In the second part of the Stanford MBA Analysis, we cover Stanford’s core courses, electives, social innovation, international experience, curriculum for Entrepreneurial studies and Dual/Joint Degree programs. To evaluate Stanford MBA’s class profile and total cost, read the first part of the series – Stanford MBA Total Cost.
Stanford MBA Course Schedule
Stanford's 24-month MBA program is divided into two years, with coursework in the first year consisting primarily of core requirements, distribution requirements, and the possibility of one or two electives.
In the second year of the program, students take electives to round out their general management education, apply key concepts to practical challenges, and explore their hobbies and passions.
In this Stanford MBA Curriculum Analysis, we cover:
1) Core Requirements
2) Stanford MBA – Year One (Courses)
3) Stanford MBA – Year Two (Electives around Business disciplines & Interdisciplinary)
4) Stanford MBA – Global and Experiential Learning
5) Stanford MBA – Industry-Focused Student Clubs
1) Core Requirements
The first year focuses on the foundation of General Management: Finance, Leadership, Marketing, Operations, Human Resource Management, and informed decision-making.
| Core Requirements (Year 1) | Distribution Requirements | Electives (Areas of Academics) |
| Data Analysis and Decision Making | Finance II | Accounting |
| Leading with Values | Human Resource Management | Operation Info & Technology |
| Finance I | Information Management | Finance |
| Financial Accounting | Macroeconomics | Organizational Behavior |
| Leadership Laboratory | Managerial Accounting | General & Interdisciplinary |
| Managerial Skills | Marketing | Marketing |
| Managing Groups and Teams | Operations | Human Resource Management |
| Microeconomics | Strategy | Strategic Management |
| Optimization and Simulation Modeling | Strategy Beyond Markets | Economic Analysis and Policy |
| Organizational Behavior | Political Economics |
2) Stanford MBA - Year One (Courses)
Stanford MBA’s first year is all about building a business toolkit while giving students room to explore their individual goals.
Unlike programs with rigid core curriculum, Stanford offers flexibility: students can adjust core course levels based on their experience and start electives sooner, shaping their journey toward specific industries like private equity, venture capital, technology or consulting.
Autumn Quarter: A Common Core
The first quarter immerses everyone in a shared business foundation.
Courses like Data & Decisions teach how to analyze data for better decision-making, while Global Management Foundations focuses on cross-border leadership and cultural dynamics, a must for anyone pursuing global roles.
Ethical leadership takes center stage in Leading with Values, which moves beyond theory into practical dilemmas faced in high-stakes industries.
Finance I and Financial Accounting lay the essential groundwork in valuation and financial analysis, skills crucial for roles ranging from venture investing to product management.
The Leadership Laboratory and Managing Groups and Teams help students understand themselves as leaders and navigate complex team dynamics, an experiential edge that defines the Stanford experience. Meanwhile, courses like Microeconomics, Optimization and Simulation Modeling, and Organizational Behavior teach students to analyze markets, solve operational challenges, and understand human behavior in organizations.
Distribution Requirements: Shaping Your Path
After the core, students customize their curriculum through distribution requirements across key business areas:
• Finance II offers tracks from corporate finance to global markets, vital for those eyeing investment careers.
• Human Resource Management explores how analytics drives modern organizational design, a critical skill for consultants and founders.
• Information Management examines how digital platforms thrive, essential for tech leaders and investors.
• Macroeconomics turns geopolitical shifts into business insight.
• Managerial Accounting, Marketing, and Operations help future leaders translate data into strategic action, drive growth, and build operational excellence.
• Strategy ties everything together, focusing on competitive advantage, and extends into Strategy Beyond Markets, equipping students to navigate regulatory, social, and political forces that increasingly shape business.
Stanford’s first-year MBA curriculum is designed for the complex, interconnected world modern leaders face.
In-Depth Analysis from F1GMAT's Research Desk (Edited by Atul Jose, Founding Consultant)
For those who are serious about mastering how each course connects to industries like private equity, venture capital, consulting, or technology, our premium analysis offers deeper insights into specific electives, advanced tracks, and how Stanford’s curriculum shapes real-world career outcomes.
