Inventory/purchasing manager education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an inventory/purchasing manager. Inventory/purchasing managers usually study business, accounting, or management. 56% of inventory/purchasing managers hold a bachelor's degree, and 21% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 1,682 real inventory/purchasing manager resumes to see exactly what inventory/purchasing manager education sections show.

The most common colleges for inventory/purchasing managers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online inventory/purchasing manager courses to help get the education required to be an inventory/purchasing manager.

There are certain inventory/purchasing manager certifications that you should consider. These inventory/purchasing manager certifications include Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP).

What education do you need to become an inventory/purchasing manager?

What degree do you need to be an inventory/purchasing manager?

The most common degree for inventory/purchasing managers is bachelor's degree, with 56% of inventory/purchasing managers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 21% and associate degree degree at 11%.

Bachelor's, 56%

Associate, 21%

High School Diploma, 11%

Master's, 6%

Other Degrees, 6%

What should I major in to become an inventory/purchasing manager?

You should major in business to become an inventory/purchasing manager. 47% of inventory/purchasing managers major in business. Other common majors for an inventory/purchasing manager include accounting and management.

Business, 47%

Accounting, 9%

Management, 5%

Marketing, 4%

Other Majors, 35%

Most common colleges for inventory/purchasing managers

Inventory/purchasing managers often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Ohio University. Here are the most common colleges for inventory/purchasing managers in the US based on their resumes.

Inventory/purchasing manager common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	19.83%
Southern Illinois University Carbondale	6.03%
Ohio University	5.17%
University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point	5.17%
Georgia State University	5.17%

Show more common inventory/purchasing manager colleges

Best majors for inventory/purchasing managers

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	47.3%
2	Accounting	8.7%
3	Management	5.2%
4	Marketing	4.1%
5	Supply Chain Management	3.8%

Show more common inventory/purchasing manager majors

Best colleges for inventory/purchasing managers

The best colleges for inventory/purchasing managers are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania.

An inventory/purchasing manager with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for inventory/purchasing managers. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become inventory/purchasing managers.

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME • Private

In-state tuition

$13,478

Enrollment

979

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

10. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

20 best online courses for inventory/purchasing managers

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2. Financial Accounting - Inventory Costs

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Mastering Inventory Costs & Flows: An In-Depth Guide to Accounting for Inventory in Business Operations...

3. SAP MM Materials Management (beginner to expert level)

4.3

(331)

Master SAP Materials Management module with practical implementation steps. Prepare and crack SAP MM Certification exam...

4. Supply Chain Management A-Z: Operations & Logistics Basics

4.5

(2,394)

Supply Chain Management Basics: An MBA style course to boost your career as a business operations & logistics manager...

5. SAP Materials Management (MM) Super User Training

4.6

(614)

Complete Beginner and Intermediate Purchasing & Inventory Management Training - Perform all the task in SAP in no time...

6. Laravel 9 - Build Complete Inventory Management System A-Z

4.5

(666)

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7. Create POS System - Inventory & sales with PHP 7 & adminLTE

4.5

(282)

Learn how to create a POS system with inventory management and billing using PHP 7 and Admin LTE...

8. PHP for Beginners to Inventory POS Sales Project - AdminLTE

4.2

(392)

Create Inventory POS System Project With Billing by use of Bootstrap Responsive Admin LTE Dashboard With PHP PHP7 MYSQL...

9. RA: Data Science and Supply chain analytics.(A-Z with R)

4.5

(322)

Learn R,Supply-chain Data Science, Inventory Optimization,Big Data forecasting, Machine learning and Revenue Management...

10. Unity RPG Inventory Systems Asset Pack: Behind The Scenes

4.2

(840)

Review and integrate an RPG-Style Inventory System. All Code Base Provided As A Flexible Asset Pack...

11. Fundamentals of Logistics, Supply Chain & Customer Service

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Learn Logistics, Supply Chain and Customer Service. 3 Courses in 1...

