WashU Olin: An MBA Guide for Veterans

Washington University in St. Louis's Olin Business School is one of the top business schools in the world, with a tight-knit veteran community, generous Yellow Ribbon funding, and an alumni network that punches well above its weight in corporate leadership. This profile was shared directly by Olin's admissions team to help veterans considering business school understand what the experience really looks like.

"Olin is one of the best business schools in the world, backed by a robust, well-connected network of CEOs and senior leaders. You're more than just a number here. You have the leadership; we have the global pedigree and the financial backing to launch your post-military, post-MBA career. Olin is the mission you want next."

Which military backgrounds thrive

Olin's best students are the ones who are eager for adventure and learning. The program enrolls MBAs from all branches, with ranks ranging from E4 to O6, and the veteran community is integrated across the broader MBA program.

Your first six months

For many veterans, the transition to business school is exciting but also a major life adjustment, especially when relocating with a spouse, children, or both. At Olin, the first six months are designed to eliminate administrative friction so the student can focus entirely on transitioning their family and starting the program.

Week one. The first week focuses on removing bureaucratic hurdles. Through Direct Military Liaison Support, incoming veterans bypass standard university bureaucracy by working directly with Seth Kirchhoff, Olin's Graduate Military Liaison and a U.S. Army veteran, who ensures a seamless integration of Veteran and Yellow Ribbon benefits from day one. While the student begins Olin's collaborative Fall Orientation, their family settles into welcoming St. Louis communities like Clayton, University City, Webster Groves, or Kirkwood, supported by the family network of the Olin Veterans Association (OVA).

Month one. By the first month, students establish the rhythm of academic life, capitalizing on Olin's modernized, flexible curriculum. Through Tailored Leadership Translation, students dive into the data-driven core curriculum and learn to connect their military leadership experience to the business world. Because the curriculum is flexible, veterans are not locked into a rigid track and can quickly begin taking electives to build targeted industry expertise. Since the student stays grounded in St. Louis rather than deploying for weeks on an international trip, the family builds a stable local routine, and spouses and children integrate early through events like the veteran happy hours at the Dean's House, the annual OVA Dining-In/Out, and the Spring OVA 5K.

Month six. By mid-winter, academic preparation and targeted networking converge into competitive corporate recruiting. Working alongside dedicated Olin Executive Career Coaches and veteran mentors, the student translates command experience into high-value corporate language for interviews and networking. Through Olin's Center for Experiential Learning (CEL), students take point on live consulting projects for real corporations, proving their business agility before the summer internship begins. Six months in, the initial relocation challenge gives way to an efficient routine, and the student balances heavy winter recruiting and advanced elective coursework with a stable, supportive home environment.

Key resources for veterans

Veterans at Olin rely most on the irreplaceable peer network of the Olin Veterans Association (OVA), which typically carries over 50 veteran MBA students in any given year. This tight community provides immediate mentorship from peers who have navigated the exact same transition, and second-year veterans actively coach first-year students on translating military experience into corporate business language and securing elite internships. This student-led network operates in tandem with veterans on staff, such as Military Liaison Seth Kirchhoff, who helps eliminate bureaucratic friction. Together, the veteran community and Olin's faculty give military students both a cultural safety net and the professional tools required for long-term post-MBA success.

Where veteran alumni land

Olin's veteran graduates build careers across three broad paths:

• Corporate leadership and general management rotational programs. Recent alumni have landed high-level program management roles at Boeing (which maintains a massive defense presence in St. Louis), operations, brand management, and supply chain roles at Fortune 500 staples like Anheuser-Busch InBev, Bunge, Post Holdings, and Purina, and strategic leadership rotations at regional giants like Centene Corporation and Express Scripts (Cigna).
• Venture capital and entrepreneurship. Olin consistently ranks as a top global MBA program for entrepreneurship. Veteran graduates routinely pivot into the Midwest startup ecosystem, taking operations roles at scaling startups or investment analyst tracks at regional venture funds like Cultivation Capital, and many use the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) to launch their own scalable businesses right out of the program.
• Specialization consulting and industry operations. Many Olin veterans leverage their technical background to target high-impact sector consultancies or heavy operations roles, including large-scale implementation at firms like World Wide Technology (WWT) or Epic Systems, and corporate strategy at industrial giants like Chevron or Emerson.

Geographic reach

The geographic reach of Olin's veteran network is national, anchored by Fortune magazine ranking Olin among the top 10 MBA programs for producing the most Fortune 1000 C-suite executives. Regionally, Olin veterans have a strong presence in the Midwest, with over 40% of graduates choosing to remain in the region. Olin Dean Mike Mazzeo has noted that 50 CEOs in the St. Louis region call Olin their alma mater, which gives military students frictionless corporate entry into advanced aerospace manufacturing, agricultural technology firms, and large healthcare networks. Nationally, over 20% of graduates place on the West Coast, with the remainder distributed across major financial and tech hubs in the Northeast and South.

Financial planning and funding

As a Yellow Ribbon school, Olin tuition is 100% covered for the vast majority of its veteran students. When combined with the VA's Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA), the core financial burden of the MBA is essentially eliminated. St. Louis also offers a favorable cost of living, and Olin advises families to use their monthly housing stipend in surrounding communities, where the allowance covers high-quality housing and provides access to top-tier, free public-school districts.

Traditions and community

The veteran experience at Olin is shaped by a deliberate combination of community-driven traditions and structured career mentorship:

• The OVA Dining In/Out. This premier annual tradition rotates each fall or winter between a formal "Dining In" for student veterans and corporate partners, and a "Dining Out" that brings together spouses, families, local ROTC units, and regional business executives, blending military camaraderie with high-level professional networking.
• The OVA Honor Run. Held in the spring, this annual campus 5K and memorial walk is the signature public-facing community event. It unites the broader St. Louis community, alumni, and families to honor military service while raising resources for the Olin Veterans Scholarship Fund.
• Targeted veteran career support. Military students are paired directly with dedicated Veteran Career Coaches who work side by side with them to translate operational military leadership into high-impact corporate language for national veteran career fairs and structured recruiting.
• The active OVA alumni network. Because Olin's veteran graduates are highly active and deeply invested in the program, outreach from a current student to an OVA alumnus often leads to direct mentorship, resume reviews, and internal corporate referrals.

Connect with the program

• Program: WashU Olin Business School
• Military liaison and admissions contact: Seth Kirchhoff, Senior Associate Director of Admissions and Military Liaison (sethk@wustl.edu)
• Student contact: Will Culliton, Outgoing OVA Student President, MBA Class of 2026