Mapping Stanford MBA Curriculum to Why Stanford MBA Essay:
Mapping the USP of Stanford's MBA Curriculum with the gaps in your skills and exposure is essential to write a persuasive Why Stanford MBA Essay. See the Context:
- Why Stanford MBA Example: Consulting (Career Growth)
- Why Stanford MBA Example: Entrepreneurship (Tech Entrepreneur)
- Why Stanford MBA Example: Career Switching (Finance to Energy Consulting)
- Why Stanford MBA Example: Career Switching (Private Equity to Operations)
- Why Stanford MBA: Career Switching (Industry and Function – Oil & Gas to Consulting in Operations) (389 Words)
- Why Stanford MBA: Career Switching (Design Engineer in Automobiles to Managing the Products of the Future) (391 Words)
- Why Stanford MBA: Career Switching (Accounting to Private Equity) (395 Words)
- Why Stanford MBA: Dual Degree (MBA and Public Policy) (380 Words)
- Why Stanford MBA: Career Switching (Investment Banking to Venture Capital) (393 Words)
- Why Stanford MBA: NASA Missions to Mitigating Risks of Global Flooding (393 Words)
Download F1GMAT’s Stanford MBA Essay Guide for examples
Stanford MBA - Year 2
In the second year, Stanford GSB students shape their MBA around their career goals by choosing from over a hundred electives across business disciplines.
Popular electives cover finance, marketing, technology and innovation, leadership, and the intersection of business and policy.
Electives range from financial modeling and private equity to product management, AI applications, and sustainability.
Students can delve into a single sector or explore the connections between business, technology, society, and global challenges.
| Accounting | Strategic Management | General & Interdisciplinary |
| Alphanomics: Informational Arbitrage in Equity Markets | Building and Managing Sales Organizations | Assessing and Developing Leadership |
| Analysis and Valuation of Emerging Markets | Competitive Strategy for Technology Markets | Climate Finance in Private Markets |
| Financial Statement Analysis | Conversations in Management | Climate Tech for Rapid Decarbonization |
| Finance | Entrepreneurship | Strategic Philanthropy and Impact Investing |
| Angel and Venture Capital Financing for Entrepreneurs and Investors | Ecopreneurship: Pioneering Sustainability Ventures | Creating a New Venture in a Developing Economy |
| Capital Markets and Institutional Investing | Entrepreneurial Acquisition | Creating and Scaling High Potential Ventures in Developing Economies (Cases) |
| Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Leadership | Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital | Disruptions in Education |
| The Chinese Economy and Financial Markets | Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital: Partnership for Growth | Education Policy in the United States |
| Corporate Financial Modeling | Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives | The Enduring Enterprise |
| Debt Markets | Entrepreneurship: Formation of New Ventures | Engineering a Remarkable Life |
| Economics of the Private Equity Industry | Fundamentals of Effective Selling | Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Education Technology Seminar |
| Financial Restructuring | Health Information Technology and Strategy | Essentials of Strategic Communication |
| Financial Trading Strategies | Impact: Assessing High Impact Business Models in Emerging Markets | Financial Management for Entrepreneurs |
| Investment Management and Entrepreneurial Finance | Impact: From Idea to Enterprise | Fiscal Policy |
| Is This a Good Business? Financial Analysis of Business Models | Impact: Taking Social Innovation to Scale | Freedom, Democracy, and Capitalism |
| Private Equity — An Overview of the Industry | Leading Change in Public Education | Global Trip Leadership Skills |
| Leading from the Boardroom: Governance Principles and Practices | High-Stakes Decision Making | |
| Leading Strategic Change in the Health Care Industry | Housing and the Mortgage Market | |
| Operations Info & Technology | Longevity: Business Implications and Opportunities | I’m Just a Bill |
| Biodesign Innovation: Needs Finding and Concept Creation | Managing Growing Enterprises | Impact Leadership: Building Business Models and Learning from those that Created Them |
| Biodesign Innovation: Concept Development and Implementation | Moore’s Law and the Convergence of Computing and Communications: Strategic Thinking in Action | Impact: Investing for Good |
| Design for Extreme Affordability | Product/Market Fit | Innovation and Management in Health Care |
| Riding the Next Wave in Developing Economies | Leadership and Crisis Management | |
| Marketing | Search Fund Garage | Leadership Demystified |
| Consumer Behavior | Spontaneous Management | Leadership for Society Seminars |
| Customer Acquisition for New Ventures | Startup Garage: Design | Mission and Money in Education |
| Customer Experience Design (CxDesign) | Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation in Established Firms | Negotiation Dynamics in Sports, Entertainment, and Media |
