Online Graduate Certificate in Supply Chain Management

The Graduate Certificate in Supply Chain Management is a three-semester, 12 credit online professional development program focused on developing competence across the foundations of supply chain management. Students leave with a new skill set to help manage today's complex supply chains and add value for customers and other stakeholders. Its three-course sequence is the same as the first three courses in the Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management Program, and applicants meet the same admission standards as master's applicants. Students enrolled in the certificate program can apply for the master's program and complete the MPS/SCM without delay. After completing the certificate program students have up to three years to complete the Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management.

Our students enjoy the flexibility of learning from a home computer in their own time while forging connections with supply chain peers around the world and expert Smeal faculty. Students also connect with the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems, which is ranked number one in the country by Supply Chain Management Review. Supply Chain and Information Systems at Penn State is consistently ranked among the top programs by other media such as U.S. News and World Report and Business Week.

Prerequisites

For admission to the Graduate School, U.S. applicants must have received, from a regionally accredited institution, a baccalaureate degree with requirements substantially equivalent to those at Penn State. (Penn State is accredited by the Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools). International applicants must have a tertiary (postsecondary) degree that is deemed comparable to a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree to apply for admission. This degree must be from an officially recognized degree-granting institution in the country in which it operates.

Our curriculum is designed for working supply chain management professionals. Accordingly, successful applicants will normally have, before the start of their first semester, at least two years' post baccalaureate work experience in supply chain management or a closely allied field.

To assure a smooth transition to our curriculum prospective students should have Microsoft Office Excel skills, knowledge of business statistics, and an understanding of basic accounting and microeconomic terms and principles.

Prospective students who need to develop or improve Microsoft Office Excel skills, business statistics (quantitative methods), and/or financial accounting skills may benefit from the self-paced, individual eLearning courses offered by Harvard Business School Publishing. You can register any or all three courses, and receive a substantial discount, by clicking the following URL:

http://elearninghome.hbsp.org

From there, please:

- Click on the "Sign up here" link under New Users.
- Fill out the required information, including Organization ID # 00051820
- Use the search catalog to view the available courses

Prospective students may also gain prerequisite skill and knowledge by taking appropriate course work at local colleges or universities or online via Penn State World Campus (www.worldcampus.psu.edu)

Admissions Requirements

Applicants for the Graduate Certificate in Supply Chain Management should complete and submit this Application for Admission form: Application for the Certificate in Supply Chain Management.

Additionally, applicants must send the following application materials to:

MPS/SCM Program Director
Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems
Smeal College of Business
Business Building
University Park, Pa 16802

• A complete application (including $30 Graduate School application fee)
  
• A one page resume
• A statement describing your professional goals, experience and responsibility (two page maximum)
• One letter of recommendation. Recent work or military supervisors are preferred.
• Two official transcripts for each institution previously attended
• Transcripts should be mailed to the following address:
  MPS/SCM Program Director
  Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems
  Smeal College of Business
  427 Business Building
  University Park, Pa 16802
• Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)
• Applicants to our program represent diverse educational and employment backgrounds, and the GMAT provides a common assessment standard. Requiring the GMAT for the Graduate Certificate in Supply Chain & Information Systems applicants helps assure that all graduate supply chain management students are well qualified. Applicants must take the Official Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and have scores reported directly from the testing center to Penn State. The GMAT must be taken no more than 5 years prior to the application. To learn about test centers and schedules, or to request that a previously taken GMAT score be reported to Penn State, please go to www.mba.com. The GMAT program code for the Smeal College of Business Graduate Certificate Program is ZZ8-HD-64. Applicants who wish to submit previously taken GMAT scores should consult www.mba.com for instructions on how to submit those scores to this program.
• English proficiency: The language of instruction at Penn State is English. International applicants must take and submit scores for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), with the exceptions noted below. The minimum acceptable score for the TOEFL is 550 for paper-based test, 213 for the computer-based test, or a total score of 80 with a 20 on the speaking section for the Internet-based test (iBT). The minimum composite score for the IELTS is 6.5. Specific graduate programs may have more stringent requirements. International applicants are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement who have received a baccalaureate or a master's degree from a college/university/institution in any of the following: Australia, Belize, British Caribbean and British West Indies, Canada (except Quebec), England, Guyana, Republic of Ireland, Liberia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the United States, and Wales.