Northwestern Kellogg Becomes The 2nd M7 B-School To Achieve Gender Parity

For the first time in its long history the Northwestern Kellogg full-time MBA program will have 50% women. Kellogg photo

Gender parity in full-time MBA programs has long been a goal of business schools. More and more, it’s becoming a reality.

This fall, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management became the second M7 school to enroll 50% women in its full-time MBA program, following The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, which accomplished the feat for three straight years beginning in 2021. But Wharton’s streak ended this fall, making Kellogg the only one of the so-called Magnificent 7 business schools to currently enjoy an even split of women and men in their flagship program.

It’s a major milestone for the Kellogg School, which has come close to achieving parity each of the last three years, including enrolling 49% women in 2021 and 48% the last two fall intakes.

“The 524 students in this incoming class continue the high standards of excellence Kellogg is known for,” writes Emily Haydon, Kellogg’s assistant dean of admissions and financial aid, in a blog on the school website. “A record high 50% of these students are women, making this class the first in the Two-Year MBA program’s history to reach that milestone. As they join the community of women at Kellogg, they will find advocates, programming, resources and a supportive network, all dedicated to helping them grow into impactful leaders, both as students and long after graduation.”

NORTHWESTERN KELLOGG MBA CLASSES 2021-2026: BY THE NUMBERS

Northwestern Kellogg Full-Time MBA	Class of 2026	Class of 2025	Class of 2024	Class of 2023	Class of 2022	Class of 2021
Class Size	524	529	503	508	559	474
Women	50%	48%	48%	49%	40%	43%
Internationals	40%	39%	38%	36%	26%	32%
Underrepresented Minorities	7%	19%	23%	23%	NA	NA
LGBTQ+	11%	9%	8.2%	NA	NA	NA
First-Generation Students	10%	13%	NA	NA	NA	NA
Mean GPA	3.70	3.70	3.70	3.70	3.60	3.60
GPA Range	2.9-4.0	2.8-4.0	2.6-4.0	2.4-4.0	2.5-4.0	NA
Mean GMAT	733	731	729	727	727	730
GMAT Range	640-780	620-780	620-780	630-780	640-770	620-780
Median GRE Verbal	162	163	162	162	163	NA
Median GRE Quant	163	163	163	165	163	NA

Source: Northwestern Kellogg

BEST APP TOTAL ON RECORD

The enrollment of the most women ever in one cohort is not the only school record notched by Kellogg’s MBA Class of 2026. While maintaining the highest class undergraduate GPA of 3.70, the class set a new record Graduate Management Admission Test average at 733, up 2 points from last year. Kellogg also has the most international students in one cohort in the post-pandemic era — no mean feat in a year when foreign enrollment is down at many other top U.S. B-schools — and the highest percentage of students identifying as LGBTQ+ since the school started reporting that metric in 2022.

Most encouraging for Kellogg’s admissions, however, may be that the school saw a 23% jump in applications to the full-time MBA program, which amounts to a nearly 1,000-app increase given the school’s 4,316 apps in 2022-2023. Though Kellogg does not disclose its app total, based on the 23% figure that means it received in the neighborhood of 5,300 apps in 2023-2024, which would make it the most successful cycle on record.

Kellogg was not alone in that regard. 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. Stanford reports an 18% jump in apps, and MIT Sloan School of Management saw a 16% increase 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:

Yale School of Management apps were up 21.5%
Dartmouth Tuck School of Business was up 36%
NYU Stern School of Business saw an amazing 48% jump in apps
Duke Fuqua School of Business was up nearly 16% to an all-time app record, enabling the school to enroll 51% women this fall
The Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis doubled its apps
Michigan Ross School of Business, one of the leading public B-schools in the country, was up more than 35%.

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.

Source: Kellogg

KELLOGG’S DIVERSITY NUMBERS: A SOURCE OF BIG CONCERN

Kellogg is among the B-schools that publishes a GPA range, which demonstrates to prospective applicants that other aspects of their application can overcome a middling undergraduate record. In recent years that range has dipped as low as 2.4 on the front end; this year the range is 2.9-4.0. Likewise GMAT range: For three years running, the lower end of scores was 620, while the upper end has been 780; this year the lower end grew to 640. This is on the old version of the test; the newer version, which began to be used early this year, will have a lower range of scores by design.

Like many of its peer schools, Kellogg took a hit to its diversity metrics as it adjusts to a world where race-based admissions mandates have been eliminated: According to federal reporting guidelines, just 28% of the domestic population in Kellogg’s new MBA class are U.S. students of color, down from 42% last year, and 7% are under-represented minorities, down from 22%. Black (2%, down from 7%) and Hispanic (5%, down from 10%) student numbers are a particular cause for concern. (Editor’s note: Because of a backend error on the Kellogg class profile webpage, the school initially reported last year’s numbers for U.S. and underreported minorities, which was reflected in P&Q‘s story.)

The new Kellogg MBA class has the same average length of work experience as its two predecessors: 62 months. Eighteen percent of the class hail from the tech industry, down 1 point from last year, while nearly a third — 32% — are from consulting, up from 26%. Another 18% come from financial services, down 1 point, and healthcare saw a slight decrease to 7% from 8%.

Economics/business majors comprise 49% of the Kellogg Class of 2026, down from 50%, while STEM majors are 39%, up 1 point. Those with humanities majors are 24%, down from 25%.

THE M7 BY THE NUMBERS: 2023 EDITION

2023 Data (2022)	Harvard	Wharton	Columbia	Booth	Kellogg	Stanford	MIT	2023 Total/Average (2022)
Class Size	938 (1,015)	874 (877)	829 (844)	637 (621)	529 (503)	431 (424)	409 (408)	4,647/663.9 (4,692/670.3)
Acceptance Rate	13.2% (14.4%)	24.8% (22.8%)	22.4% (19.7%)	32.6% (30.1%)	33.3% (31.4%)	8.4% (8.6%)	17.8% (14.8%)	21.8% (20.3%)
Admits	1,076 (1,187)	1,533 (1,442)	1,215 (1,109)	1,364 (1,308)	1,439 (1,316)	521 (528)	947 (792)	8,095/1,156.4 (7,682/1,097.4)
Yield	87.2% (85.5%)	57.0% (62.0%)	56.2% (56.7%)	48.2% (48.5%)	36.8% (38.2%)	82.7% (80.3%)	43.2% (51.5%)	58.8% (60.3%)
Applications	8,149 (8,264)	6,193 (6,319)	5,430 (5,643)	4,184 (4,352)	4,316 (4,187)	6,190 (6,152)	5,317 (5,349)	39,779/5,683 (40,266/5,752)
Average GMAT	740 (730)	728 (733)	730 (732)	728 (729)	731 (729)	738 (737)	730 (730)	731 – 5 schools (732 – 5 schools)
Average GPA	3.73 (3.70)	3.60 (3.60)	3.50 (3.60)	3.60 (3.60)	3.70 (3.70)	3.77 (3.76)	3.61 (3.62)	3.65 – 6 schools (3.66 – 6 schools)
Average GRE	326 (326)	324 (324)	N/A (322)	325 (327)	*326 (N/A)	328 (327)	N/A (325)	325.7 – 3 schools (325 – 5 schools)
Women	45% (46%)	50% (50%)	44% (44%)	42% (40%)	48% (48%)	46% (44%)	46% (46%)	45.9% (45.4%)
International	39% (38%)	31% (35%)	47% (51%)	36% (37%)	39% (38%)	36% (37%)	40% (40%)	38.3% (39.4%)
US Students of Color	49%	41%	43%	49%	42%	50%	56%	47.1%