12. eBay Drop Shipping Guide with No Inventory - Work From Home

(9,490)

Learn exactly how to work from home purely selling and drop shipping on e Bay. No up front inventory! Basic to Advanced!...

13. SAP MM (Materials Management) Consultant Level Course

(306)

Learn SAP Material Management module from scratch. Purchasing, Schema Determination, Material Master, Goods Receipt, etc...

14. Complete Tally ERP 9-GST Course with Live Project of Clients

4.2

(353)

Learn Tally ERP 9 with live Accounts of a Business Covering its Accounting, Payroll, GST, Banking, Inventory System...

15. SAP S/4HANA Sourcing & Procurement (MM-Materials Management)

4.5

(2,553)

The course covers both configuration and end-user processes for SAP S/4HANA MM / Sourcing & Procurement...

16. RA: Data Science and Supply Chain analytics. A-Z with Python

4.4

(840)

Learn Python, Supply Chain Data Science ,Linear Programming, Forecasting, Pricing and Inventory Management...

17. Master Blazor Development: Build Inventory Management System

4.5

(435)

Learn Blazor Server, Entity Framework Core, and ASP.NET Core Identity for Full Stack Web Development...

18. Procurement & Supply Planning tools and techniques.

4.4

(310)

Learn how to Make purchasing strategies ,MRP, forecast, inventory policies and techniques to minimize supply costs...

19. SAP MM -Material Management Simplified For Beginners

4.6

(518)

Exclusively designed SAP MM Training for End-Users, MM-Super-users , SAP Beginner to become SAP MM Consultant, S4 HANA...

20. Lean Management: Just-In-Time JIT Certification (Accredited)

4.7

(471)

Get Lean Management and Lean Manufacturing Just In Time Trained Grab Just In Time Specialist Certification Earn PDUs...

Top 10 most affordable universities for inventory/purchasing managers

The most affordable schools for inventory/purchasing managers are SUNY Farmingdale, california state university - bakersfield, and baruch college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for inventory/purchasing managers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for inventory/purchasing managers.

1. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

2. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

3. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

4. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

5. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

6. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

7. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

8. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Cost of attendance

22,990

10. Clayton State University

Morrow, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$5,419

Cost of attendance

17,697

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for inventory/purchasing managers

The hardest universities for inventory/purchasing managers to get into are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania.

Some great schools for inventory/purchasing managers are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for inventory/purchasing managers based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

4. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

7. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions rate

29%

SAT average

1,407

8. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

Admissions rate

43%

SAT average

1,338

9. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

Admissions rate

40%

SAT average

1,376

10. Brandeis University

Waltham, MA • Private

Admissions rate

31%

SAT average

1,398

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for inventory/purchasing managers

The easiest schools for inventory/purchasing managers to get into are Oklahoma Wesleyan University, notre dame de namur university, and holy names university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an inventory/purchasing manager without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for inventory/purchasing managers.

1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

2. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

3. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

4. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

5. LIM College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

1,061

6. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

999

7. Life University

Marietta, GA • Private

Admissions rate

94%

SAT average

979

8. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

9. Presentation College

Aberdeen, SD • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,050

10. Oregon Institute of Technology

Klamath Falls, OR • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,139

Average inventory/purchasing manager salary by education level

Inventory/purchasing managers with a Master's degree earn more than those without, at $71,531 annually. With a Doctorate degree, inventory/purchasing managers earn a median annual income of $69,327 compared to $59,413 for inventory/purchasing managers with an Bachelor's degree.

Inventory/purchasing manager education level	Inventory/purchasing manager salary
Master's Degree	$71,531
High School Diploma or Less	$44,058
Bachelor's Degree	$59,413
Doctorate Degree	$69,327
Some College/ Associate Degree	$45,282

Inventory/purchasing manager education FAQs

What is the best college for Inventory/Purchasing Managers?

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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