The FINANCIAL — Gartner, Inc. has released the findings from its biennial Top 25 North American Supply Chain Graduate Programs report. Forty-four institutions participated in the survey.
The report is intended to support chief supply chain officers (CSCOs), heads of supply chain strategy and supply chain HR partners in building a strong portfolio of university recruiting and internship partners.
“The average graduate supply chain curriculum has grown in breadth. A broad, integrated curriculum is now standard, as is basic technology and analytics content. The master of science in supply chain management (MSSCM), on average, has a more specialized supply chain curriculum taught over a shorter duration than MBAs with supply chain concentrations,” said Dana Stiffler, research vice president at Gartner.
Ms. Stiffler said that Gartner sees some additional trends in 2016:
All MBAs will take finance and accounting. Almost 70 percent of MBAs will have a targeted course on performance management and analytics, with 42 percent having course-based exposure to supply chain technology and tools. In MSSCM programs, finance exposure is not guaranteed, but two-thirds of graduates will take supply chain technology course work and more than 80 percent will focus on analytics.
The average starting salary for MBAs with a supply chain concentration is $83,597, up from $78,227 in 2014. The average starting salary for a campus-based MSSCM is $79,232, down from $84,302. This decline is attributed to a significant portion of students in these new programs going straight from undergraduate to graduate programs and having no/lower salary histories compared with the midcareer students
Of advanced supply chain degree holders, 79 percent are placed before graduation and 95 percent are placed within three months of graduating.
Pennsylvania State University leads the graduate rankings at No. 1, retaining its leading position from previous years. The University of Tennessee moves up one position to No. 2, with Michigan State University now at No. 3. The biggest upward movers in 2016 are the University of Texas at Dallas, Texas Christian University and Indiana University. The most highly ranked new entrant in the graduate ranking is Purdue University (No. 12). The other newcomers are the University of Pittsburgh (No. 18) and the University of Colorado (No. 22).
Gartner sent out individualized request for information (RFI) links to supply chain program contacts at universities in the U.S. and Canada. In total, 44 graduate programs provided complete RFI responses for campus-based advanced degree programs. The final placement of university programs in Gartner’s relative comparison is based on a composite score of three categories: program scope, industry value and program size.
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