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2024 Best Operations Research Schools

20 Colleges in the United States
1,698 Operations Research Degrees Awarded
$84,787 Avg Early-Career Salary
Operations Research isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #203 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 20 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for operations research students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,698 degrees in operations research during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Operations Research School

Best Operations Research Schools Your choice of operations research school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Operations Research School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Operations Research Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Operations Research
Master's Degrees in Operations Research
Doctor's Degrees in Operations Research

The operations research school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Operations Research Schools. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Operations Research in the United States

The schools below may not offer all types of operations research degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Schools in Operations Research

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In MA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in operations research. MIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were approximately 23 operations research students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in operations research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
399 Operations Research Degrees Awarded
$99,320 Median Starting Salary

Columbia University in the City of New York is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in operations research. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were about 399 operations research students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Those operations research students who get their degree from Columbia University in the City of New York earn $14,532 more than the standard operations research student.

More information about a degree in operations research from Columbia University in the City of New York

3
Princeton crest
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In NJ
79 Operations Research Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat Princeton University if you want to pursue a degree in operations research. Located in the small city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Princeton is a great university overall.

There were about 79 operations research students who graduated with this degree at Princeton in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in operations research from Princeton University

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
192 Operations Research Degrees Awarded

University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in operations research. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 192 operations research students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in operations research from University of California - Berkeley

5

Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.More information about a degree in operations research from Northwestern University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In PA
62.5% Growth in Graduates

Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.

There were roughly 8 operations research students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in operations research from Carnegie Mellon University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
231 Operations Research Degrees Awarded
$89,655 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.

There were approximately 231 operations research students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the operations research program at Cornell University earn $4,868 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in operations research from Cornell University

8
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In TX

Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Rice is a great university overall.

There were about 12 operations research students who graduated with this degree at Rice in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in operations research from Rice University

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In GA
50 Operations Research Degrees Awarded

Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #24 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.

There were about 50 operations research students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in operations research from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TX
43 Operations Research Degrees Awarded

SMU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Dallas. This university ranks 4th out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were roughly 43 operations research students who graduated with this degree at SMU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in operations research from Southern Methodist University

Operations Research by Region

View the Best Operations Research Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

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

Operations Research Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Operations Research 1,698

View All Operations Research Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917
Biomedical Engineering 12,811
General Engineering 11,796
Industrial Engineering 9,072
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 8,001
Systems Engineering 3,904

View All Operations Research Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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