WWU’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management Program Ranked 6th in the World

Western Washington University’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management program has been ranked number 6 in the world by SCM World, which identifies the top 100 universities with rigorous Supply Chain Management programs that provide valuable real world experience for their students. 

WWU Professor of Decision Sciences Peter Haug of Western’s MSCM program said the driving forces behind Western’s MSCM success are its students, alumni, outstanding faculty, high GPA requirement (3.0) and its two required internships; the rankings can be found online at www.scmworld.com.

The two internships required by the program promote real-world experience in the Supply Chain Management world along with knowledge and familiarity with the industry.

“I was not all that surprised to find out that Western is ranked sixth in the world for being one of the top Supply Chain Programs, because this program is exceptional,” said Stephanie Howd, a senior MSCM major at Western. “This program has really prepared me for full time employment after leaving Western due to completing six months’ worth of internship experience before graduating.”

Western is the only university in the Pacific Northwest ranked in the top 10; WWU ranked higher than schools such as Harvard Business School and Stanford University.

Haug said this kind of exposure was invaluable for the program.

“It will be interesting to see the effects of this recognition; I hope that we will see more inquiries from companies outside the Pacific Northwest looking for Supply Chain talent, or more opportunities for our students outside the state,” he said.

The MSCM major is relatively small in terms of number of students, but it has produced tremendous results with its graduates and prides itself in the nearly 100-percent job placement after graduation. 

The MSCM program at Western was created in 1993 with the desire of the regional business community to create a robust business degree that combined a core operations-based business education with select engineering curriculum and relevant internship experience. From the beginning this degree has been based around a partnership with industry.

Graduates from the SCM program have gone on to work at prestigious organizations such as Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

“The companies with whom we are affiliated have always had tremendous respect and admiration for the degree and the talent and quality of the graduates,” said Haug. “The visibility this gets worldwide will hopefully lead to greater awareness of our outstanding program.”