MS in Supply Chain and Operations Management

Admission Requirements

Applicants are considered on an individual basis. Transcripts for all undergraduate and any graduate work must be submitted to the UIC Liautaud Graduate School of Business Program Office. In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, applicants must meet the following program requirements:

  • Degree Required Bachelor's degree
  • Baccalaureate Field Individuals from all baccalaureate fields are encouraged to apply. The exact course requirements will be determined based on an individual's baccalaureate field and work experience. All applicants must have had the following background course work: mathematics through the level of calculus covering integration and differentiation, linear algebra, basic probability, and statistics through regression analysis
  • Grade Point Average At least 3.00/4.00 for the final 60 semester (90 quarter) hours of undergraduate study. Applicants with a master’s degree must have maintained a grade point average of at least 3.00/4.00 in that program. Relevant work experience beyond academic study will also be considered.
  • Tests Required GMAT or GRE taken within five years of entry into the program.
  • Minimum English Competency Test Score
    • TOEFL iBT 80, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Speaking 20, and Writing 21, OR,
    • IELTS Academic 6.5, with 6.0 in each of the four subscores, OR,
    • PTE-Academic 54, with subscores of Reading 51, Listening 47, Speaking 53, and Writing 56.
  • Letters of Recommendation Two required.
  • Personal Statement Required.
  • Resume or CV Required.
  • Preferred Admission to MS in Supply Chain and Operations Management UIC, UIUC, and UIS students or alumni (graduated within five years of applying) with a cumulative GPA of 3.00/4.00, and a GPA of 3.00/4.00 in selected IDS-related courses will be waived from the GMAT or GRE requirement.

Degree Requirements

In addition to the Graduate College minimum requirements, students must meet the following program requirements:

  • Minimum Semester Hours Required: 32 hours of graduate coursework beyond the program prerequisites. No more than two 400-level courses may be used toward degree requirements.
    Prerequisites
    One of the following, or the equivalent:
    IDS 371
    		Business Statistics II
    IDS 570
    		Statistics for Management
    Required Courses
    IDS 509
    		Foundations of Analytics and AI for Supply Chain and Operations Management
    IDS 532
    		Introduction to Operations Management
    IDS 552
    		Supply Chain Management
    IDS 555
    		Applied Supply Chain Strategy and Practice
    Electives
    Select 16 semester hours from the following list, with at least 12 hours of Supply Chain and Operations electives:
    Supply Chain and Operations Electives
    IDS 451
    		Enterprise Operations and Supply Chain Systems
    IDS 453
    		Supply Chain Management: Sourcing and Procurement
    IDS 534
    		Project Management
    IDS 535
    		Vendor Management
    IDS 544
    		Global Sourcing and Logistics
    IDS 551
    		Operations Management in the Service Sector
    IDS 553
    		Supply Chain Analytics and Decision Models
    IDS 558
    		Revenue Management
    IDS 571
    		Statistical Quality Control and Assurance
    IDS 594
    		Special Topics in Information and Decision Sciences
    IDS 596
    		Independent Study in Information and Decision Sciences
    Other Electives
    Select a maximum of 4 hours from related areas with the approval of the program director. Sample courses include:
    ACTG 506
    		Management Accounting
    IDS 435
    		Optimization for Analytics
    IDS 476
    		Business Forecasting Using Time Series Methods
    IDS 479
    		Enterprise Risk Management
    IDS 518
    		Electronic Marketing
    IDS 572
    		Data Mining for Business
    IDS 575
    		Machine Learning and Statistical Methods for Business Analytics
    IDS 582
    		Time Series Econometrics
    Electives are to be selected with the approval of the director of graduate studies. Based on student background and interests, other supply chain and operations related courses may be taken with the advice and approval of the director of graduate studies.
  • Comprehensive Examination: None
  • Thesis, Project, or Coursework-Only Options: Coursework only
    • The required capstone course IDS 555 ties together the technical material in the core courses and electives with discussion and cases to address issues related to supply chain and operations strategy for organizations and effective management practice. This course further integrates this material with project work that involves either detailed study of supply chain and operations strategy and practice in organizations, or development of supply chain related solutions for specific problems. Such projects, organized as part of the capstone course, can be driven by specific client needs, or framed around problems as currently encountered in practice.