Berkeley Haas Sets School Records For International Enrollment, GMAT Average

UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business‘ full-time MBA program has “long benefited from the global brand recognition of UC-Berkeley and of Berkeley Haas,” Eric Askins, executive director of full-time admissions at Haas, told Poets&Quants last year. “Interest in our program has held firm globally.”

It was true last year, and it’s even more true in 2023. The Haas School this fall saw a huge surge in international student enrollment in its MBA Class of 2025, setting a new school record and making a bid to be among the most global of the top MBA programs in the United States this year.

But international enrollment wasn’t the only school record Haas set with its new MBA class. The U.S.’s premier public business school also set a new class Graduate Management Admission Test average record, at 733 — a 4-point jump in one year over last year’s record of 729. That score last year would have put Haas second among all U.S. schools that report a mean GMAT score.

HAAS MBA STUDENT INTAKES 2019-2023

UC-Berkeley Haas	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
Class Size	244	247	291	331	283
Average Undergrad GPA	3.64	3.64	3.67	3.65	3.67
GPA Range (80%)	3.3-3.91	3.4-3.92	3.34-3.93	3.4-3.9	NA
Average GMAT	733	729	726	727	725
GMAT Range (80%)	680-770	NA	NA	NA	NA
Average GRE (Total)	324	326	323	322	323
Percent With GRE	NA	NA	37%	35%	21%
Applications	NA	NA	3,841	3,696	3,450
Acceptance Rate	NA	NA	17.6%	23.7%	17.7%
Women	41%	46%	37%	39%	38%
U.S. Minority	48%	45%	49%	39%	30%
URM	13%	21%	22%	12%	NA
International	47%	41%	37%	30%	35%

HAAS’ INTERNATIONAL NUMBERS JUMP 17 POINTS IN 4 YEARS

The previous Haas record for international composition of the MBA class was 43% in 2014; this year, leaping 6 percentage points from 2022, the class sets a new record of 47%. That’s up 10 percentage points in two years and an eyebrow-raising 17 points since the pandemic of 2020 drove foreign student numbers into the ground across U.S. graduate business education programs.

Pair Haas’ increasing internationalization with rising numbers of U.S. minorities, which grew to 48% of the class from 45% (1 point shy of the school record of 49% set in 2021), and other key metrics — students identifying as LGBTQ remained high, at 14% of the class, down from 16%; 7% are veterans, up from 4%; and 20% of the class are first-generation college students, a big jump from 13% in 2022 — you have one of the most diverse elite MBA programs in the world.

All very much by design, says Wendy Guild, Haas’ assistant dean of MBA programs.

“We have doubled down on our priorities of innovation, sustainability, and inclusion in full support of the University of California’s commitment to social mobility. We’re proud that 20% of our entering full-time MBA class of 2025 are the first in their families to attend college,” Guild tells P&Q.

“Extensive investments have been made to execute on our strategic plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging, including faculty and staff hiring, the hiring of a DEIJB faculty instructional consultant, funding for DEIJB student-led initiatives, additional staff hiring in our program office and a DEIJB team that supports admissions, faculty, and students.

“We have also reimagined the Haas MBA student experience. Our refresh emphasizes career outcomes, engagement and inclusion, and a multifaceted academic and co-curricular experience. Together these improvements support our students’ development as Berkeley Leaders.”

WOMEN IN THE HAAS CLASS DECLINED 5 POINTS FROM SCHOOL RECORD 46%

Haas’ MBA class size shrank for a third straight year, to 244 from 247, and is down 87 seats — more than a quarter — since the inflated pandemic intake of 2020. Putting aside the coronavirus interregnum, Haas’ class size has shrunk about 14% since the school enrolled 283 in the fall of 2019.

The number of women in the class declined this year, to 41% from last year’s school record 46%, but Haas remains in the 40% club after years knocking on the door. Other key declines occurred in the enrollment of under-represented minorities, which fell to 13% from 21%; and in the number of countries represented in the class, which despite the big jump in international enrollment declined by six countries from last year, to 39.

In terms of pre-MBA industries, in last year’s class, the Class of 2024, consultants accounted for 23% of the class, bankers were 18%, and techies were 13%. Those from the healthcare/pharma sector were 9% of the class. This year, consulting ticked upward to 24%, financial services downward to 16%, and tech jumped to 20% — no doubt thanks to Haas’ efforts to woo tech workers who had lost their jobs in the layoff waves of 2021 and 2022.

Top undergraduate majors for the Haas MBA Class of 2024 were engineering (23%) followed by economics (15%), social sciences (15%), and business/commerce (13%). This fall, engineering was again 23%, economics grew to 18% while social sciences dropped to 11%, and business/commerce stayed even at 13%. See below for details.

DON’T MISS LAST YEAR’S STORY ON THE BERKELEY HAAS MBA CLASS OF 2024 and POETS&QUANTS’ 2023 DEAN OF THE YEAR: UC-BERKELEY HAAS’ ANN HARRISON