Purchaser education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a purchaser. Purchasers usually study business, accounting, or management. 54% of purchasers hold a bachelor's degree, and 20% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 2,238 real purchaser resumes to see exactly what purchaser education sections show.

The most common colleges for purchasers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online purchaser courses to help get the education required to be a purchaser.

There are certain purchaser certifications that you should consider. These purchaser certifications include Certified Purchasing Professional (CPP) and Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP).

What education do you need to become a purchaser?

What degree do you need to be a purchaser?

The most common degree for purchasers is bachelor's degree, with 54% of purchasers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 20% and associate degree degree at 13%.

Bachelor's, 54%

Associate, 20%

High School Diploma, 13%

Master's, 6%

Other Degrees, 7%

What should I major in to become a purchaser?

You should major in business to become a purchaser. 36% of purchasers major in business. Other common majors for a purchaser include accounting and management.

Business, 36%

Accounting, 11%

Management, 5%

Finance, 5%

Other Majors, 43%

Most common colleges for purchasers

Purchasers often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, University of California - Davis, and California State University - San Bernardino. Here are the most common colleges for purchasers in the US based on their resumes.

Purchaser common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	21.95%
University of California - Davis	6.50%
California State University - San Bernardino	5.69%
Texas State University	4.88%
American InterContinental University	4.88%

Show more common purchaser colleges

Best majors for purchasers

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	36.1%
2	Accounting	11.3%
3	Management	4.6%
4	Finance	4.6%
5	Marketing	4.6%

Show more common purchaser majors

Best colleges for purchasers

The best colleges for purchasers are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

A purchaser with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for purchasers. 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 purchasers.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

3. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

5. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

6. SUNY College at Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,369

Enrollment

5,229

7. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

8. Baylor University

Waco, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$45,542

Enrollment

14,159

9. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Alfred, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,570

Enrollment

3,721

10. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,853

Enrollment

14,759

20 best online courses for purchasers

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(3,822)

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

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

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(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

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

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

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

7. Financial Accounting - Inventory Costs

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

8. 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...

9. SAP MM (Materials Management) Consultant Level Course

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

10. SAP MM Purchasing Simplified for Beginners

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Easy Introduction into Purchasing Processing in SAP ERP...

11. Supply Chain Fundamentals: Logistic & Transportation

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Learn the Fundamentals of Logistic, Warehouse, Inbound, Picking, Packing, transportation and apply it to any ERP system...

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Business Process Explanation along with SAP Configuration and Testing of Purchasing Processes...

13. Procurement & Supply Planning tools and techniques.

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

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

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

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17. SAP: Supply Chain Logistics in R/3

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Everything you need to know about SAP Supply Chain Logistics and Transportation in one easy place...

18. SAP MM -Material Management Simplified For Beginners

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

19. SAP: Supply Chain Logistics & Transportation in S/4 HANA

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Everything you need to know about SAP S/4 HANA Supply Chain Logistics and Transportation Management in one place...

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

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

7. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

8. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

9. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

10. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for purchasers

The hardest universities for purchasers to get into are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for purchasers 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 purchasers 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. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

5. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

7. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

Admissions rate

43%

SAT average

1,338

8. Fordham University

Bronx, NY • Private

Admissions rate

46%

SAT average

1,354

9. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

10. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions rate

29%

Aberdeen, SD • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,050

Average purchaser salary by education level

According to our data, purchasers with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $62,345 annually. Purchasers with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $55,584.

Purchaser education level	Purchaser salary
Master's Degree	$62,345
High School Diploma or Less	$46,984
Bachelor's Degree	$55,584
Some College/ Associate Degree	$45,671

Purchaser education FAQs

What is the best college for Purchasers?

Have more questions? See all answers to common business and financial questions.

Search for purchaser jobs

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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