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Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Degree

118 schools compared · Average earnings $62,729/yr

Students study mathematical and statistical methods for business decision-making, including optimization, simulation, data analytics, and supply chain modeling. Graduates typically pursue careers as data analysts, management consultants, supply chain analysts, operations researchers, and business intelligence specialists. The growing emphasis on data-driven business decisions makes these quantitative skills exceptionally valuable.

What Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Graduates Do

With a degree in Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, you’re trained to be the analytical mind in the room. Early in your career as a management analyst or operations research analyst, you'll dig into a company’s data, interview teams, and build models to solve complex problems like supply chain bottlenecks or inefficient pricing. This analytical foundation often leads to senior roles like general and operations manager, where you're responsible for a department's performance and budget, or even to the C-suite.

The career landscape is dynamic. While data science and operations research roles are projected to grow rapidly, others like insurance underwriting face headwinds. The common thread is the impact of AI. For the most analytical paths, exposure is high, meaning AI is fundamentally reshaping the work. Entry-level data-crunching is being automated, so your value shifts from doing the calculations to architecting the AI-powered systems, challenging their outputs, and making the final strategic judgment calls that require human experience. Adaptability is key.

Schools Offering

118

Avg Grad Earnings

$62,729/yr

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

71/100

AI Automation Risk

Very High

58% task exposure

Common Career Paths

Where Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods graduates typically work, ranked by salary. Salary ranges show 25th–75th percentile spread. This field has roughly 492,600 combined openings per year.

Career Path	Salary Range	Openings/yr	Growth	AI Risk
Chief executives	$206,420	22,200	+4.3%	56%
Actuaries	$125,770 $91K$165K	2,400	+21.8%	50%
Data scientists	$112,590 $83K$156K	23,400	+33.5%	64%
Financial risk specialists	$106,000 $80K$145K	4,800	+6.5%	53%
Statisticians	$103,300 $79K$138K	2,000	+8.5%	66%
General and operations managers	$102,950 $67K$164K	308,700	+4.4%	48%
Management analysts	$101,190 $77K$133K	98,100	+8.8%	40%
Business teachers, postsecondary	$97,270 $63K$140K	8,100	+5.7%	49%
Operations research analysts	$91,290 $67K$124K	9,600	+21.5%	63%
Insurance underwriters	$79,880 $63K$105K	8,200	-2.6%	57%
Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary	$79,350 $61K$106K	4,400	+2.3%	54%
Survey researchers	$63,380 $46K$85K	700	-5.2%	62%

Chief executives

$206,420

22,200 openings/yr +4.3% growth 56% AI risk

Actuaries

$125,770

$91K $165K

2,400 openings/yr +21.8% growth 50% AI risk

Data scientists

$112,590

$83K $156K

23,400 openings/yr +33.5% growth 64% AI risk

Financial risk specialists

$106,000

$80K $145K

4,800 openings/yr +6.5% growth 53% AI risk

Statisticians

$103,300

$79K $138K

2,000 openings/yr +8.5% growth 66% AI risk

General and operations managers

$102,950

$67K $164K

308,700 openings/yr +4.4% growth 48% AI risk

Management analysts

$101,190

$77K $133K

98,100 openings/yr +8.8% growth 40% AI risk

Business teachers, postsecondary

$97,270

$63K $140K

8,100 openings/yr +5.7% growth 49% AI risk

Operations research analysts

$91,290

$67K $124K

9,600 openings/yr +21.5% growth 63% AI risk

Insurance underwriters

$79,880

$63K $105K

8,200 openings/yr -2.6% growth 57% AI risk

Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary

$79,350

$61K $106K

4,400 openings/yr +2.3% growth 54% AI risk

Survey researchers

$63,380

$46K $85K

700 openings/yr -5.2% growth 62% AI risk

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Best Schools for Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

