MSc in
MS in Operations Management & Supply Chain Analytics Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Introduction
The ability to effectively deliver products and services is core to organizational success. While striving for excellence in internal operations, organizations in virtually every industry rely on intricate supply chains to manage goods globally and meet the demand for products and services. Synchronizing the flow of products, information, and funds is complex and increasingly enabled by data, analytics, and new technologies.
WPI’s master’s in Operations Management and Supply Chain Analytics, a STEM-designated degree, prepares students for a career in managing the global demands, distributions, and fulfillment of goods and services. The MS in Operations and Supply Chain Analytics provides students the skills and hands-on project management techniques necessary to design and manage an effective supply chain while understanding how to create excellence in your operations and processes. As each of these factors can impact an organization’s profitability and overall customer satisfaction, professionals with training in both operations management and supply chain become an essential part of a company’s leadership team.
The operations and supply chain master’s degree is designed to provide students with a foundation in three areas:
- Operations: internally focused, with an emphasis in the market on achieving excellence
- Supply chain: designing and managing a network to support end-to-end delivery of goods and services
- Operations analytics: methods to harness insights from data and support decision making
Students then build depth by choosing specialties in two of these three areas. The operations and supply chain analytics master's degree culminates in a real-world, team-based project, which ensures that students are prepared to be successful in a data-driven, technological business environment.
A Premier STEM Business Degree, More Affordable Tuition
There is a pressing need for engineers, scientists, and coders with business acumen and management skills. WPI is committed to making STEM education more attainable, and The Business School is doing its part by reducing its tuition for graduate programs. Today, a premier degree from WPI’s business school is more affordable than ever—meaning you can see a high return on investment from your degree even sooner.
The Business School, established at a premier technology-focused university, has world-class expertise and educational resources in technology and business and thus is suitably poised to offer valuable graduate-level programs that prepare students to apply entrepreneurial thinking and transform into leadership roles.
Curriculum
The Master’s in Operations Management and Supply Chain Analytics can be completed on a part-time or full-time basis and is designed as a stackable, professional master’s degree. As such, it includes courses focused on decision-making in the operations and supply chain domain, as well as on analytic methods and a realistic capstone project. The degree requires at least 33 credits hours of study, i.e., eleven 3-credit courses. Courses listed in multiple specialties cannot be double-counted.
Students must complete a three-course core as follows:
- OIE 501. Operations Management
- OIE 544. Supply Chain Analysis and Design
- OIE 552. Modeling and Optimizing Processes
Students must complete two three-course specialties, selected from the following:
Specialty in Supply Chain Management
- Choose one course from:
- OIE 553. Global Purchasing and Logistics
- OIE 549. Sustainable Supply Chain and Operations Management
- Choose two courses from:
- MKT 561. Consumer Behavior and Analytics
- OBC 533. Negotiations
- OIE 553. Global Purchasing and Logistics
- OIE 548. Performance Analytics
- OIE 549. Sustainable Supply Chain and Operations Management
Specialty in Advanced Operations Analytics
- Choose 3 courses from:
- MIS 587. Business Applications in Machine Learning or MKT 562 Marketing Research OR MKT 568 Data Mining
- OIE 542. Risk Management and Decision Analysis
- OIE 548. Performance Analytics
- OIE 559. Advanced Prescriptive Analytics: From Data to Impact
Specialty in Operational Excellence
- Choose one course from:
- OIE 554. Global Operations Strategy
- OIE 558. Designing and Managing Lean Six Sigma Processes
- Choose 2 courses from:
- FIN 500. Financial Information and Management
- MIS 576. Project Management
- OBC 537. Leading Change
- OIE 554. Global Operations Strategy
- OIE 558. Designing and Managing Lean Six Sigma Processes
Students must complete a two-course capstone project experience as follows:
- OBC 505. Teaming and Organizing for Innovation
- OIE 597. Operations and Supply Chain Consulting Project
Alternative Specialties
- Custom specialty (requires approval)
- Research specialty (requires approval)
Additional Recommendation
- On-campus, international students are encouraged to complete up to three additional credits of internship to ensure their readiness for employment in the U.S.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Financial Assistance
Financial assistance from WPI to support graduate students is available in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, other graduate assistantships, fellowships, internships, and loans. When graduate students are awarded teaching or research assistantships or fellowships that are processed through WPI, the student will receive official notification pertaining to the type and level of financial assistance from the Graduate Studies Office.
Fellowships are defined as full financial support for 12 months. They include a stipend and full tuition of at least 9 credits per semester during the academic year. In summer, there is typically no tuition offered but the fellowship recipient maintains the same stipend. Fellowships carry the specific expectations as defined in the notice of award, and are used to support the student to focus on research in their area of study.
Teaching Assistants are almost always for a full academic year of 9 months (fall and spring, or for students who begin in January, they would be for spring and at least the following fall), and include both a stipend that meets the minimum level and full tuition of at least 9 credits per semester. The expected responsibilities of Teaching Assistants are to support courses as defined by the supporting department or program. Exceptions are made under special circumstances and must be approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Some approved exceptions would include: 1) the student is graduating midway through the year, 2) the support is split between RA and TA for different semesters.
Research Assistants are typically for 9 or 12 months and must include a stipend that meets the minimum levels required for that type of student, and full tuition of at least 9 credits per semester. The expected responsibilities of Research Assistants are to support research activities as defined by the supporting faculty member.
It is possible to combine multiple sources of support. For example, a student may be a Teaching Assistant for the 9 month academic year and a Research Assistant for the 3 summer months.
For TAs and RAs that have already completed the number of credits required for their pending graduate degree, they may be offered less than 9 credits of tuition, as long as the amount is commensurate with their maintaining full-time student status.
Graduate Assistants are students that are not otherwise supported as full-time Research or Teaching Assistants or Fellows. There is no implied long-term commitment. These students typically receive hourly or fixed stipends and/or partial tuition support for a specific activity defined by a sponsor. The expected responsibilities of Graduate Assistants are typical to support research activities as defined by the sponsor. This classification is intended to provide a means for providing support to graduate students who would otherwise not receive assistantships, typically self-funded Master’s students.
Student Loans
Information on financial assistance in the form of loans is available through the WPI Office of Student Aid & Financial Literacy. Students who are U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, U.S. permanent residents, or fit into other eligible noncitizen categories set forth by the U.S. Department of Education may be eligible for federal Direct Loans, namely the Unsubsidized Loan and/or the Graduate PLUS Loan. To qualify, students must be admitted unconditionally into a graduate degree-granting program, must be enrolled on at least a half-time basis, defined as at least four credits in a given semester, file a FAFSA, meet all other federal student aid requirements, and must be making satisfactory academic progress. Satisfactory academic progress for Direct Loan borrowing is evaluated on an annual basis at the end of the spring semester. Conditionally admitted students are not eligible for federal Direct Loans.
Private student loans are also available to students enrolled in graduate programs, certificate programs, or to students who are not enrolled on an at least half-time basis. A noncitizen or international student may qualify for private loans with a creditworthy U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident as a cosigner.
English Language Requirements
Certify your English proficiency with the Duolingo English Test! The DET is a convenient, fast, and affordable online English test accepted by over 4,000 universities (like this one) around the world.