Operations Research Degrees (2026 stats)

Last updated: April 29, 2026 Source: College Scorecard

TL;DR

Operations Research maps to BLS occupations averaging about $165,919, with roughly 293,450 workers nationwide in those roles. About 1,910 degrees completed in recent IPEDS counts; median program completion runs near 57%.

Key Statistics

1,910
Total Degrees Awarded (2023)
$11,678
Median In-State Public Tuition
$60,438
Median Out-of-State Private Tuition
$165,919
Avg. Wage (related occupations)
293,450
Workers (related occupations)
57.0%
Median Graduation Rate (4-yr schools)

Operations Research: what the data shows

Common questions about operations research degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a operations research degree?

A Operations Research program is classified under NCES CIP 00.1437 in the 00.0014 field family (00.14).

IPEDS counted 1,910 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of operations research degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 00.14 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

What do you learn in operations research?

O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Active Listening, Monitoring, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.

What degree do you need?

For Airfield Operations Specialists (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).

O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.

What jobs can you get with a operations research degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Operations Research to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

OccupationU.S. employmentMedian annual wage
Airfield Operations Specialists16,640$56,750
General and Operations Managers3,584,420$102,950

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a operations research degree worth it?

Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $11,678 and median net price is $19,027.

We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Operations Research and the types of students that study this field.

Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$11,678 Median In-State Public

$60,438 Median Out of State Private

Tuition costs for Operations Research majors are, on average, $11,678 for in-state public colleges, and $60,438 for out of state private colleges.

Tuition costs comparison for Operations Research programs.

Degrees Awarded Over Time

1,910 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Operations Research from 2015 to 2023.

Historical trend of degrees awarded in Operations Research.

Top 5 Schools by Enrollment

# School State Enrollment
1 Texas A&M University-College Station TX 59,099
2 The University of Texas at Austin TX 42,100
3 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ 36,357
4 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL 34,623
5 University of California-Berkeley CA 33,073

Schools with the largest enrollment offering Operations Research programs.

Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition

# School State Tuition
1 Delaware Technical Community College-Terry DE $4,965
2 California State University-Northridge CA $7,095
3 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY $7,464
4 Morgan State University MD $8,118
5 Georgia State University GA $8,478

Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Operations Research programs.

Top 5 Lowest Net Price

# School State Net Price
1 CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY $2,978
2 California State University-Northridge CA $7,599
3 Delaware Technical Community College-Terry DE $8,033
4 Princeton University NJ $10,555
5 Rice University TX $12,640

Schools with the lowest average net price for Operations Research programs.

Graduation Rates

56.95% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)

57.64% Average Graduation Rate

144 Institutions Reporting

43.28% - 72.24% Interquartile Range

Graduation/completion rates for Operations Research programs across institutions.

Related specializations

Other NCES program codes in the 00.14 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.

Careers & Jobs

Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.

Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $165,919. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Operations Research graduates alone.

Related occupations (BLS OEWS)

Occupation Mean annual wage U.S. employment
Airfield Operations Specialists$71,44616,640
General and Operations Managers$166,3583,584,420

Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.

Employment

Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

$165,986 Average Wage in Workforce

The average salary for Operations Research majors is $165,986.

Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Operations Research majors.

Occupations by Share

293,450 2023 Workforce

The number of Operations Research graduates in the workforce has been growing.

Various jobs filled by those with a major in Operations Research by share of the total number of graduates.

Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Operations Research in the United States.

Workforce Age

N/A Average Age in 2023

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Operations Research.

Age distribution for Operations Research degree holders in the workforce.

Gender Distribution

Gender distribution data is not available for this degree program.

Gender distribution of Operations Research degree recipients.

Race and Ethnicity Distribution

Race and ethnicity distribution data is not available for this degree program.

Racial and ethnic distribution of Operations Research degree recipients.

Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Operations Research are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.

Distribution of degree types awarded in Operations Research.

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Operations Research field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Required Skills

Operations Research majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.

Rating of how necessary various skills are for Operations Research majors.

Skills Bar Chart

This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.

Skill importance ratings for Operations Research majors.

About

Operations Research

In 2023, 1,910 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Operations Research.

CIP Code

00.1437 - Operations Research

What the data shows

Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $165,919. The largest mapped role by headcount is Airfield Operations Specialists (16,640 U.S. jobs in OEWS).

Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $11,678 in-state at public colleges and $60,438 at private institutions for programs in this field.

Data Sources

This page uses data from the following sources:

  • College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
    • Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
    • Data years: 2015-2024
    • Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
    • Employment and wage data by occupation
    • Latest data: May 2024
    • Source: bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
    • Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
    • Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
    • Source: onetcenter.org
  • IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
    • Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
    • Data years: 2015-2024
    • Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
  • Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
    • Demographic and workforce data
    • Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
    • Source: census.gov/acs

Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.

Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.

Methodology

Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.

All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.