Stanford's Master of Business Administration program is extremely comprehensive. Students are educated in various business core concepts such as accounting, management, marketing, finance, and operations management. Stanford does not offer concentrated MBA degrees. All graduates earn a general management degree; however, business students do have the option of attaining a second degree through Stanford's dual-degree program.
Stanford is extremely selective about admission into the Graduate School of Business. The entrance requirements are competitive. Applicants must first hold an undergraduate degree. Stanford describes its admission criteria in three ways: intellectual vitality, demonstration of leadership potential, and personal quality and contributions. Although Stanford does not list minimum academic requirements in their entrance requirements, admitted candidates generally perform very well in undergraduate studies and on graduate examinations such as the GRE and the GMAT.
Stanford's business school focuses on the detailed study of all areas of business; however, as a general business-management degree, there is a concentration on the study of business management. First-year students enroll primarily in management classes. Second-year students are allowed more freedom in the business classes they take. They are allowed to enroll in a mixture of business-elective classes to fulfill their business requirements, which can include a focus on finance, marketing, or any of the other various concentrations of business.
Stanford Graduate School of Business consistently ranks among the top business schools in the world. Forbes ranks Stanford's business school as the Number One Business School of 2009. It was ranked second in the U.S. News & World Report for 2009. Also, it was ranked fourth by the business magazines the Economist and the Financial Times in their global business school rankings for 2009.
Stanford's Graduate School of Business has graduated some of the most well-known business leaders in the world: Nike's CEO and Founder, Phil Knight, graduated from Stanford School of Business; Joseph Coulombe, Founder of Trader's Joe's supermarkets, is a graduate of Stanford; Richard Fairbank, a graduate of Stanford, went on to cofound Capital One; and Charles Schwab, renowned financial businessman and founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation, is also a graduate of Stanford School of Business.