Stanford MBA Class Of 2026: Apps Up But 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 U.S. minorities grew from half to 53% of U.S. citizens and permanent residents in the class, the increase was driven by Asian-American students, who comprised 24% of U.S. citizens and permanent residents in 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 significant drop in under-represented minorities overall and Latino students in particular.

Editor’s note: This story originally incorrectly described a drop in Black enrollment in the Stanford MBA program, but in both fall 2023 and 2024 Black students comprised 8% of U.S. citizens and permanent residents in the class.

STANFORD MBA CLASSES 2019-2026: BY THE NUMBERS

Class Profile Class of 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Applications 7295 6190 6152 7367 7324 7342 7797 8173
Class Size 424 431 424 426 436 417 419 418
Women 44% 46% 44% 44% 47% 47% 41% 40%
Internationals 39% 36% 37% 47% 35% 43% 42% 41%
U.S. Minority 53% 50% 51% 48% 37% 27% 27% 29%
Work Experience 0-15 years 0-15 years NA 0-11 0-12 0-14 0-11 0-14
Average Work Experience 5.1 years 5.0 years 4.9 years 4.8 years 4.7 years 4.6 years 4 years 4 years
Average GMAT 738 738 737 738 733 734 732 737
GMAT Score Range 560-790 630-790 630-790 610-790 600-790 600-790 600-790 610-790
GRE Verbal Average 163 164 164 165 165 165 165 165
Verbal Range 152-170 149-170 149-170 149-170 150-170 149-170 155-170 150-170
GRE Quant Average 164 164 163 165 164 165 165 164
Quant Range 153-170 150-170 150-170 154-170 151-170 157-170 152-170 156-170
GPA Average 3.75 3.77 3.76 3.78 3.8 3.7 3.73 3.74
TOEFL Average 113 113 NA 113 113 114 113 112
TOEFL Range 104-120 104-120 NA 104-120 107-118 105-120 101-120 104-119
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 (real or imagined) 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

Class of 2026 Stanford Harvard Wharton
Applications 7,295 9,856 7,322
Enrolled 424 930 866
International Students 39% 35% 31%
Women 44% 45% 47%
Average Class GMAT 738 740* 732
GMAT Range 560-790 540-790 NA
Average Class GRE 327 326* 325
Undergraduate GPA 3.75 3.69 3.7
U.S. Minorities 53% 47% 35%
Black Students 8% 8% 6%
Hispanic/Latinx Students 7% 10% 8%
Asian American Students 30% 25% 20%
*Median; Source: School class profiles

BIG DROPS IN 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 to reverse the headwinds of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending affirmative action in college admissions. While Black students were 8% of the class in both fall 2023 and 2024, Latino students dropped to 7% from 12% — and overall, under-represented minorities declined to 22% of the class from 27%, lower than even the fall 2020 mark of 24%.

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 has struggled to enroll Latino students. In August, The New York Times reported that MIT as a university saw a precipitous drop in both Black and Latino enrollment, and the Sloan School’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

Student Backgrounds Class Of 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Consulting 20% 17% 20 16 17 20 19 19 18 16
Investment Management/Private Equity/Venture Capital 19% 19% 20 20 20 19 21 21 20 16
Technology 14% 13% 15 14 14 14 17 15 16 15
Government/Education/Nonprofit 9% 10% 8 8 8 10 10 8 9 13
Consumer Products & Services 7% 9% 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 7
Healthcare 6% 7% 5 7 7 5 4 4 5 NA
Financial Services 6% 5% 4 5 5 7 6 7 7 8
Military 5% 5% 4 4 4 3 2 3 3 3
Manufacturing 4% 3% 3 3 2 3 3 4 2 4
Arts/Media/Entertainment 3% 4% 5 7 7 5 4 4 6 6
Cleantech/energy/environmental consulting 2% 4% 3 4 4 3 3 3 6 6
Engineering, Math & Natural Science Majors 41% 41% 33 39 37 33 34 37 37 39
Humanities/Social Science & Econ Majors 41% 39% 47 45 44 50 48 44 48 48
Business Undergrad Major 18% 20% 19 15 18 17 18 19 15 13
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