Class Profile

A truly diverse student body — in experience, interests, and ambitions — is the foundation of the Harvard Business School experience.

Video duration:1:27

A diverse student body is critical to the Harvard Business School (HBS) learning model, which thrives on the many perspectives and life experiences our students bring to their classes from all over the world. From academic assignments to casual conversations, the unique qualities of individual lives enrich the education of the entire community.

Our class profile changes each year based on who chooses to apply and enroll at HBS. We hope you will consider applying to HBS on your journey to make a difference in the world.

Class of 2027

  • 943
    Students in the MBA Class of 2027
  • 9,409
    Applications received in the 2024–2025 academic year
  • 44%
    Women

International

  • 37%
    International
  • 62
    Countries represented

Languages Spoken

Afrikaans, Albanian, American Sign Language, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bihari, Catalan, Cebuano, Chinese Cantonese, Chinese Mandarin, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Kurdish, Laothian, Latin, Latvian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Twi, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Yoruba

US Race / Ethnicity

Federal Guidelines Reporting Multi-Dimensional Reporting
American Indian or Alaska Native1 (0.2%)7 (1%)
Asian American151 (26%)176 (30%)
Black or African American44 (7%)53 (9%)
Hispanic or Latino54 (9%)54 (9%)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders——
White289 (49%)357 (60%)
Multi-Race24 (4%)—
Did Not Report28 (5%)28 (5%)

US race / ethnicity enrollment shown as a percent of US citizens and permanent residents.

Federal Reporting Guidelines
The second column reflects our student demographic data as reported based on federal government guidelines. Per these guidelines, all students who identify as Hispanic / Latino and any other race are represented as Hispanic / Latino only. Students who identify with more than one race are represented as Multi-Race only. The column adds to 100% but may be slightly lower or higher due to rounding.

Multi-Dimensional Reporting
In the third column, we share students' full racial and ethnic identities to more inclusively reflect the racial / ethnic groups with which they identify. As such, students with multi-racial / ethnic identities are represented in more than one row, meaning the column adds to more than 100%.

Education

  • 10%
    First generation students
  • 283
    Universities represented
  • 3.76
    Average GPA (based on US schools that use a 4.0 grading system)

Undergraduate Majors

Arts / Humanities5%
Business / Commerce22%
Economics19%
Engineering24%
Math / Physical Sciences19%
Social Sciences11%

Work Experience

  • 4.9
    Average years of work experience
  • 3-7
    Years of work experience - middle 80% range

Pre-MBA Industry

Consulting19%
Consumer Products / Retail / E-Commerce9%
Financial Services10%
Health Care / Biotech8%
Manufacturing / Industrial / Energy8%
Media / Entertainment / Travel5%
Military3%
Nonprofit / Government / Education6%
Services2%
Technology13%
Venture Capital / Private Equity16%

Test Scores

There is no minimum GMAT or GRE to apply and we do not have a preference towards a particular test. 44% of the Class of 2027 submitted the GRE, 34% submitted the GMAT, and 28% submitted the GMAT 10th edition, with some students submitting scores from multiple tests.

GRE Scores

Middle 80% of Scores
Verbal Range158–168
Quantitative Range 159–169
Median Scores
Verbal164
Quantitative164

GMAT Scores

Middle 80% of Scores
Verbal Range82-90
Quantitative Range79-89
Total Range - Middle 80%645-735
Median Scores
Verbal86
Quantitative84
Total685

GMAT 10th Edition Scores

Middle 80% of Scores
Verbal Range38-47
Quantitative Range45-50
Total Range - Middle 80%690-770
Median Scores
Verbal42
Quantitative49
Total730

Financial Aid

  • ~50%
    of students receive need-based scholarships
  • 10%
    of students receive full tuition scholarships
  • $100k
    average need-based scholarship awarded over two years
Indication that we follow the GME Admissions Reporting Standards.

We follow the GME Admissions Reporting Standards developed and voted on by GMAC member schools in July 2020.