Best Schools for Operations Research in 2026
These are the top schools offering Operations Research, ranked by DegreeWorth Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Operations Research graduate earns $87,035/yr across 6 schools.
All Operations Research Programs Ranked
Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.
| # | School | DW Score | Earnings | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
California State University-Northridge
Northridge, CA · Public |
66
63–67 |
$53,677/yr | 26.4x |
| 2 |
Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY · Private nonprofit |
66
62–66 |
$110,457/yr | 6.2x |
| 3 |
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY · Private nonprofit |
64
60–65 |
$96,377/yr | 4.7x |
| 4 |
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX · Private nonprofit |
61
57–61 |
$72,658/yr | 3.8x |
| 5 |
University of California-Berkeley
Berkeley, CA · Public |
59
55–60 |
$88,685/yr | 13.9x |
| 6 |
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ · Private nonprofit |
51
47–51 |
$100,354/yr | 3.2x |
Methodology
Programs are ranked by DegreeWorth Score, which combines four equally weighted factors: graduate earnings (Year 1 after graduation), AI automation resilience (based on OpenAI and academic research), job market size (BLS annual openings), and earnings-to-tuition multiple (10-year projected earnings vs. 4-year tuition).
Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which reports actual median earnings of graduates — not self-reported surveys.