Top 20 of 118 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	91 86–92	$83,260/yr	27.3x
2	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE	89 85–90	$75,137/yr	26.0x
3	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	88 84–89	$72,304/yr	22.9x
4	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	88 84–89	$70,903/yr	24.3x
5	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	87 83–88	$78,177/yr	16.2x
6	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	87 83–88	$77,877/yr	16.7x
7	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	87 84–88	$73,618/yr	20.0x
8	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	87 83–87	$70,324/yr	21.0x
9	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	87 84–88	$62,578/yr	42.9x
10	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY	87 83–87	$62,306/yr	31.5x
11	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	87 83–87	$60,290/yr	38.3x
12	Ball State University Muncie, IN	86 82–87	$67,350/yr	20.9x
13	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	85 81–85	$72,527/yr	14.7x
14	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC	85 81–85	$68,804/yr	16.9x
15	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	85 81–86	$68,049/yr	16.8x
16	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT	84 80–85	$71,600/yr	13.8x
17	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT	84 80–85	$71,600/yr	13.8x
18	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT	84 80–85	$71,600/yr	13.8x
19	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT	84 80–85	$71,600/yr	13.8x
20	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	84 80–85	$66,099/yr	15.5x
21	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	84 80–84	$62,069/yr	17.4x
22	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	84 80–85	$62,069/yr	17.6x
23	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	83 79–84	$59,150/yr	18.0x
24	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	83 79–84	$57,257/yr	21.1x
25	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA	83 79–84	$55,596/yr	23.2x
26	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	82 78–83	$74,778/yr	10.7x
27	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH	82 78–83	$74,770/yr	11.7x
28	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	82 79–83	$71,600/yr	11.7x
29	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	82 79–83	$68,814/yr	15.0x
30	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN	82 78–82	$67,267/yr	17.1x
31	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI	82 79–83	$66,149/yr	14.4x
32	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN	82 78–82	$59,501/yr	15.4x
33	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	81 77–82	$60,832/yr	15.7x
34	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX	81 78–82	$47,528/yr	25.1x
35	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX	80 77–81	$61,303/yr	13.6x
36	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	80 76–81	$60,973/yr	13.1x
37	National Louis University Chicago, IL	80 76–81	$59,084/yr	15.0x
38	Drake University Des Moines, IA	79 74–79	$80,044/yr	4.9x
39	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	78 73–78	$81,377/yr	21.1x
40	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	78 74–79	$79,777/yr	29.7x
41	Bentley University Waltham, MA	76 71–77	$81,103/yr	3.5x
42	University of St Thomas Saint Paul, MN	76 71–76	$78,978/yr	3.7x
43	Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO	75 71–75	$69,590/yr	6.5x
44	Southeastern Oklahoma State University Durant, OK	74 72–75	$44,959/yr	21.2x
45	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	73 69–74	$74,357/yr	3.0x
46	Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA	73 70–74	$65,627/yr	3.8x
47	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL	73 69–73	$51,128/yr	11.9x
48	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	72 68–73	$93,565/yr	10.1x
49	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX	72 68–73	$63,945/yr	14.9x
50	Appalachian State University Boone, NC	72 68–72	$56,340/yr	17.7x
51	Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH	72 69–73	$47,040/yr	12.5x
52	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY	72 70–73	$45,090/yr	19.5x
53	Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH	71 67–72	$76,718/yr	10.7x
54	Illinois State University Normal, IL	71 68–72	$47,553/yr	10.6x
55	Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA	71 69–72	$45,720/yr	13.4x
56	University of Delaware Newark, DE	70 66–71	$73,420/yr	10.4x
57	Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI	70 66–70	$69,446/yr	10.8x
58	Auburn University Auburn, AL	70 66–71	$64,841/yr	11.9x
59	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	70 66–71	$62,993/yr	12.5x
60	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC	70 66–70	$51,384/yr	16.8x
61	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	69 65–69	$69,443/yr	9.9x
62	University of North Texas Denton, TX	69 65–69	$58,615/yr	12.1x
63	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	69 65–70	$49,830/yr	16.6x
64	Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI	69 66–70	$46,886/yr	10.4x
65	University of Missouri-St Louis Saint Louis, MO	68 64–69	$61,709/yr	10.5x
66	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	68 64–68	$48,546/yr	15.3x
67	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	68 66–69	$45,665/yr	10.4x
68	Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT	68 67–69	$42,454/yr	12.3x
69	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	67 63–67	$104,502/yr	3.0x
70	New York University New York, NY	67 63–68	$102,572/yr	3.2x
71	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	67 62–68	$99,843/yr	3.1x
72	North Central College Naperville, IL	67 62–68	$85,168/yr	3.8x
73	Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ	67 63–67	$65,070/yr	8.3x
74	University of Michigan-Dearborn Dearborn, MI	67 63–67	$61,297/yr	9.3x
75	Roosevelt University Chicago, IL	67 64–68	$48,715/yr	7.2x
76	Georgetown University Washington, DC	66 61–66	$92,963/yr	2.6x
77	St. John's University-New York Queens, NY	66 61–66	$82,432/yr	3.1x
78	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ	66 62–66	$73,618/yr	—
79	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	65 60–65	$83,810/yr	2.3x
80	University of Portland Portland, OR	65 61–66	$53,136/yr	2.7x
81	Manhattan College Riverdale, NY	65 62–66	$51,113/yr	3.0x
82	Mid-America Christian University Oklahoma City, OK	65 63–66	$45,047/yr	7.5x
83	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ	65 63–66	$44,322/yr	9.3x
84	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL	65 65–66	$42,711/yr	10.8x
85	DePaul University Chicago, IL	64 60–65	$51,522/yr	3.1x
86	Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY	64 60–65	$49,823/yr	9.9x
87	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	63 59–64	$80,046/yr	2.0x
88	Villanova University Villanova, PA	63 59–63	$76,606/yr	2.0x
89	Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA	63 59–64	$73,497/yr	2.7x
90	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	63 59–64	$52,684/yr	7.6x
91	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY	63 59–64	$51,494/yr	2.5x
92	Valparaiso University Valparaiso, IN	62 58–63	$67,129/yr	2.6x
93	Creighton University Omaha, NE	62 58–62	$65,365/yr	2.5x
94	Benedictine University Lisle, IL	62 58–62	$58,820/yr	3.3x
95	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL	62 62–63	$42,500/yr	9.7x
96	Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ	61 57–61	$58,890/yr	2.8x
97	La Salle University Philadelphia, PA	61 57–62	$57,783/yr	3.1x
98	Saint Ambrose University Davenport, IA	61 57–62	$49,039/yr	3.4x
99	University of St Francis Joliet, IL	61 58–62	$45,735/yr	3.6x
100	George Washington University Washington, DC	60 56–61	$66,362/yr	1.6x
101	University of Denver Denver, CO	60 57–61	$65,557/yr	1.8x
102	Seattle University Seattle, WA	60 57–61	$63,496/yr	1.9x
103	Bryant University Smithfield, RI	60 56–60	$60,162/yr	1.9x
104	Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN	60 56–60	$57,558/yr	2.3x
105	Northwood University Midland, MI	60 56–61	$54,298/yr	3.1x
106	McKendree University Lebanon, IL	60 58–61	$45,899/yr	3.8x
107	California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA	59 55–59	$57,276/yr	1.8x
108	Siena College Loudonville, NY	59 55–59	$54,855/yr	2.1x
109	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	58 54–58	$56,463/yr	1.2x
110	Trinity University San Antonio, TX	58 54–59	$55,887/yr	1.7x
111	Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL	58 54–58	$48,375/yr	2.5x
112	Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA	56 56–57	$41,787/yr	2.9x
113	Lenoir-Rhyne University Hickory, NC	55 53–56	$45,534/yr	2.7x
114	Ohio Northern University Ada, OH	53 51–54	$45,730/yr	2.6x
115	Cornell College Mount Vernon, IA	49 49–50	$42,127/yr	1.1x
116	La Roche University Pittsburgh, PA	49 53–50	$37,911/yr	3.5x
117	Coppin State University Baltimore, MD	46 48–47	$39,510/yr	4.8x
118	Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth, TX	45 53–46	$33,097/yr	3.5x

