Yale’s MBA Program Is Now STEM Designated

Yale University’s School of Management has won STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) designation for its MBA program. Beginning with students in the Class of 2026, MBAs at Yale on a student visa will be able to apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion optional practical training (OPT) if they meet the eligibility criteria.

For the last eight years, but especially since 2019, business schools from the upper tier of the rankings to the unranked have established STEM tracks, concentrations, pathways, and more in their MBA and other graduate degree programs. (See a comprehensive list of schools and their STEM pathways here.) The University of Wisconsin Business School was first to recognize the implications of “going STEM” not only for visa eligibility but for long-term employability, too, and dozens of B-schools have followed their example.

“This change in classification recognizes the widespread application of management science in our MBA core curriculum,” says Anjani Jain, deputy dean for academic programs and professor in the practice of management, in a statement. “All of our MBA students gain facility with statistics, operations management, mathematical modeling, optimization, game theory, and other important concepts of management science. Indeed, these skills are foundational for leaders who want to have impact across industries, regions, and sectors.”

MANAGEMENT SCIENCE TAKES CENTERSTAGE IN YALE MBA PROGRAM

The SOM integrated core curriculum, which all MBA students take, uses stakeholder perspectives to teach key management concepts in the context of leadership decisions that affect organizations and society. Rigorous utilization of management science is integral to the core curriculum, and classes such as Probability Modeling and Statistics, Modeling Managerial Decisions, and Operations Engine give students in-depth instruction in technical fields.

In addition, MBA students may choose from STEM-based elective courses across the school and the broader university, including Large Language Models: Technology and Applications, Advanced Business Analytics, Quantitative Investing, and Game Theory and Market Design.

Previously, only the management science major within the MBA program was designated as STEM-eligible.

DON’T MISS: All The Major STEM Programs At U.S. Business Schools