Published October 20, 2022

Meet the NYU Stern School of Business

Majors & Programs

A time lapse of students passing by on the street outside NYU Stern.

NYU was founded to be “metropolitan in character, democratic in spirit,” and responsive to the needs of New York City’s rapidly evolving population. Today, these themes remain at the core of NYU. And they have led the University to develop 10 distinct undergraduate schools and colleges in New York City, degree-granting campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, and 12 additional global academic centers and programs in cities around the world. NYU’s urban spirit is fundamental to the student experience. For example, at NYU, professors are experts in their fields who are tapped into local networks; courses take advantage of the opportunities and interact with the city culture; and internships are right around the corner. And at the NYU Stern School of Business, students come together in the heart of New York City to learn business fundamentals and explore diverse industries.

NYU Stern was established in 1900 as one of the first business schools in the United States. Ever since it has attracted and cultivated the next generation of innovators in business and industry. At Stern your curriculum is grounded in business while also branching into the liberal arts. Specifically, a Stern education is built upon five pillars: academics, social impact, global, professional, and community. Every day, you’ll have myriad opportunities to contribute to real positive impact in communities both on and off campus. Furthermore, you’ll have unfettered access to professional networks and opportunities that can only be accessed in New York City.

Here, you’ll find your community among like-minded students and supportive faculty through numerous activities, from student clubs to student council. You can also enjoy the Signature Experience Series. This half-day orientation prepares you for the year ahead with an iconic New York City experience. To kick off the academic year, you might attend the US Open Tennis Championships, embark on a New York Harbor cruise, or visit Ellis Island. All things considered, don’t expect business as usual at NYU Stern.

Students descending staircases in the NYU Stern building.

Give Me Five

Five is not only the number of NYU Stern’s guiding pillars. It’s also the number of undergraduate degree options available to you.

The BS in Business offers an incredible business education with the flexibility to choose at least one specialty. You’ll select from 12 concentrations, including computing and data science, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, and sustainable business. You can even start your college journey by spending your first year studying away at NYU London!
With the BS in Business and Political Economy (BPE), you’ll explore the relationship between business, politics, and economic outcomes. In addition, the BPE program emphasizes the importance of global education. So you’ll spend your sophomore year abroad, studying at NYU London in the fall and NYU Shanghai in the spring.
The BS in Business, Technology and Entrepreneurship (BTE) program teaches you the business essentials while diving into the emerging and ever-changing intersection of technology and entrepreneurship. You’ll take courses like Patterns of Entrepreneurship as part of this science, technology, engineering, and mathematics–certified degree.
After completing your first semester as a Business major, you can apply to the BS in Business/MS in Accounting dual-degree program. This accelerated program allows you to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in four years plus one accelerated summer. Then, you’ll be eligible to take the Certified Public Accountant Exam.
Finally, some students just can’t choose between a love of film and a love of business. If you’re one of them, there’s the BS in Business/BFA in Film and Television dual-degree program, offered in collaboration with the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. You can apply for the program during your first or sophomore year as a Business major.

A bird’s-eye view of a park near NYU Buenos Aires.

Business Is Here (and Everywhere)

To succeed in an industry that can’t be defined by borders, time zones, or currencies, a global perspective is key. With an NYU Stern education, you’ll have ample opportunities to expand your horizons and differentiate your résumé from other students. In fact, all Stern students must take the Global Business Core. This requirement has two components: the Economics of Global Business class and a global experience.

When it comes to your global experience, you have options. First, you can spend a semester away at an NYU global location. Or you can attend another university through Stern’s International Business Exchange program. Finally, you can combine coursework with travel through a Stern short-term immersion course. For example, you can travel to Florida to learn about the amusement park industry, go to Costa Rica to consult on sustainability, or visit Ghana to apply entrepreneurial skills for social change.

Whatever your degree path at Stern, and whether you choose to start your journey in New York City or London, the world will certainly be your campus. You can study at one of NYU’s 13 additional global locations and programs or 17 partnering international business schools. And because NYU commits to making a global experience accessible for all students with demonstrated financial need, every NYU Stern student has the opportunity to go abroad.

A female-presenting student sits at a table with a notepad in front of them.

Evolving the Nature of Business

Today, we’re facing many global complexities, such as the climate crisis, gender and racial equality, and world hunger. To help address the world’s most pressing challenges, businesses must examine and adapt their practices. No matter which degree program you decide to pursue at NYU Stern, you’ll explore doing business from a moral perspective as well as a financial one through the required four-course Social Impact Curriculum. If you concentrate your Business major on sustainable business, you’ll have the chance to take such socially and environmentally minded courses as:

Social Entrepreneurship: Learn how to build frameworks for rapidly growing social impact ventures. You’ll emerge with the skills to start your own social venture or influence organizations from within to adopt important values.
Managing Climate, Cyber, Geopolitical, and Financial Risk: Business has inherent risk. But where much of that risk used to be financial, organizations must now contend with climate, cyber, and geopolitical risk too. In this course you’ll learn how to assess and develop tools to navigate these variables.
Marketing for Impact: Strategies for Sustainable Business: Many consumers are skeptical of large, multinational corporations. Especially when it comes to marketing that attempts to mask unethical business practices. Through case studies and real-world projects, you’ll learn just how important marketing is to the shifting corporate landscape.

In addition, you can take advantage of the many resources and opportunities at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. You can apply for the Social Impact Fellows program, a four-year progression that provides opportunities to further explore sustainable business. What’s more, you can connect with faculty conducting research through the Stern Program for Undergraduate Research. All in all, Stern has numerous resources to help you succeed and shape the future of business.

Accomplished Alumni

Vidula Joshi, who graduated in 2014 with a BS in Business and Political Economy, began her post-NYU career journey at Deloitte in strategy and operations consulting. She then transitioned to project management with the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Center for Urban Innovation. Currently, Vidula serves as a chief of staff at Lyft, focusing on transit, bike, and scooter policy.

Yonadav Tsuna, a 2012 graduate who majored in Business with a concentration in finance and minored in Producing, let his varied interests and connections from NYU Stern guide his career. From opening a restaurant to stints at Twitter and Google, he now works at Crunchyroll, a San Francisco–based anime and manga streaming service. There, he’s the senior manager of content strategy and partnerships for emerging business development.

Janelle Benjamin, who graduated in 2001 with a BS in Business concentrating in statistics, is an accomplished entrepreneur and investor. She is one of the few Black female entrepreneurs to raise over $1 million in funding and successfully exit. She cofounded and served as COO of SuperData Research, which Nielsen acquired in 2018. Currently, Janelle is building her next venture, which recently closed a multimillion-dollar round of seed funding.