| Go to Market | Strategies of Effective Product Management | Neuroscience and the Connection to Sustained Excellence |
| Humor: Serious Business | Strategic Thinking in Action — In Business and Beyond II (Automotive Industry Disruption) | Policy Time |
| Persuasion: Principles & Practice | Systems Leadership | Political Communication: How Leaders Become Leaders |
| Understanding AI Technology for Business Problems | The Yin and Yang of Family Business Transitions | Power and Institutions in the Global Economy |
| Transforming Education Through Entrepreneurship | Problem Solving for Social Change | |
| Organizational Behavior | Political Economics | Public Policy for Climate Innovation |
| Global Leadership | Energy: Innovation, Policy & Business Strategy | Real Estate Investment |
| Interpersonal Dynamics | Finding Religious and Spiritual Meaning at Work: Business Exemplars | Reputation Management: Strategies for Successful Communicators |
| Leadership Coaching | Global Business, Religion, and National Culture | Sports Business Management |
| Leadership Fellows I | The Business World: Moral and Spiritual Inquiry through Literature | Strategic Communication |
| Leadership Fellows II | The Future of Cities: Entrepreneurship, Policy and Business Strategy | Strategic Pivoting for your Next Chapter |
| Leadership in the Entertainment Industry | Taxes and Business Strategy | |
| Leadership Perspectives | Economic Analysis and Policy | (The Art of) Leading in Challenging Times |
| Leading and Managing Health Care Organizations: Innovation and Collaboration in High Stakes Settings | Economics of Labor: Strategy, Policy, and the Future of Work | The Care Economy |
| Negotiations | Measuring Impact in Business and Social Enterprise | The Entertainment Industry — An Intersection of Art and Commerce |
| The AI-powered Org: Evolution, Rebirth or Death? | The Technology, Politics, and Finance for Solving Global Warming | |
| The Paths to Power | The University (and Other Organizations) in Crisis | |
| Understanding Diversity in Organizations | U.S.-China: Strategic Competition and Cooperation | |
| Winning Writing |
Stanford MBA – Global and Experiential Learning
Beyond its core curriculum, Stanford GSB offers many ways for MBA students to gain practical and global experience.
Global Learning
Students can explore international business through:
• Global Management Immersion Experience (GMIX): A four-week summer project abroad, applying MBA skills in diverse industries and regions.
• Global Study Trips: Shorter 10-day trips focused on business challenges in specific countries.
• Stanford-Tsinghua Exchange Program (STEP): A collaborative program with Tsinghua University in China, combining joint projects and cultural exchange.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Stanford GSB has a strong entrepreneurial focus.
Students can choose from over 50 courses covering venture creation, industry-specific innovation, social impact, and business growth.
Key resources include:
• The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) for research and community connections.
• Stanford Venture Studio for testing startup ideas.
• Specialized summer programs supporting ventures and sustainability-focused projects.
Social Innovation
The Center for Social Innovation offers programs and fellowships for students interested in impact-driven careers.
Dual and Joint Degrees
Around 20% of GSB students pursue joint or dual degrees, combining the MBA with disciplines such as law, education, public policy, engineering, or medicine, either at Stanford or partner institutions like Harvard or Yale.
Stanford GSB’s wide range of global, entrepreneurial, and interdisciplinary opportunities allows students to customize their MBA experience and prepare for diverse career paths.
Stanford MBA – Industry-Focused Student Clubs
Stanford GSB’s student-led clubs provide strong industry exposure, networking, and career preparation aligned with top post-MBA career paths. Whether students are pursuing roles in finance, consulting, technology, private equity, venture capital, investment management, or entrepreneurship, these clubs offer access to speaker events, career treks, case competitions, and peer mentorship. Many also collaborate with Stanford’s broader ecosystem, including faculty centers and research initiatives, giving students a well-rounded industry experience.
Finance & Investment Management
• Finance Club
• Investment Management Club
• FinTech Club
Consulting & General Management
• Management Consulting Club
• General Management Club
Private Equity & Venture Capital
• Private Equity Club
• Venture Capital Club
• Search Fund Club
Technology
• Tech Club
• Product Management Club
Entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneur Club
• Startup Garage Alumni Club
• Social Entrepreneurs Club
Curious how these options connect to specific careers or industries? Explore our premium analysis for deeper insights.
Related Service: F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Application Essay Editing Service
Related Book: F1GMAT’s Stanford MBA Essay Guide
Reference
Stanford MBA Analysis
