2024 Best Operations Research Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Operations Research is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #117 most popular master's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Operations Research Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 52 master's degrees in operations research during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on operations research students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other operations research students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for operations research to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized operations research related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for operations research students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Operations Research Master's Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Operations Research in Illinois

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in operations research.

Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Operations Research

1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

46 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you wish to pursue a master's degree in operations research. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a master’s in operations research from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2

Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL

6 Annual Graduates

Illinois Institute of Technology is a great decision for students pursuing a master's degree in operations research. Illinois Tech is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in operations research from Illinois Institute of Technology

Best Operations Research Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Operations Research Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	211	0
Ohio	207	51

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Operations Research Related Rankings by Major

Operations Research is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Operations Research Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
General Operations Research	52

Majors Similar to Operations Research

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering	414
Civil Engineering	317
Mechanical Engineering	276
Industrial Engineering	132
Other Engineering	129
Computer Engineering	115
Biomedical Engineering	107
Chemical Engineering	82
Materials Engineering	54
Environmental Engineering	43

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.