New York University Stern School of Business
Poets&Quants Top Business Schools
Heather Soderquist December 5, 2016
Contact our general manager with any questions. Profile updated: January 14, 2022.
383 Lafayette Street
Tuition & Fees In-State: $302,192*
Tuition & Fees Out-of-State: $302,192*
Average Debt: 24,599 (as of 2020)
International: 19%
Minority: 28%
First generation college students: 15%
When do students declare their majors: Freshman Year
Acceptance Rate: 7%
Acceptance Rate Transfers: 14.7 (as of 2020)%
Average SAT: 1,531
Average ACT: 35
Average GPA: 3.9
HS Class Top Ten: 77.08 (as of 2020)%**
*The total cost of the degree over four years for the most recent graduating class inclusive of school fees, room, board, or living expenses.
** HS Class Top Ten is the percent of the student population that graduated high school in the top ten percent of their class.
*** Please note that these statics are provided for the business school major only whenever possible. If a school does not track these statistics separately, then the university-wide statistics are provided.
New York University's Stern School of Business took a balanced approach in climbing the rankings one position compared to last year. Like the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce, Stern moved one position past the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business to third place, its highest finish in the past few years. Stern has gained one position in each of the past three years, moving from fifth in 2019's rankings to fourth last year, and third this year.
While Stern has always placed well in the admissions standards and employment outcomes portions of this ranking, it was boosted this year thanks to a fifth-place finish in the academic experience category, which only includes data from a survey of the Class of 2018. That finish was buoyed by the fact that 99% of 2018 alumni that responded to the survey said they had at least one truly international experience, which was more than 11 percentage points higher than the next-highest school — the University of Michigan's Carlson School of Management with about 87%.
"NYU Stern truly is exceptionally international," one 2018 alumni told us. "In addition to making it a seamless experience to study abroad in Italy, Stern enables each and every student to travel overseas during their Junior Spring semester during a course called International Studies Program. During this course, we students studied in-depth the economy and industries of a certain nation (I chose Asia — Hong Kong). We then traveled as a class to Hong Kong during our Spring Break to meet with the company we were studying in particular and get hands-on experience in the country to supplement our learning in the classroom back in New York. My class studied Las Vegas Sands and even visited Macao while in Hong Kong to explore the company's properties and meet with executives to discuss their business and strategies."
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES PROGRAM A HIGHLIGHT AMONG RECENT GRADUATES
As the alum stated, the International Studies Program (ISP) is a highlight among recent graduates. Launched in 2001 as the Barr Family International Studies Program, the ISP gives every single student to take what is essentially an international business trip before they even graduate. The course is an entire semester in length but students spend Spring Break in one of three cities in Asia, Europe, or South America.
"(The) International Studies Program was very unique in that the duration of the class focused on studying one country — its history and drivers of the current economic environment it finds itself in," another 2018 alum. "We were able to more broadly consider some of the local nuances or legacy political barriers that can explain why some business succeeded or failed despite having widespread success domestically. Though our program led to presentations on paths to pursue for a local business in X country we focused on, the extended visit to immerse yourself in the market and experience the culture first hand was one that I would highly recommend for all NYU Stern students."
STERN'S FIVE PILLARS
Stern's undergraduate experiences are based on the five broad pillars of academics, global, social impact, professional, and community. For academics, Stern has tried to make its undergraduate program liberal arts-focused, allowing up to 50% of coursework to be in the liberal arts. Combining that with Stern's New York City location, and it provides a unique academic experience for business students.
In terms of social impact, Stern has actually created a four-course social impact focus that is required of all undergraduate business majors. "No other school does Social Impact like Stern," the school said in its submitted school survey. Highlighting the professional pillar is SternTalks, which are "TED-style" alumni presentations given to first-year students during the fall semester.
As for community, Stern says, "We support each other and foster an inclusive community where everyone can grow and excel." Starting in 2004, NYU began putting first-year students into cohorts that include orientation programming before school starts and a cohort-focused seminar course.
"Starting in 2019, all incoming Stern first-year students take the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessment, which measures their capability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural differences," the school also said in the school survey. "Students meet individually with a trained Stern administrator to understand their results and develop a personalized plan for growth."
A TRULY INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE, WITH HIGH EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES
All of this translates into what is probably the most international undergraduate business school experience currently offered in the U.S. That has also translated into very salty employment outcomes. The graduating Class of 2020 that had full-time positions started with an average salary of $80,064, which was only less than three other schools. It's employment rate of 95.22% was strong, as was its 96.30% internship rate for 2020 graduates.
Students looking for a truly international experience in an urban setting with strong job outcomes should put New York's Stern at the top of their list. Georgetown University's McDonough School is probably the only other top program that compares.
Alumni say:
"I was a Business and Political Economy major, which was uniquely structured to require three semesters abroad in London and Shanghai, followed by a senior capstone project on a subject of our choice. This program allowed me to receive a truly global education while fully immersing myself in some of the major financial hubs of the world. I never would have had this opportunity in another program or at another school, and I am exceedingly grateful to Stern for the priceless learning experiences I gained inside and outside the classroom."
"Our global studies program taught us business culture in Asia and took the entire class to Hong Kong for a week to immerse in the local culture. I additionally took a semester abroad in Madrid and was an International student, to begin with. All of that together truly gave me a perspective on different cultures and countries and how they think and do business. This significantly increased by business empathy and the ability to work with others."
"For junior year Spring Break, our class traveled across the world visiting three locations to meet with professionals from different businesses as well as experience different cultures. My group visited Sands China, going to both Hong Kong and Macau, where we were able to meet with professionals to discuss the business and its go forward initiatives. We later created presentations in class to discuss new potential initiatives or operational changes that could benefit the business. Also, being part of the larger NYU community, Stern students have ample opportunities to study abroad and experience different parts of the world and we maintain one of the highest percentages of students studied abroad of any school."
WHERE THE CLASS OF 2020 WENT TO WORK:
For an in-depth, exclusive interview with NYU Stern Dean of the Undergraduate College Geeta Menon, go here.