Top Universities for Supply Chain Technology

The prevalence of SCM courses in the nation’s top business schools stems from the demand for supply chain professionals across all industry verticals, which has obviously lead to competitive salaries.

The field of SCM is proving to be a lucrative and secure choice for students entering the broader business world. Top students at the premiere supply chain management programs can easily command starting salaries that exceed $75,000— which has lead students to look for universities that will give them a leg up on the competition upon graduation.

Based on a supply chain manager job listings analysis conducted by Software Advice, a company that connects supply chain software buyers with vendors, two-fifths of employers want SCM candidates with advanced software skills.  To determine what universities are giving students the technological skills necessary to be an appealing candidate, Software Advice ranked the top 15 programs at the undergraduate and graduate level.

This ranking is based on the extent to which the schools emphasize the teaching of technology, software and quantitative tools used by supply chain professionals, as well as the variety and depth of this coursework. This report will help those considering a career in the field understand which program is right for them.

Key Findings:

• Pennsylvania State University ranks first for supply chain technology education at the undergraduate level, followed by Western Michigan University.

• University of Wisconsin ranks first for supply chain technology education at the graduate level, followed by the University of Michigan.

• Michigan State, described as the top school for SCM on other lists, ranks eighth and 11th on our list for undergraduate and graduate technology education, respectively.

• Four of the 15 undergraduate SCM programs we analyzed offer a class devoted to learning an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software platform.

• Just one of the 15 graduate SCM programs we analyzed offers a class devoted to learning a commercial ERP platform.