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Stanford MBA Program

Joint and Dual Degrees

Your career goals may bridge academic disciplines and require expertise in multiple areas. Few universities offer the breadth of excellence across disciplines that Stanford does.

Joint Degrees

In a joint degree program, a single course may count toward multiple degrees. Your degrees must be conferred simultaneously, upon completion of degree requirements for both programs.

The Stanford GSB allows you to combine an MBA with a joint degree in education, environment and resources, law, or public policy.

JD/MBA

This joint degree allows you to simultaneously pursue an MBA at the Graduate School of Business and a JD from the Stanford Law School. You can earn the JD/MBA joint degree in 4 academic years of residence.

Application
  • You must apply and be accepted independently to both the Law School and the Graduate School of Business.
  • In your application to the Stanford MBA program, indicate that you are applying to the JD/MBA Joint Degree Program by marking the appropriate section under Application Information.
  • Use Essay B to support your rationale for the joint degree.
Degree Requirements
  • You must complete 75 semester units—the Law School at Stanford follows semesters rather than quarters—after the first year at the Law School.
  • To qualify for the MBA degree, you must complete 84 quarter units in business at the Graduate School of Business.
  • In this program, you cannot apply courses taken outside the Law School or the Business School for credit toward either degree or participate in operational or research training in the Law School.
  • After completing your first year at the Law School, you will take one year of courses at the Business School. During the remaining two full academic years, you take a variety of courses at both the Law School and the Business School.
MA Education/MBA

This joint degree allows you to simultaneously pursue an MBA at the Graduate School of Business and an MA Education at the Stanford University School of Education (SUSE).

Students who pursue this program have a wide variety of interests in education (both K-12 and higher education), including education policy, education management, the application of technology to education, and teaching and learning.

Application
  • In your application to the Stanford MBA program, indicate that you are applying to the MA Education/MBA Joint Degree Program by marking the appropriate section under Application Information.
  • Upload a Personal Statement in the section called MA Education/MBA (instructions are provided).
  • If you are admitted, we will forward your application and your Personal Statement for the MA Education/MBA joint degree program to the School of Education.
  • As an alternative, you may apply to the MA Education/MBA joint program during your Autumn Quarter of your first year at the Graduate School of Business.
Degree Requirements
  • You must complete 84 units at the GSB and 35 units at the School of Education.
  • The two schools will offer a menu of cross-listed courses particularly suited to the joint-degree program, which may allow you to earn the joint degree with somewhat fewer total units.
  • In your selection of SUSE courses, you must present a coherent, individualized program of study, pursuing a specific topic (e.g., education reform). Upon matriculation, you will be assigned an academic advisor who is a SUSE faculty member.
  • You will spend most of your first year taking MBA courses and take SUSE courses once you start electives. During your second year, you have the flexibility to take a variety of electives at the GSB and SUSE.
  • It may be possible to complete the MBA/MA Education joint degree program in two years (6 quarters). However, depending on your course load, you may need an extra quarter to complete the program.

Note: You may not enroll in the Stanford Teacher Education Program or the Prospective Principals Program. These are separate programs that require prior teaching experience and have a separate application process.

Master of Public Policy/MBA

The MPP/MBA joint degree allows you to simultaneously pursue an MBA from the Graduate School of Business and an MPP degree from the Public Policy Program at the School of Humanities and Sciences.

This joint degree might interest you if you wish to pursue a career in public policy or at the intersection of business and government.

Application
  • In your application to the Stanford MBA program, indicate your interest in the MPP/MBA joint degree program by marking the appropriate section under Application Information.
  • Use Essay B to support your rationale for the joint degree.
  • If you are admitted, we will forward your application to the Public Policy Program.
  • As an alternative, you may apply to the MPP/MBA joint program during your Spring Quarter of your first year at the Graduate School of Business.
Degree Requirements
  • You must complete 84 units at the GSB and 61 units in the Public Policy Program at the School of Humanities and Sciences.
  • The duration of this joint degree program is 8 to 9 quarters.
MS In Environment and Resources/MBA

If you're interested in a career addressing environmental issues either directly or peripherally, you can pursue an MBA from the Business School and an MS in Environment and Resources from the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Environment and Resources (IPER) at the School of Earth Sciences.

Application
  • In your application to the Stanford MBA program, indicate your interest in the MS/MBA joint degree program by marking the appropriate section under Application Information.
  • Only currently enrolled MBA students are eligible to pursue the joint MS/MBA.
  • MBA students apply to IPER in the spring quarter of their first year at the Graduate School of Business.
  • Once you are admitted to the MBA Program, you may apply separately to the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Environment and Resources (IPER) You may apply separately to the to the MS/MBA joint degree in the spring quarter of your first year at the Graduate School of Business.
Degree Requirements
  • You must complete 84 units at the GSB and 45 units in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Environment and Resources (IPER) at the School of Earth Sciences.

Dual Degrees

In a dual degree, you may apply credit from a course to only one degree, unless you have received specific faculty approval. You have the option to apply for an MBA with a dual degree in another field from Stanford or another university.

Students may also pursue an MBA simultaneously with other Stanford University graduate degrees such as earth sciences, engineering, medicine, or other fields.

Some may require more than the two years of study at the Stanford GSB. Typically, students apply to the other department in their first year in the MBA Program and take classes toward the dual degree in their second year at the GSB.