This article has been corrected to accurately compare the cost of a Stanford MBA with peer institutions’ MBA programs.
According to research by business school website Poets & Quants, a two-year program at Stanford is the most expensive master’s in business administration (MBA) program anywhere in the world. This year, the Stanford MBA has leapfrogged the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Columbia Business School in price.
Two years at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) is estimated to cost more than $185,000, an 11 percent jump from only two years ago, when a Stanford MBA cost about $166,000.
Tuition at the GSB is only $57,300 per year, but Stanford estimates that students need to budget more than $23,000 for rent, food and personal expenses in Silicon Valley. Books and instructional materials cost around $4,000 for two years.
Stanford’s increases in price now make the Stanford MBA cost $10,000 more than a degree at Harvard Business School. The two programs were tied atop the U.S. News’ annual ranking of business schools in 2012.
For married students, or those wishing to live off-campus, the MBA is even more expensive. “Depending on marital status and other factors, you should budget an additional $30,000 to $47,000 per year for living costs, books and other expenses,” said the University in a statement to Poets & Quants.