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MIT Sloan MBA Class Of 2027: International Ranks Grow, But U.S. Diversity Stays Flat
The MIT Sloan School of Management enrolled 450 students in its MBA Class of 2027, its second-largest class in nearly a decade. The M7 also increased its share of international students even as many U.S. business schools saw declines. (Courtesy: Above Summit/MIT Sloan)
MIT Sloan School of Management enrolled its second-largest MBA class in nearly a decade, welcoming 450 students for the Class of 2027 — up 3.9% from last year’s 433, but down 7% from its eight-year high of 484 for the Class of 2022 (enrolled in fall 2020.)
The M7 school did not report either its application volume or admit rate for the new class, but its strong enrollment suggests Sloan’s MBA program managed to sustain the surge of applications that began in 2023–2024 when apps jumped 16% to 6,181.
Even more notable: Sloan bucked a national trend that seems to be emerging of declining international enrollment at U.S. business schools. The share of international students in its new class climbed to 42%, up from 40% the previous three years, while peer schools such have reported declines for their 2027 classes.
While Sloan’s post-pandemic momentum is moving forward, its latest class profile also reveals a continued struggle in U.S. diversity which has yet to recover from steep declines following the Supreme Court’s 2023 affirmative action ruling.
BY THE NUMBERS: MIT SLOAN MBA CLASSES 2020-2027 | ||||||||
Class of 2027 | Class of 2026 | Class of 2025 | Class of 2024 | Class of 2023 | Class of 2022 | Class of 2021 | Class of 2020 | |
| Applications | NR * | 6181 | 5317 | 5349 | 7112 | 6350 | 5260 | 5560 |
| Enrolled | 450 | 433 | 409 | 408 | 450 | 484 | 416 | 409 |
| Admit Rate | NR * | 14% | 17.80% | 14.80% | 12.10% | 22% | 14.60% | 12.10% |
| International | 42% | 40% | 40% | 40% | 43% | 33% | 42% | 38% |
| Countries Represented | 61 | 53 | 60 | 63 | 64 | 51 | 54 | 49 |
| Women | 47% | 49% | 46% | 46% | 44% | 38% | 41% | 42% |
| URM | 15% | 15% | 28% | 32% | 23% | NA | NA | NA |
| Average Work Experience | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 4.9 years |
| Median Class GPA | 3.69 | 3.7 | 3.61 | 3.62 | 3.59 | 3.54 | 3.58 | 3.48 |
| Median Class GMAT | 720 | 730 | 729 | 730 | 730 | 725 | 730 | 730 |
| Mid-80% GMAT Range | 710-760 | 690-760 | 700-760 | 690-760 | 690-760 | 690-760 | 700-760 | 700-760 |
| Median GMAT Focus | 675 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Mid-80% GMAT Focus Range | 645-735 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Median Class GRE | NR * | NA | 327 | 325 | 325 | NA | NA | NA |
| Mid-80% GRE Quant Range | 159-170 | 159-170 | 157-168 | 158-169 | 158-169 | 156-168 | 156-168 | 158-169 |
| Mid-80% GRE Verbal Range | NR * | 157-168 | 155-167 | 157-168 | 157-168 | 154-168 | 156-168 | 154-169 |
| % GRE | NR * | 39% | 34% | 32% | 24% | NA | 24% | NA |
| Source: MIT Sloan website | ||||||||
| * Not Reported | ||||||||
ONGOING STRUGGLES IN U.S. DIVERSITY
Last year’s 49% women set a school record. While the Class of 2027 dipped slightly to 47%, it’s still a strong gender balance compared to its M7 peers. The international share climbed to 42% with students hailing from 61 countries, eight more than the year before.
Diversity among its U.S. students, however, remains a low point on MIT’s data tables. Black and Latino enrollment dropped from 28% to 15% in last year’s class following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling ending affirmative action.
“At MIT Sloan, our academic leadership strongly believes in the value of diversity in our community — both in its importance to our students’ experience and because it contributes to the generation of new ideas and solutions to complex problems,” a Sloan spokesperson told Poets&Quants last year.
