University of Arkansas tops Gartner’s best supply chain undergraduate program rankings

Research firm Gartner released its 2020 Top 25 North American Supply Undergraduate University Programs report this week. The University of Arkansas unseated long-standing leader Pennsylvania State University as the top supply chain undergraduate university program, due to its comprehensive curriculum, inclusion of global content, and the value it provides to the industry. 

According to the report, the top 10 programs in North America are:

1. University of Arkansas
2. Rutgers University
3. Pennsylvania State University
4. University of Texas, Austin
5. University of South Carolina
6. University of Tennessee
7. Auburn University
8. Northeastern University
9. Michigan State University
10. Georgia Institute of Technology

The report also offers additional key findings:

• 90% of supply chain undergraduate programs have well-established supply chain analytics courses, as well as offer analytics majors and minors.
• While women make up 39% of supply chain undergraduates, only 24% serve as supply chain undergraduate faculty and few women hold advisory board positions.
• When it comes to diversity, undergraduate populations are more ethnically diverse on average (38% are ethnic minorities) than the supply chain organizations that want to hire them.

Companies can reap significant benefits from keeping abreast of what is happening in universities’ supply chain programs. According to the report’s authors—Caroline Chumakov, principal analyst, and Dana Stiffler, vice president analyst: “Evolving supply chain skills requirements merit a continuous evaluation of university partnerships.” Utilizing these partnerships helps companies make recruiting and hiring decisions as they continually seek new supply chain talent.

The 13-page report offers three recommendations for supply chain leaders responsible for talent strategy: 

1. Before you prepare to evaluate university program partnerships, make sure you’ve taken the time to assess your talent strategy, geographic hiring focus, diversity and inclusion (D&I) objectives, and career value proposition.
2. Consider second- and third-tier schools, as well as programs outside the Top 25, when recruiting talent. The authors of the report note, “Yesterday’s underdog school could well be in tomorrow’s Top 5 (for example, University of Arkansas and University of South Carolina).”
3. Make your company appealing to Generation Z university graduates by focusing on career pathways and development opportunities, flexibility of work, and your organization’s current D&I and sustainability programs.

To download the report, click here.