Yale MBA Overview
The Yale MBA is a prestigious two-year program offered by the Yale School of Management, known for its integrated curriculum and focus on leadership, global perspective, and social impact. Combining academic rigor with real-world application, the Yale MBA prepares students to tackle complex challenges across business, government, and society. Graduates emerge as purpose-driven leaders equipped to make a meaningful difference.
Yale MBA Curriculum
To lead an organization that thrives and creates meaningful impact—whether it's a social venture delivering healthcare to underserved communities or a tech firm managing rapid expansion—leaders must possess strong business acumen, interpersonal skills, and an understanding of broader societal trends that can influence their mission.
The Yale MBA curriculum is designed to develop such broad-minded leaders. It equips students with essential business skills and competencies while fostering curiosity and a deep awareness of how decisions affect a wide range of stakeholders.
Yale MBA Year 1: Core
The first-year core curriculum of the Yale MBA is thoughtfully structured to develop a comprehensive understanding of organizational dynamics and business’s broader impact on society. It begins with Orientation to Management, equipping students with essential tools and frameworks. Through Organizational Perspectives, students learn to apply these tools across disciplines and stakeholder viewpoints. The core culminates in The Executive, where students adopt a CEO’s perspective to address complex organizational challenges.
Orientation to Management Courses
Orientation to Management is a series of foundational courses. This series of courses teaches you the skills and language you will need in any career in business and management.
Inside a core course: Modeling Managerial Decisions
Managing Groups and Teams
Basics of Accounting
Probability Modeling and Statistics
Basics of Economics
Modeling Managerial Decisions
Introduction to Negotiation
Global Virtual Teams
Organizational Perspectives Courses
Courses that look at how organizations really work with their many constituencies. Drawing on expertise from all the traditional business school disciplines, these courses teach you what you need to know to lead a thriving organization. Many of the class sessions are co-taught by faculty who bring diverse perspectives to the questions under discussion.
Inside a core course: The Executive
Competitor
Customer
Investor
Sourcing and Managing Funds
State and Society
Workforce
Innovator
Operations Engine
The Global Macroeconomy
The Executive
Yale MBA Year 2: Electives
At Yale SOM, students learn from leading faculty who are at the forefront of research and innovation, alongside peers with diverse and impressive backgrounds that enrich classroom discussions. The Yale MBA experience is highly customizable, allowing students to shape their academic journey by combining core business, management, and leadership courses at SOM with a wide selection of electives from across Yale University.
Selected Electives from Across Campus
Below are examples of elective courses chosen by SOM students during the 2024–2025 academic year.
Yale School of the Environment
ENV 621 The Ministry for the Future: Exploring the Science and Politics of Climate Solutions
ENV 653 Maple: From Tree to Table
ENV 816 Electric Utilities: An Industry in Transition
ENV 840 Climate Change Policy and Perspectives
ENV 965 Regenerative Agriculture & Just Food Systems Lab
Jackson School of Global Affairs
GLBL 6150 Contemporary Development Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean
GLBL 6285 China’s Challenge to the Global Economic Order
GLBL 7290 Ethical Choices in Public Leadership
GLBL 7305 Disinformation in the Age of AI
GLBL 7535 Intelligence, Espionage, and American Foreign Policy
Yale Law School
LAW 20065 Space Law
LAW 20369 Intellectual Property Transactions
LAW 20514 Infrastructure Finance in Emerging Markets
LAW 21687 Privacy and Data Governance
LAW 30215 Corporate Crisis Management
Yale Divinity School
REL 3615 Managing Crisis in Churches and Nonprofits
REL 3630 Church Music Skills
REL 740 Battle for the Soul of America: Christianity and the Culture Wars
REL 747 Islamic Art and Architecture in the Mediterranean
REL 918 Language and Social Justice in Religious Spaces
Yale University
AFAM 164 The Politics of “The Wire”: HBO’s Portrayal of the American City, African American Studies
EALL 536 Japanese Poetry and Poetics, East Asian Languages and Literatures
ECON 566 Machine Learning for Economics, Economics
ENGL 858 Edgar Allan Poe & His Critics, English
EPS 274 Fossil Fuels and World Energy, Earth and Planetary Sciences
Languages
Chinese (CHNS)
Hindi (HNDI)
Russian (RUSS)
Kiswahili/Swahili (SWAH)
Turkish (TKSH)
Yale School of Management
MGT 526 Market Failures and Economic Policy in Developing Countries
MGT 540 Personal Finance
MGT 575 Generative AI and Social Media
MGT 698 Healthcare Policy, Finance, and Economics
MGT 927 Financial Econometrics and Machine Learning
Other helpful links:
Yale MBA Class Profile
For more information on class profile
Yale MBA Career
Why Yale MBA Stands Out
The Yale MBA offers a transformative experience through its integrated curriculum, diverse and accomplished class profile, and robust career support that empowers students to pursue impactful careers across industries. Whether you're looking to build a strong foundation in management, expand your global perspective, or make meaningful career moves, Yale SOM provides the resources, network, and academic rigor to help you succeed.
