Stanford GSB has announced a complete overhaul of its MBA curriculum for the class of 2009. In doing so it joins Yale SOM in radically changing its approach to graduate business education.
Here are a few of the changes at Stanford GSB:
- Accepted students will be expected to acquire basic accounting, finance and spreadsheet knowledge before they arrive on campus.
- All students will first look at managerial issues from a high-level perspective, and only later will they dive into nitty-gritty analysis and business functional tools.
- All students will participate in critical analytical thinking class–already being nicknamed CAT –where senior faculty will challenge students in small sections of only 12-15 people through thought-provoking discussions and written assignments.
- Following the fall quarter, students will take placement exams and consult with a faculty advisor to determine how they should study the functional areas of business given their skill level and goals.
For a summary of the changes, please see The New Curriculum: What’s In, What’s Out, or for a different perspective on the make-over, please see "Stanford’s New Look MBA" on BusinessWeek.
