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The supply chain master’s is a working professional’s degree: 60 institutions awarded CIP 52.0203 at master’s level in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024), most of them through business schools, and the programs are typically built for people already in the field who are aiming at the management tier.
This page covers the master’s specifically. The online supply chain management degree hub covers the field as a whole, including state and city listings, and the online bachelor’s in supply chain management covers the undergraduate route.
No state licenses supply chain work, so the checks that matter are the school’s accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor and an honest comparison against the MBA alternative. With those in mind, compare online supply chain master’s programs enrolling now:
Every school listed is verified in federal IPEDS data both to award this degree and to offer programs that can be completed entirely by distance education at this level. Whether this exact degree is delivered fully online varies by school, so confirm the format before you apply.
This page lists 10 schools, closest group first, then ordered by BOC Score with the highest at the top. 10 of them carry a score.
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal about the institution rather than about this subject. Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Graduate programs differ most in quantitative depth. Some are analytically serious; others are management degrees with supply chain examples. Read the required courses and decide which you are buying.
People already in supply chain or logistics operations aiming at the management tier - the mainstream use of this degree, and why most programs run part-time and online.
Career changers from adjacent operations roles - manufacturing, procurement, transportation - who want the field’s vocabulary and analytics in one structured run.
People choosing between this and an MBA should choose by career shape: field-committed professionals get more from the specialized degree, while people who may move across business functions keep more doors open with the MBA.
Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
The management tier the degree points at, transportation, storage, and distribution managers, earned a median $107,230 with the top 10 percent above $194,900. The analyst tier, logisticians, earned a median $82,320 with 16.7 percent projected growth (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
| Metric | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage, transportation/storage/distribution managers | $107,230 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Wage range, managers | $65,120 (10th pct) - $194,900 (90th pct) | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Employment, managers | 221,180 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Median annual wage, logisticians | $82,320 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Projected change, logisticians (2024-34) | 16.7%, about 26,400 openings per year | BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34 |
| Institutions awarding at master’s level | 60 | IPEDS Completions, 2024 |
| SOC codes covered | 11-3071 transportation, storage, and distribution managers; 13-1081 logisticians | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Role | Median | 90th percentile | Employment | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation, storage, and distribution managers | $107,230 | $194,900 | 221,180 | 6.1% |
| Logisticians | $82,320 | $133,160 | 251,040 | 16.7% |
All wage and employment figures BLS OEWS, May 2025; growth figures BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
Online supply chain master’s programs are built almost entirely for working professionals - asynchronous coursework, one or two courses per term, and a two-to-three-year path that assumes you are running an operation during the day. It is one of the fields where online delivery predates the pandemic by a decade, so the format is mature.
The piece to verify is the capstone. The strongest programs supervise an applied project against a real operation - ideally yours - with faculty who have run networks, not only modeled them. A capstone aimed at your own employer’s problem converts coursework into a business case your management chain can see, which is worth more than the transcript in a field that promotes on demonstrated operating judgment. Ask how capstones are scoped and supervised before you compare anything else.
The degree points at the management tier: transportation, storage, and distribution managers at the $107,230 median above, plus the director-track roles that sit over them in larger networks. Most people arrive there from the logistician analyst tier, and the master’s is one way to compress that climb - particularly when moving between employers or industries, where internal experience carries less weight.
Two adjacent degree-gated careers share the coursework and the employers. Industrial production managers run the plants supply chains feed, and industrial engineers design the processes both depend on - each has measured wage data on this site if you are comparing tracks.
For working professionals, aim the capstone at a live problem from your own operation. It converts tuition into demonstrated work in front of the employer most likely to promote you, which is the honest version of what this degree is for.
The case for: the degree points at a management tier with a $107,230 median, it is built for part-time online study while working, and the field’s growth at the analyst tier (16.7 percent) keeps feeding the pipeline beneath those roles.
The case against: experience is the primary route into supply chain management, and the voluntary ASCM certifications cost far less than a graduate degree. The master’s earns its keep mostly when you are changing employers or industries and need the credential to compete from outside.
Is college worth it covers the general tradeoff. Individual outcomes may vary.
60 institutions awarded a master's in CIP 52.0203, logistics, materials, and supply chain management, in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). The bachelor's remains the more widely awarded level, at 176 institutions.
The management tier the degree points at, transportation, storage, and distribution managers, earned a median of $107,230 with the top 10 percent above $194,900 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Logisticians, the analyst tier, earned a median of $82,320. Pay varies by employer, industry, and location.
No - experience is the primary route, and many managers hold only a bachelor's or came up from operations. The master's is one way to compete for those roles, particularly when changing employers or industries, not a requirement for them.
The supply chain master's goes deeper on the field's analytics and operations content; an MBA is broader and more portable across functions. If your career is committed to supply chain, the specialized degree tracks the work more closely. If you may move across business functions, the MBA keeps more doors open.
Yes. Online delivery is well established at this level, and many programs are built for working professionals. The schools listed are recorded in IPEDS as offering programs completable entirely by distance education at graduate level - confirm the exact format before you apply.
ASCM's CSCP and CPIM are the most recognized voluntary industry certifications. They are not licenses - no state licenses supply chain work - and they can substitute for or complement graduate study depending on the role.
State pay, licensing and metro-level data for this degree. Wage and employment figures on every state page come from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
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About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
