Stanford Graduate School of Business

The Stanford Graduate School of Business is part of Stanford University in California. It is one of the leading business schools in America. Founded in 1925, Stanford Graduate School of Business has one of the highest ratios of applicants to available seats of any business school in the United States. The school regularly accepts less than 10% of applicants in any given application period. For example, out of 8,173 applicants in a recent year, only 418 were enrolled.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) only offers a full-time master of business administration (MBA) program, nothing part-time or online. Students can earn an MBA or PhD in one of seven areas, or even a dual degree in business and one of the following: law, engineering, education, medicine, earth sciences or humanities. Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of only three schools to offer a Sloan Fellows program, the other two are MIT and London Business School. Deemed the Stanford MSx Program, it is offered to candidates who are senior managers or will be a senior manager in the near future. This degree is completed in 12 months because it takes into account the work experience of its fellows.

Another unique feature of a Stanford Graduate School of Business education is that every student is required to go abroad before graduating, either for a short trip during the school year or for an extended period of time over the summer.

Tuition for full-time Stanford Graduate School of Business students in 2017 was $68,868 per year, which means a grand total of at $137,736 for the two-year degree, not including room and board or books. Factor in these costs, along with required medical insurance and other expenses, and the amount climbs to over $210,000. Fortunately, the average base salary for graduates is $144,455, the highest in the world according to Forbes. In return for this relatively high tuition, students attend classes and reside in $345 million worth of buildings completed in 2011.

Perhaps because of its proximity to Silicon Valley, many Stanford Graduate School of Business students are on the entrepreneurial path, looking to work in software, technology or internet services. These entrepreneurs have ready access to angel investors and venture capitalist firms.

In 2017, U.S. World & News Report ranked the Stanford Graduate School of Business as number four in the nation for business schools and awarded it the number two spot for entrepreneurship, management and non-profit.