Gartner ranks top 25 North American supply chain undergraduate programs

Gartner, Inc. has released the findings from its biennial Top 25 North American Supply Chain Undergraduate Programs report. Fifty-five institutions in the U.S. and Canada participated in the survey.

The report is intended to support chief supply chain officers (CSCOs), heads of supply chain strategy and supply chain HR partners to identify the programs best equipped to support their growing talent needs.

“During the course of the pandemic, the higher education landscape changed massively,” said Dana Stiffler, distinguished VP analyst with the Gartner Supply Chain practice. “Our methodology changed as well. While our 2020 ranking only included on-campus and hybrid programs, this year’s ranking also includes 100% online programs.”

The University of Arkansas led the undergraduate ranking at number one, retaining its position. The University of Tennessee moved up from the sixth position in 2020 to the second position in 2022. The University of South Carolina was ranked at number three.

“The University of Arkansas retained the pole position – they have developed an excellent curriculum and strong industry partnerships,” Stiffler said.

Auburn broke back into the top five, jumping three spots to secure the fourth position. Rutgers University remained a mainstay of the top five undergraduate programs for the third cycle in a row at number five.

More information about other Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 can be found here.

Additional trends to note:

• Curricula in the Top 25 have standardized. Supply chain leaders must use other criteria, such as experiential learning, DEI initiatives, location, or cost to determine the best education partner for their organization.
• The top programs tend to be more competitive and expensive, so there is an incentive for leaders to look beyond the top 15.
• In accordance with recent developments in supply chain, many programs put a bigger focus on sustainability and risk management.

Gartner sent out individualized request for information (RFI) links to supply chain program contacts at universities in the U.S. and Canada. In total, 55 undergraduate programs provided complete RFI responses for degree programs. The final placement of university programs in Gartner’s relative comparison is based on a composite score of three categories: program scope, industry value and program size.

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