Stanford MBA Is the Most Expensive in the World – $240,000

The Graduate School of Business at Stanford has passed the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Business School to be the priciest two year MBA program on Earth, and you don’t have to look any further than schools tuition page to see the $119,996 annual cost for the 2021-22 academic year.

Stanford is telling new applicants for its MBA program that the new cost of its full time MBA is $239,928. That’s $55,000 more than Stanford stated it would cost about 10 years ago. And this estimate doesn’t even include the line item for the $4500 global study trip that was included a decade ago.

Harvard Business School is Stanford’s top rival, and it now costs nearly $30,000 less, but you should keep in mind that Harvard is in Boston, where it is more expensive to live. Also, the difference between Harvard and Stanford is even more than it appears, because Harvard gives out generous fellowship awards each year. This is by far the most of all other business schools.

The new estimate from Stanford covers tuition for two years, books, fees, supplies, insurance and estimated costs to live and eat in the Silicon Valley area. The good news is that that $240,000 price tag includes a living allowance of $34,806 for food, rent and expenses for what it terms a moderate lifestyle.

However, you should know that the estimated numbers often end up being on the conservative end. You need to account for the possibility of a 3-5% increase in tuition costs in the second year of the program. They also usually underestimate what personal costs are to attend a top MBA program. Some of the extra expenses include going out to expensive dinners with friends and going skiing on long weekends.

Just the annual tuition at Stanford is about $75,000, but the extra costs do tend to pile up quick to get you to the total yearly estimate of nearly $120,000. Some of these include $1,700 on books/supplies, $900 for instructional materials, $970 for transportation, $6,200 for medical insurance and a health fee each year of about $700.

If you are a single student and you live off campus at Stanford, your costs could even higher. If you are married, your costs could be as high as $144,000 a year to cover the extra cost of living.

The Stern School of Business at New York University is the second priciest MBA program for 2021. It’s program costs about $238,000 for two years. One of the reasons for this is that room and board costs nearly $27,000 each year. However, living in a small studio apartment and feeding yourself in New York is going to cost a good deal more  than what the business school estimates.

Cornell estimates that the costs for food and housing can be kept low by sharing an inexpensive apartment each month, and sticking to a modest food budget. This is in Ithaca, NY, so that is at least a possibility.

The priciest books and supplies are at Harvard Business School. That school teaches by a case study method. Buying those case studies and other related materials costs about $9000 each year. By comparison, at Columbia, the cost for books and supplies is only $320 a year.

Of course, you should remember that as a Stanford graduate, you’re going to get some generous starting offers that should help to make the cost of those huge student debt payments a little more manageable.

If these business schools are too pricey for you, there are plenty of other quality MBAs to choose from that are more reasonably priced.