“Although we faced new constraints this year as a result of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling on the use of race and ethnicity in admissions, we will continue to explore ways to ensure we are able to attract and enroll talented students from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented in graduate business education, within the constraints of the law.”
The Class of 2027 at least maintained the 15% of URM students (Black, Latino and other non-Asian minorities.) Its U.S. students are 49% white, 29% Asian,12% Latino, and 3% Black.
INTERNATIONAL ENROLLMENT BUCKS TREND
Based on class profiles reported by other schools this fall, MIT’s Sloan international enrollment may be a bright spot. It increased its percentage of international students for the Class of 2027 to 42%, up from 40% the three previous years.
Several other U.S. schools have reported significant drops. Emory University’s Goizueta Business School’s international enrollment fell to 36% for the Class of 2027, down from 50% for the Class of 2024 and 48% for the Class of 2025.
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, UCLA Anderson School of Management, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania have similarly struggled to maintain their international mix, a trend tied to shifting visa policies, rising costs, growing hostility toward immigration under the Trump administration, and intensifying competition from overseas programs.
MIT SLOAN MBA CLASSES 2020-2026: PRE-MBA INDUSTRIES & UNDERGRAD MAJORS | ||||||||
| INDUSTRY | Class of 2027 | Class of 2026 | Class of 2025 | Class of 2024 | Class of 2023 | Class of 2022 | Class of 2021 | Class of 2020 |
| Consulting | 35%% | 30% | 26% | 23% | 22% | 22% | 26% | 21% |
| Financial Services | 18% | 21% | 17% | 23% | 21% | 17% | 17% | 19% |
| Technology | 17% | 20% | 23% | 14% | 16% | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Government/Education/Nonprofit | 7% | 10% | 10% | 14% | 12% | 13% | 13% | 14% |
| Pharma/Healthcare/Biotech | 6% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 9% | 9% | 6% |
| Consumer Products/Retail | 3% | 5% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% |
| Other | 6% | 3% | 7% | 7% | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Media/Entertainment/Sports | 1% | 2% | 1% | 0.50% | 2% | 1% | NA | NA |
| Manufacturing | 4% | 1% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 8% |
| Energy | 1% | 1% | 2% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 7% |
| Automotive/Transportation/Defense | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 4% | NA | NA |
| UNDERGRAD MAJORS | ||||||||
| Engineering | 27% | 29% | 33% | 29% | 33% | 33% | 33% | 31% |
| Business | 23% | 22% | 16% | 23% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 20% |
| Economics | 17% | 15% | 18% | 17% | 19% | 19% | 21% | 21% |
| Computer Science | 10% | 9% | 6% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Math & Science | 10% | 8% | 12% | 15% | 9% | 10% | 11% | 7% |
| Social Sciences | 5% | 6% | 5% | 10% | 6% | 8% | 8% | NA |
| Other | 5% | 5% | 6% | 1% | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Humanities | 2% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 4% | 4% | 5% | NA |
| Law | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | NA |
CONSULTING SURGES, TECH SLOWS
The composition of the Sloan class continues to mirror the job market. Consulting now accounts for 35% of the incoming cohort — its highest share since the Class of 2020 when it was 21% — while finance dipped to 18% and technology slid again to 17%, down from 20% last year and 23% two years ago.
The shift underscores a post-2022 cooling in Big Tech hiring.
The average work experience remains five years, consistent with prior classes.
For the second consecutive year, Sloan’s undergraduate mix tilted away from engineering. The share of engineering majors fell to 27%, the lowest percentage since at least the Class of 2020. That’s down from 29% last year and one-third of the class before that.
Business majors (23%), economics (17%), and computer science (10%) majors all grew.
DON’T MISS: EMORY GOIZUETA’S INTERNATIONAL MBA ENROLLMENT PLUNGES 9 POINTS IN ONE YEAR and UCLA ANDERSON’S INTERNATIONAL MBA POPULATION HAS DECLINED BY 1/4 IN TWO YEARS
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