Program Overview
School of Management 2025–2026
The Yale School of Management (SOM) offers a two-year, full-time program leading to the degree of Master of Business Administration. A Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or equivalent undergraduate degree is requisite for admission to the M.B.A. program. The program requires two years of full-time study in residence and comprises both course work and non-course activities.
The M.B.A. Curriculum
In the first year, students devote the majority of their time to the core courses and are also required to participate in the orientation curriculum, required pre-term work, and other degree requirements. In the summer following the first year, students continue their management training through internships or other appropriate activity, in fulfillment of the M.B.A. Internship Requirement. In the second year, elective courses complete requirements for the degree.
The Core Curriculum
Traditional functional management disciplines are integrated in an innovative core curriculum designed to reflect the contexts encountered by today’s leaders and to better prepare students to navigate the increasingly complex global economy. Courses in the first-year curriculum are taught in two segments: Orientation to Management and Organizational Perspectives.
Orientation to Management
The Orientation to Management segment introduces students to essential concepts and skills. Courses include:
- Managing Groups and Teams
- Basics of Accounting
- Probability Modeling and Statistics
- Basics of Economics
- Modeling Managerial Decisions
- Introduction to Negotiation A student may be granted exemption from Probability Modeling and Statistics, Basics of Economics, and/or Basics of Accounting by taking an exam designed and evaluated by the instructor of the course.
Organizational Perspectives
The heart of the first-year curriculum is a series of multidisciplinary, team-taught courses called Organizational Perspectives that teach students to draw on a broad range of information, tools, and skills to develop creative solutions and make strategic decisions. These courses include:
- Competitor
- Customer
- Investor
- State and Society
- The Workforce
- Operations Engine
- Sourcing and Managing Funds
- Innovator
- The Global Macroeconomy Fundamental frameworks and concepts are often taught through multimedia “raw” cases and group assignments on topics drawn directly from real-world challenges facing business, government, and nonprofit organizations.
Leadership Distribution Requirement
M.B.A. students are required to complete the Leadership Distribution Requirement before they graduate. The requirement is met by completing, at any time before graduation, at least one course from an approved list of leadership electives. These courses supplement the individual and team focus on leadership in our core courses with a focus on leadership at the organizational and global level.
Global Studies Requirement
M.B.A. students are required to complete the Global Studies Requirement (GSR) before they graduate. The requirement is met by completing, at any time before graduation, at least one of the following:
- An International Experience course
- A Global Network Week
- A Global Network course
- A Global Social Entrepreneurship course
- A term-long international exchange with a partner school
International Experience
The International Experience (IE) is a faculty-led course that bears 4 units of academic credit and includes, in addition to in-class lectures and seminars, travel to a country or region of the world to meet with business, government, and nonprofit leaders.
Global Network Week
Global Network Weeks (GNW) are weeklong courses at Global Network schools around the world that bear 1.5 units of academic credit—gaining from the regional and subject matter expertise of Global Network faculty.
Global Network Courses
Global Network Courses are Small Network Online Courses (SNOCs) taught by a Global Network faculty member with expertise in a particular subject. The courses bear 2 or 4 units of credit and are open to students from across the Global Network.
Global Social Entrepreneurship
The Global Social Entrepreneurship (GSE) courses introduce students to issues faced by mission-driven entrepreneurs, linking teams of Yale students with social enterprises (SEs) in emerging economies.
International Exchange
The International Exchange allows students to spend one term studying abroad as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.B.A. degree. Specifically, Yale SOM students are permitted to spend the fall or spring term of the second year studying at an approved academic institution.
M.B.A. Internship Requirement
Between the first and second years of the program, all M.B.A. students are required to further their management education through an internship in an organizational setting. The internship, which must be related to the student’s major area of study, is an integral part of the M.B.A. academic program.
Off-Campus Employment during the Academic Year
The M.B.A. program requires four semesters of full-time study. Students complement academic pursuits with various co-curricular activities, which also demand considerable time. For most students, this leaves little time for off-campus employment during the four semesters. However, students may pursue off-campus employment to a limited extent during the second year of the program.
Elective Courses
Elective courses, chosen from the offerings listed in the chapter Courses for 2025–2026 or from the approved offerings in other Yale schools and departments, complete the course requirement for the M.B.A. degree unless an extended internship is approved by the dean of students as a leave of absence.