Meet the MBA Class of 2022: Talented and Diverse

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Students at the Knight Management Center. | Tricia Seibold

This September, Stanford Graduate School of Business welcomed the largest class to date from around the world to its MBA program.

The members of the MBA Class of 2022 have very diverse backgrounds and experiences. Incoming students are from 66 countries, with international students making up 35% of the class, and 70 different languages are spoken. Women account for 47% of the class, and U.S. students of color comprise 37% of the total class or 47% of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Stanford GSB has focused on increasing the diversity of its student body on multiple dimensions. Student, faculty, and alumni engagement have been imperative to the progress made thus far. Although there is more work to be done, the MBA admissions office is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and is supporting these efforts in their work to attract, admit, and enroll each MBA cohort. In a commitment to providing transparency, for the first time, the school is sharing a more in-depth profile of the new MBA class. Identity is multidimensional and intersectional. Among the U.S. citizens and permanent residents in the Class of 2022, 212 identify as White; 92, Asian American; 39, Hispanic or Latino; 31, Black or African American; and 6, Native American or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Class of 2022,” said Kirsten Moss, assistant dean and director of MBA admissions and financial aid. “Their diverse experiences and backgrounds will help create a community that is capable of questioning traditional assumptions and envisioning new solutions to the challenges we face.”

Stanford GSB’s newest students, like those in previous classes, excelled academically. The average GMAT score is 733, the average GRE verbal score is 165 and the quantitative average is 164, and the average TOEFL score is 113. The average undergraduate GPA for those who attended U.S. schools with a 4.0 GPA scale is 3.8, which is the highest of any class to date. As undergraduates, 37% of students majored in engineering/mathematics/natural sciences, 44% in humanities and social sciences, and 18% in business. Fourteen percent of students are holders of advanced degrees.

The average work experience of the Class of 2022 is 4.7 years. Their employment background reflects tremendous professional variety, with students coming from 291 different organizations. Investment management/private equity/venture capital, consulting, and technology make up the top three categories. Government/education/nonprofit jobs are next, followed by arts/media/entertainment, consumer products and services, and health care categories, which are tied. More fields represented within the class include financial services, clean tech/energy/environmental, military, manufacturing, and other.

The Stanford MBA Program received 7,324 applications for the incoming class. The candidate pool is different every year, and the numbers and statistics for the class change to reflect the journeys of the new students. The one constant is how new students are uniquely positioned and committed to becoming leaders who transform their industries and communities.

The students who make up the Class of 2022 demonstrate intellectual vitality and leadership ability. In the MBA program, they will learn about the latest research, leadership, and business concepts from world-renowned faculty members, as well as talented classmates and industry leaders. Stanford GSB’s educational process leverages the uniqueness of students’ backgrounds, and through this student diversity, students become more aware of the experiences of other people and learn how to adjust their perspectives to succeed in their careers while uplifting humanity and the communities they serve.