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Personalized Curriculum

The Stanford MBA Program will help you develop your vision, and the substance required for achieving it.

This begins year one as you build your general management knowledge and gain global experience. Personalize your experience in the second year through electives, seminars, a joint or dual degree, and courses at other Stanford schools.

First-Year Curriculum Overview

General Management Perspectives

Dive into complex managerial issues with this series of courses. You will begin to gain insight into the perspective of a senior manager or leader and to understand the larger context of management. Through practical experience and detailed feedback from your classmates and leadership coaches, you’ll enhance your leadership style. You also will focus on developing your managerial skills, including managing in a global context.

General Management Foundations

Toward the end of your first quarter, develop a personalized plan for your General Management Foundations courses, which will provide the base for your general management education. These courses offer a menu of choices in each required discipline, calibrated to your skills, experience, and future goals.

Global Experience Requirement

Partake in one of the the many exciting opportunities that fulfills the Global Experience Requirement, including Global Study and Social Innovation Trips.

Second-Year Curriculum Overview

Electives

Take up to 18 electives to broaden your experience and perspective, or broaden your knowledge in a specific area. We add new electives or substantially revise existing topics every year to respond to changes in the business environment, and students’ interests. Your broad choices include:

  • Accounting
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Finance
  • Global management
  • Human resources
  • Information technology
  • Leadership
  • Managerial economics
  • Marketing
  • Operations
  • Organizational behavior
  • Political economics
  • Public management
  • Strategic management

Compressed Courses

Take a series of two-week compressed courses to build deep knowledge in specific business topics. These two-unit concentrated courses give you flexibility in your schedule to pursue career development and other interests.

Other Classes at Stanford University

You can take Stanford courses outside Stanford GSB and apply approximately 15 class units toward your MBA degree. You also can apply these units toward a second graduate degree or pursue specific interests in areas such as:

  • Arts
  • Computer science
  • Design
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Foreign language
  • Healthcare
  • Manufacturing
  • Politics
  • Public policy
Last Updated 1 Oct 2015