Gartner, Inc. has released the findings from its biennial Top 25 North American Supply Chain Undergraduate Programs report. Fifty-one institutions participated in the report that 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.
"More U.S. and Canadian universities are unveiling supply chain majors and specializations, or rebranding logistics, transportation and operations research programs as supply chain," said Dana Stiffler, research vice president at Gartner. "However, a dedicated course in supply chain planning, the core capability family for high-performing supply chain organizations, is taught in fewer than half of participating undergraduate programs. Manufacturing is also in decline, in terms of its representation on course lists. The good news is that most programs provide exposure to logistics, procurement, integrated supply chain and enabling capabilities."
Ms. Stiffler said that Gartner sees some additional trends in 2016:
- Since the majority of undergraduate supply chain programs sit in business schools, nearly all North American supply chain undergraduates will take finance and accouting. Three out of four will also have formal course work in technology and analytics. Thsee are roughly the same ratios as the last report in 2014.
- Across the 51 programs, women accout for 40 percent of undergraduate enrollment on average, flat when compared with 2014. In the Top 25, this is slightly higher at 42 percent.
- The average starting salary for undergraduates is $55,749, up from $53,584 in 2014. The average starting salary for the top 10 undergraduate programs is $61,590. Top students continue to command premiums well beyond these averages.
Pennsylvania State University reclaimed solo occupancy of the No. 1 position in the undergraduate program rankings, with Michigan State University moving to No. 2. The University of Tennessee's position remains unchanged at No. 3 (see Table 1).
Table 1. Top 25 2016 North American Undergraduate Supply Chain Programs
Rank |
Program |
1 |
Pennsylvania State University |
2 |
Michigan State University |
3 |
University of Tennessee |
4 |
Arizona State University |
5 |
Rutgers University |
6 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
7 |
University of South Carolina |
8 |
The Ohio State University |
9 |
Western Michigan University |
10 |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
11 |
Texas A&M University |
12 |
Indiana University |
13 |
Howard University |
14 |
University of Illinois |
15 |
University of North Texas |
16 |
University of Texas, Austin |
17 |
Auburn University |
18 |
Iowa State University |
19 |
University of Houston |
20 |
Syracuse University |
21 |
University of Minnesota |
22 |
University of Texas, Dallas |
23 |
Marquette University |
24 |
Lehigh University |
25 |
University of Oklahoma |
Source: Gartner (August 2016)
The biggest upward movers since 2014 were long-established programs at Georgia Tech, Texas A&M and Arizona State. The most highly ranked new entrant in the undergraduate rankings is Indiana University (No. 12). Other newcomers to the undergraduate list are Howard University, the University of Illinois, Iowa State University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Texas at Dallas.
Gartner sent out individualized request for information (RFI) links to supply chain program contacts at universities in the U.S. and Canada. In total, 51 undergraduate programs provided complete RFI responses for campus-based 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.
More detailed analysis is available to in the report "Survey Analysis: Top 25 North American Supply Chain Undergraduate University Programs, 2016."
About the Gartner North American Supply Chain University Program Survey
Gartner's biennial North American Supply Chain University Program Survey evaluates the curricula, experiential content and public reputations of accredited, campus-based supply chain programs in the U.S. and Canada, resulting in a top 25 rankings for undergraduate programs and an additional rankings for advanced degree programs.
