UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Gartner Inc. has once again ranked Penn State as the No. 1 university in North America for a graduate supply chain education.
Penn State topped the list, the Gartner Supply Chain University Top 25 for 2020, which was released the week of July 20. Penn State’s master’s degree in supply chain management is led by the internationally renowned Smeal College of Business and delivered online through Penn State World Campus.
This year marks the fifth time Penn State has earned top billing in Gartner’s rankings since 2008.
Gartner's rankings were based on three categories of criteria: program scope, industry value, and program size. New in 2020, formal global content and diversity and inclusion were added to the scoring process.
Program scope measured for the best curricula to prepare students for supply chain careers. For industry value, Gartner surveyed university programs and supply chain practitioners on program reputation and recruitment. Finally, program size was evaluated using the number of full- and part-time supply chain students with full-time faculty.
Data for this research is gathered through surveys of academia and industry. The surveys are designed to identify industry sentiment and recruiting patterns and to gather information on university program composition, including numbers of students and professors, as well as the scope of the curriculum.
The Gartner report is intended to help supply chain leaders identify university partners best equipped to help them recruit the right talent.
Gartner Inc. is a leading research and advisory company. Its nearly 17,000 associates serve more than 15,000 client enterprises in 100 countries.
Penn State opened its graduate program in supply chain management in 2008. The program consists of a 12-credit graduate certificate and a 30-credit master’s degree.
Since 2008, more than 1,025 students have graduated with the master’s degree in supply chain management.