First-Gen, LGBTQ, Military & More: Key MBA Class Profile Data At The Top U.S. B-Schools

MBA class profiles have always evolved. In the United States in recent years, amid a concerted attack on diversity efforts in higher education, they have evolved much more rapidly.

This is particularly true in the last year, as U.S. universities and business schools seek to signal their continued embrace of diversity following last year’s demolishment of affirmative action by a conservative Supreme Court.

Most class profiles at the top U.S. B-schools now include ethnicity information that conforms to both federal guidelines and multi-identity reporting standards. This is in contrast to their counterparts in Europe and Asia, which in many cases are legally constrained from reporting racial identifiers. With few exceptions, the top European and Asian schools confine their class descriptions to work backgrounds, nationality, gender, number of students, and similar metrics.

TOP U.S. MBA PROGRAMS WITH THE MOST LGBTQ+ 

WHAT YOU’LL INCREASINGLY FIND IN MBA CLASS PROFILES

The differences between U.S. and global B-schools’ MBA class profiles extend beyond race to include other measurements of the diversity and experience of each particular group of strangers thrown together to learn advanced management principles. Increasingly in recent years, though still not universally, these include the percentage of first-generation college students in the class, the proportion who already have advanced degrees, the percentage with military backgrounds (active or veteran), and the percentage who identify as LGBTQ+.

Some schools also now include marriage status, or the percentage of students arriving with partners. Many, but not all, offer the average age of their incoming classes.

After test scores — Graduate Management Admission Test and Graduate Record Exam most often, though not always the latter — and undergraduate GPA, only one other metric is ubiquitous in MBA class profiles: work experience. No school omits the average, in years or months, of work completed by a class before joining its hallowed halls.

See the next page for what is and isn’t available from the top 25+ U.S. B-schools as ranked by Poets&Quants. And see P&Q’s reporting on women at the top U.S. and global B-schools and minorities at the top U.S. B-schools.

TOP U.S. MBA PROGRAMS WITH THE MOST STUDENTS WITH ADVANCED DEGREES 

CHANGES IN CLASS PROFILES AT THE TOP SCHOOLS

No top B-school in 2023 overhauled its MBA class profile to a greater extent than Washington Foster School of Business. Foster added three new metrics to its profile: first-generation students, LGBTQ+ students, and students holding advanced degrees before starting the program — and even led all top-25 B-schools (along with Duke Fuqua School of Business) in the latter category with 21%. Other B-schools that didn’t report one metric or another that began to do so last fall were Virginia Darden School of Business (LGBTQ+), Duke Fuqua (first-gen), UCLA Anderson School of Management (LGBTQ+ and military), Northwestern Kellogg School of Management (first-gen), USC Marshall School of Business (LGBTQ+), Emory Goizueta Business School (LGBTQ+), and Washington Olin Business School (military).

Schools with the most in each category:

• First-gen: Rice Jones Graduate School of Business (26% — 3-year average); Virginia Darden 21%; UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business and Texas McCombs School of Business (20% each)
• Military: Duke Fuqua (19%); Washington Foster (18%)
• Years work: Indiana Kelley School of Business (6.4); Duke Fuqua (6.1). Lowest years work: Florida Warrington College of Business (4.0); 4 other schools below 5 years including Harvard Business School
• Advanced degrees: Duke Fuqua and Washington Foster (21% each)
• LGBTQ+: Berkeley Haas (14%); Yale School of Management and NYU Stern School of Business (13% each)
• Highest age: Indiana Kelley (30)
• Lowest age: Georgia Terry College of Business (25)

TOP U.S. MBA PROGRAMS WITH THE MOST MILITARY/VETERANS 

NOTABLE INCREASES IN KEY METRICS

There were some noteworthy jumps in some of these profile metrics between the fall 2022 and fall 2023 intakes, in particular for first-generation students. Texas McCombs grew this population significantly, to 20% from 11%; as did Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business, to 19% from 11%. Berkeley Haas’ first-gens grew to 20% from 13%, and Virginia Darden’s to 21% from 16%. Northwestern Kellogg, reporting first-generation students for the first time, reported 13% of its incoming class as members of this group.

Military also saw significant growth in representation at a handful of schools: At Duke Fuqua, a big leap to 19% from 9%; at Washington Foster, doubled to 18% from 9%; at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, to 20% from 11%; and at Darden, to 14% from 8%.

Also notable: Stanford Graduate School of Business saw its students with advanced degrees grow to 17% of the class in 2023 from 13% in 2022.

TOP U.S. MBA PROGRAMS WITH THE MOST FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS

*Rice Jones publishes a 3-year average for all data in its MBA class profile

Next page: First-generation students, LGBTQ+, military, average age and more at 29 of the leading U.S. MBA programs.