What do Dubai, Shanghai, Seoul, New York City, and Mecca all have in common?
Give up? They're all home to five of the ten tallest buildings on the planet. (The Burj Khalifa, Shanghai Tower, Lotte World Tower, One World Trade Center, and Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower, just in case you were wondering.)
That's an interesting fact, but take a minute to consider how on earth a team of workers was able to build a tower that is 163 floors and nearly half a mile tall. Now consider what it might be like to be the one overseeing the team of workers responsible for erecting something that enormous. No pressure, right?
Wrong! That's the job of the construction manager, and man, is it complicated.
What kind of Online Master's in Construction Management Degree should you get?
Increasingly, the barrier to entry in construction management is growing higher and higher, and a graduate degree in the field has come to be expected. As projects grow both in size and complexity, construction managers not only manage timelines, strategies, and materials but also personnel, environmental regulations, sustainability concerns, budgets, municipal laws, and legal conflicts.
With some exceptions, most programs cover all these bases, particularly the business and legal dimensions of the job. However, some programs boast particular emphases, for instance, in sustainability or technology. Even better, many of them are now offered fully online. For more information on online education, see our ranking of the Best Online Colleges and Universities.
How much money do people make with an Online Master's in Construction Management Degree?
If you are already in the construction management field, chances are the last thing you want to think about is going back to school! We hear you, but to the victor belong the spoils, as the saying goes. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction management careers are expected to grow at a much faster-than-average rate of 11 percent over the next 10 years. The median salary for construction managers in 2016 was just under $90,000 per year, and leaders in the field can make well into the six figures
What can you do with an Online Master's in Construction Management Degree?
In a nutshell, construction managers work to bring the ideas of architects and engineers to life. Sounds pretty simple, right? Guess again! From there, anything goes. Construction managers can oversee anything from a series of small residential projects to large-scale municipal infrastructure projects—and the high-pressure budgets of multiple stakeholders.
On a day-to-day basis, construction managers oversee budgets, estimate, and project timelines; execute contract terms and relay tasks to subcontractors; report on a project's progress . . . or lack thereof; communicate with architects and engineers; and ensure compliance with local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
What are the requirements for an Online Master's in Construction Management Degree?
Because of the highly specialized and high-pressure nature of the job, nearly all graduate programs in construction management require an undergraduate degree in construction management as well. Some will allow students to enroll with a degree in a closely related field, such as engineering, and some will allow equivalent work experience to count toward application requirements.
For students coming to the field form other backgrounds, however, most programs require extensive prerequisites in estimation, materials, engineering, project management, and business management. Each individual school will have its own unique requirements, so if this applies to you, be sure to correspond with the schools directly about their approach.
What are the best Online Master's in Construction Management Degrees?
We've compiled a list of the top 35 online master's degrees in construction management geared toward you and your needs. Here's what we did. First, we located the best programs in the country by taking an objective look at the best schools in the country as measured by reputation and return on investment. Then we looked at the bottom line—how much does it cost? We combined these factors to reach our College Choice Score, which determined where each school fits into the big scheme of things.
Our data for this ranking was drawn from a variety of public sources, such as U.S. News & World Report, the National Center for Education Statistics, PayScale.com, and the U.S. Census. The end result, we think, is a list of schools that not only represent the best education you can get and a good return on investment but also one that will fit your budget.
See our rankings methodology page.
