Stanford

Stanford is number 1 on the overall ranking of US business schools. The Stanford-based school is known for its many aspiring tech entrepreneurs and close ties to Silicon Valley. These provide highly sought-after career opportunities to Stanford graduates. The school came in No. 1 in both networking and entrepreneurship in 2025. “No matter how niche or different an idea you have, there is always someone at the GSB who’s willing to listen to your idea and is willing to work with you to build that idea,” one graduate notes.

Of the five indexes this ranking is based on — Compensation, Learning, Networking, Entrepreneurship and Inclusion — Stanford ranked 1st in Networking and Entrepreneurship, 2nd in Compensation, 7th in Learning and 32nd in Inclusion. Index scores are based on student and alumni survey responses as well as salary data the school reports to MBA CSEA.

Index Ranks

Index Scores

Student Population

The breakdown below is compared with other US schools. Collected gender and non-binary data is for all students in the newest class, which for most schools is the Class of 2026. Stanford reported 56% male and 44% female/non-binary.

Bloomberg also collects data on race and ethnicity from US schools — they provide us with percentages of the first-year class of American students for the following groups: White, Black, Asian, American Indian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic (of any race). These groups are categorized as such by the schools when submitting data to the federal government.

Hires by Industry

Stanford sent the majority of its recent MBA graduates, those with jobs, into Financial Services, Technology Industry and Consulting Industry.

Compensation by Industry

The median base salary across all industries reported by Stanford graduates is $185,000; the median signing/starting bonus is $30,000.

Demographics

Survey respondents weigh in on their school’s population, answering broad questions about what campus life is like for female, LGBTQ, and minority students.