Highest Earning Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Programs

Schools where Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score
University of Pennsylvania	$104,502/yr	67
New York University	$102,572/yr	67
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$99,843/yr	67
University of Virginia-Main Campus	$93,565/yr	72
Georgetown University	$92,963/yr	66
North Central College	$85,168/yr	67
University of Notre Dame	$83,810/yr	65
University of Wisconsin-Madison	$83,260/yr	91
St. John's University-New York	$82,432/yr	66
Central Washington University	$81,377/yr	78

Best ROI for Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
Florida State University	42.9x	$62,578/yr	87
University of Florida	38.3x	$60,290/yr	87
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	31.5x	$62,306/yr	87
Brigham Young University	29.7x	$79,777/yr	78
University of Wisconsin-Madison	27.3x	$83,260/yr	91
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	26.0x	$75,137/yr	89
The University of Texas at San Antonio	25.1x	$47,528/yr	81
Purdue University-Main Campus	24.3x	$70,903/yr	88
Georgia State University	23.2x	$55,596/yr	83
University of Maryland-College Park	22.9x	$72,304/yr	88

Want to compare two Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods programs side by side? Use the comparison tool →

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Consider the Trade Route

Not sure a 4-year degree is the right path? Trade programs in Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods offer shorter timelines, lower debt, and strong AI resilience for hands-on careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods graduates earn?

Across 118 schools, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods graduates earn an average of $62,729 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $33,097 to $104,502 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods?

Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods is rated "Very High" for AI automation risk, with an average of 58% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means most career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), University of Wisconsin-Madison ranks #1 for Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods with a score of 91/100 and graduate earnings of $83,260/yr.

What's the outlook for a Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods degree?

On average, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods graduates earn 10.8x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a strong return on investment.

Scores use College Scorecard earnings, BLS employment projections, and AI task-exposure research. See full methodology →