NYU Stern is an institution that leverages New York City as its classroom and laboratory. One of the ways NYU Stern engages with the city is through its popular Stern Consulting Corps (SCC), an innovative consulting internship program. The SCC serves as the umbrella for a unique partnership among NYU Stern; prominent nonprofit organizations and top-tier strategy consulting firms. SCC programs enable Stern MBA students to put into practice the skills and knowledge they gain in the classroom to help revitalize small and minority-owned businesses and nonprofits in New York City. To date, Stern has partnered with more than 60 organizations around NYC and 250 Stern MBA students have served as business consultants through this program. Stern also teaches New York-based case studies, like the Metropolitan Opera, in which all first-year MBAs not only study the complex organization but also speak one-on-one with its managing director and attend an opera dress rehearsal for the case's culmination. Another popular case study is on Barneys New York, one of the leading luxury retailers in the world. As part of the case, students learn first-hand from Barneys senior executives about the company's business strategy at the retailer's Madison Avenue store.

Stern's New York City location allows it to attract some of the most influential business leaders to campus. Most recently, Stern has hosted Jack Welch, fomer CEO of General Electric; Thomas Freston (MBA '69), Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer, Viacom; and Janet Robinson, President and CEO, The New York Times Company.

As a leading business school, Stern has had a longstanding commitment to professional responsibility, having instituted a required course more than 30 years ago. The School has also been a pioneer in the field of social entrepreneurship, having recently launched The Student Social Venture Fund, the first ever student run social venture fund in the nation. Housed within Stern's Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship, the Fund represents an innovative model whereby students enrolled in a for-credit course, "Social Venture Practicum," manage the venture selection process, award actual cash grants of $100,000 and actively engage with funded programs.