MBA Apps Fall 22%, Class Size Shrinks By Nearly A Quarter At Emory Goizueta

A year ago, the story at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School was a steep drop in international enrollment. This fall, the problem is broader. Fewer people applied, fewer of those admitted chose to enroll, and the school decided to accept a much smaller class.

Goizueta received 1,226 applications for its two-year MBA Class of 2028, according to data the school submitted to Poets&Quants. That’s down from 1,581 a year earlier, a decline of 355 applications, or 22.5%. It ends a four-year run of growth. As recently as the Class of 2024, Goizueta drew 1,055 applications.

The school admitted 424 candidates, only 26 fewer than last year, and its acceptance rate rose to 34.6% from 28.5%. But only 98 enrolled, down from 128 in each of the previous two years. That’s a one-year decline of 23% and the smallest two-year class Goizueta has enrolled in at least five years. Yield, the share of admitted applicants who enroll, fell to about 23% from 28.4%, as calculated by Poets&Quants.

“This has been a challenging MBA market, and we are seeing many of the same shifts other schools are seeing, but our focus remains firmly on the quality of the Goizueta experience,” Melissa Rapp, associate dean of graduate admissions, tells P&Q. “We chose to enroll a smaller class because we believe the quality of the students, the experience we provide, and the outcomes they achieve matter more than hitting a number. At the same time, Goizueta has expanded its graduate business portfolio with new programs designed for students at different career stages and with different goals.”

A DELIBERATE CHOICE IN A DOWN MARKET

“Our smaller class size is in large part a reflection of an industry decline and shift in market demand for U.S. MBA programs that all business schools are facing,” Rapp says.

Goizueta’s decline is in line with the national picture, and somewhat smaller. In GMAC’s 2026 Application Trends Survey, applications to U.S. full-time MBA programs fell 27%, and MBA applications worldwide fell 13%.

“Given the market, we made a deliberate decision to enroll a smaller class rather than materially change our admissions standards or compromise the quality of the student experience and outcomes,” Rapp says.

EMORY GOIZUETA 2-YEAR MBA CLASSES BY THE NUMBERS

Data	Class of 2028	Class of 2027	Class of 2026	Class of 2025
Class size	98	128	128	125
Applications	1,226	1,581	1,383	1,104
Admits	424	450	509	432
Acceptance rate	34.6%	28.5%†	36.8%	39.1%
Yield	23.1%	28.4%	25.1%	28.9%
Avg. GMAT Focus	651	648	–	–
Avg. GPA	3.43	3.5	3.5	3.47
Avg. work experience	6.3 years	6 years	6 years	6 years
Women	38%	38%	32%	34%
Internationals	40%	36%	45%	48%
Countries	21	18	17	–
URM	53%*	41%	28%	25%
Military	6%	16%	–	–

Source: Emory. Class of 2028 yield calculated by P&Q from reported admits and enrollment. †Recalculated by P&Q from reported applications and admits; Emory previously reported 32%. *Share of U.S. students.

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TEST SCORES HOLD, GPA SLIPS

The smaller class supports Goizueta’s case on standards, at least where test scores are concerned. The Class of 2028 posted an average GMAT Focus score of 651, up slightly from 648 last year, with a median of 655. Twenty percent of the class enrolled with GRE scores.

The average undergraduate GPA slipped to 3.43 from 3.5, the first decline since at least the Class of 2024. The median is 3.40, and the range runs from 2.89 to 4.0. Students arrive with an average of 6.3 years of work experience, and their average age is 29.

THE INTERNATIONAL PICTURE

On paper, international enrollment recovered. Students from outside the U.S. make up 40% of the Class of 2028, up from 36% last year. It’s the first increase after three straight years of decline from 50% of the Class of 2024. The class also represents 21 countries, up from 18 last year.

In raw numbers, though, the trend hasn’t reversed. Forty percent of 98 is about 39 international students. That compares with about 46 last year and about 60 in the Class of 2025, a decline of roughly a third in two years. The domestic side shrank even faster. U.S. students number about 59, down from about 82, a drop of roughly 28%. The rising international share is mostly the result of fewer Americans enrolling.

Rapp acknowledges a drop in international applications at Goizueta. Nationally, GMAC found that international applications to U.S. graduate business programs fell 38% this year, a decline Rapp attributes to visa policy concerns and economic skittishness.

“While we experienced a decline in applications from international students, they remain an important part of the Goizueta experience, even as visa and policy uncertainty affect demand for U.S. degrees,” Rapp says. “We continue to recruit internationally and have particularly strong relationships in markets such as South Korea, where longstanding connections with Emory, Goizueta alumni, and students continue to drive interest.”

A LESS MILITARY CLASS

Women make up 38% of the new class, the same share as last year’s school record. In a smaller class, that comes to about 37 women, down from about 49.

The sharpest demographic shift is in military enrollment. Six percent of the Class of 2028 has a military background, down from 16% last year, or about six students compared with about 20.

“We have seen regular ups and downs in the number of veterans in the Two-Year MBA,” Rapp says. “Having multiple pathways for veterans – including our Master of Business for Veterans – reflects our commitment to veterans and military-associated candidates and isn’t a commentary on demand.”

Underrepresented minorities make up 53% of U.S. students in the new class, up from 41% last year. Rapp says the method for calculating the figure hasn’t changed. Seven percent of the class identifies as LGBTQ+.

BACKGROUNDS & INDUSTRIES

Business remains the most common undergraduate major, at 34% of the class, up from 31%. Humanities majors account for 15%, science 14%, engineering 11% and economics 10%, double last year’s 5%. The biggest change is in social science, which fell to 7% from 20%. Computer science (4%), law (3%) and public health (2%) round out the class.

Financial services is still the largest pre-MBA industry, at 18%, down from 20%. “Other services” accounts for 17%. Technology rose to 14% from 11%. Consulting fell to 11% from 16%, and government to 8% from 13%. Healthcare and pharmaceuticals account for 11%. Media and entertainment, which supplied 8% of last year’s class, fell to 1%. The rest of the class comes from nonprofits (6%), consumer products (5%), real estate (4%), manufacturing (3%) and energy (2%).

A RESTRUCTURED 1-YEAR MBA

Goizueta’s one-year MBA, which the school has just reorganized, didn’t make up for the smaller two-year class. Its new cohort of 30 students is spread across four tracks: Accelerated, Global, Healthcare and Real Estate. Rapp says this was the first year for all four, so there’s no comparative data. Last year’s single one-year class enrolled 37 students, according to an earlier version of the school’s class profile.

Students from outside the U.S. make up 27% of the one-year class, and the cohort represents five countries. Women account for 33%, and 7% have military backgrounds. Fifty-nine percent of U.S. students are from underrepresented minority groups, and 10% of the class identifies as LGBTQ+.

The one-year students bring more experience than their two-year peers. They average eight years of work experience and a 3.5 GPA. Across both formats, Goizueta enrolled 128 new full-time MBA students this year, the same number it enrolled in its two-year program alone a year ago.

DON’T MISS U.S. B-SCHOOL APPS PLUNGE 25% AS GLOBAL DEMAND SHIFTS TO EUROPE & ASIA and MEET EMORY GOIZUETA’S MBA CLASS OF 2028

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