect class for Stern. The school saw a big drop in international students, from 48% of the class to 40%, mirroring declines at some U.S. peer schools as foreign talent looks elsewhere and domestic prospects more than fill the gap. However, even amid the decline, Stern’s class saw the number of countries represented grow from 46 to 50.

Notably, Stern — long a finance bastion by virtue of its New York City location — saw a drop in class members who hail from the finance industry, from 26% to 22%, and a corresponding jump in those from consulting. See table above and get more details from the Stern MBA profile here.

“We are thrilled to welcome NYU Stern’s Class of 2026 to campus in New York and are confident the wide array of experiences they bring will enrich the vibrant Stern community,” says Lindsay Loyd, Stern’s executive director for MBA admissions. “We can’t wait to share with this incoming cohort all that makes Stern so special — how we use NYC as our laboratory for experiential learning, faculty who impact the public and private sectors, and how the Stern MBA sets students up for life as alumni in a global network that is 110,000 strong.”

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