Operations Management

Types of Degrees Operations Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many operations management graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	3,643
Basic Certificate	2,634
Master’s Degree	523
Associate Degree	185
Graduate Certificate	91
Undergraduate Certificate	71
Doctor’s Degree	6

What Operations Management Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to maintenance management and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Maintenance Management Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in maintenance management should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Maintenance Management Majors

When studying maintenance management, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Maintenance Management Majors

A major in maintenance management will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Operations Management Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with maintenance management:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Computer and Information Systems Managers	12.0%	$142,530
Construction Managers	11.1%	$93,370
Logisticians	6.9%	$74,600
Logistics Analysts	6.9%	$74,600
Logistics Engineers	6.9%	$74,600

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Operations Management?

This major attracts more men than women. About 59% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of maintenance management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	152
Black or African American	201
Hispanic or Latino	288
White	2,301
International Students	498
Other Races/Ethnicities	203

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Maintenance Management. About 13.7% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Operations Management Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Maintenance Management majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $69,320 to $113,370 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Operations Management

Some careers associated with maintenance management require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for maintenance management careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	13.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	9.1%
Some College Courses	14.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	39.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	2.2%
Master’s Degree	5.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.0%
Doctoral Degree	6.0%

Online Operations Management Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 231 schools offered some type of operations management program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	21	8
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	59	13
Bachelor’s Degree	19	6
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	39	11
Post-Master’s	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Operations Management Worth It?

The median salary for a maintenance management grad is $103,110 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 158% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,264,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Operations Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to maintenance management.

Major	Number of Grads
General Business Administration and Management	353,401
Organizational Leadership	15,171
Interior Design Management	14,326
Supply Chain Management	10,986
Project Management	4,237
Office Administration	4,076
Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management	2,905
Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management	1,058
Retail Management	1,008
Transportation/Mobility Management	754
Science/Technology Management	430
Risk Management	396
E-Commerce	293
Research and Development Management	238
Customer Service Management	158

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.