Senior material specialist education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a senior material specialist. Senior material specialists usually study business, supply chain management, or accounting. 62% of senior material specialists hold a bachelor's degree, and 17% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 276 real senior material specialist resumes to see exactly what senior material specialist education sections show.

The most common colleges for senior material specialists are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online senior material specialist courses to help get the education required to be a senior material specialist.

What education do you need to become a senior material specialist?

What degree do you need to be a senior material specialist?

The most common degree for senior material specialists is bachelor's degree, with 62% of senior material specialists earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 17% and associate degree degree at 9%.

Bachelor's, 62%

Associate, 17%

High School Diploma, 9%

Master's, 8%

Other Degrees, 4%

What should I major in to become a senior material specialist?

You should major in business to become a senior material specialist. 34% of senior material specialists major in business. Other common majors for a senior material specialist include supply chain management and accounting.

Business, 34%

Supply Chain Management, 9%

Accounting, 7%

Computer Science, 7%

Other Majors, 43%

Most common colleges for senior material specialists

Senior material specialists often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Arizona State University, and California State University - San Bernardino. Here are the most common colleges for senior material specialists in the US based on their resumes.

Senior material specialist common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	23.81%
Arizona State University	7.14%
California State University - San Bernardino	7.14%
Michigan State University	7.14%
Arizona College - Mesa	4.76%

Show more common senior material specialist colleges

Best majors for senior material specialists

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	33.6%
2	Supply Chain Management	8.8%
3	Accounting	7.3%
4	Computer Science	6.6%
5	Management	5.8%

Show more common senior material specialist majors

Best colleges for senior material specialists

The best colleges for senior material specialists are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

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

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 senior material specialists

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1. 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...

2. SAP MM (Materials Management) Consultant Level Course

(306)

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

3. Angular Material In Depth (Angular 16)

4.5

(1,842)

In-depth guided tour to the Angular Material component library (in Angular 16)...

4. Materialize CSS From Scratch With 5 Projects

4.6

(1,751)

Master HTML 5 & the Materialize CSS framework by building 5 real world responsive material design based themes...

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. Angular (Full App) with Angular Material, Angularfire & NgRx

4.6

(8,123)

Use Angular, Angular Material, Angularfire (+ Firebase with Firestore) and Ng Rx to build a real Angular App...

7. 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...

8. Android Material UI Design Masterclass with Adobe Xd

4.5

(293)

Learn to Design Mobile Apps following the guidliness of Material System Design using Adobe Xd...

9. Android Material Design

4.4

(463)

Introduction, Implementation and Mastering. All in one!...

10. Fundamentals of Logistics, Supply Chain & Customer Service

4.5

(3,822)

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

11. 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...

12. 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...

13. 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...

14. Become a Material Guru in Blender

4.6

(1,385)

How to create, use and handle all kind of textures and materials in Blender...

15. Applied Control Systems 3: UAV drone (3D Dynamics & control)

4.6

(292)

Modeling + state space systems + Model Predictive Control + feedback control + Python simulation: UAV quadcopter drone...

16. Materials and Finishes in Interior Design

4.3

(297)

All You Need To Know About The Materials And Finishes Used In Interior Spaces For Ceiling, Walls And Floors...

17. Basics of Material selection for mechanical design engineers

4.4

(542)

Learn about the fundamentals of materials and their selection for mechanical engineering design for design engineers...

18. PID Controllers - Intro to Control Design

4.2

(338)

Learn to write your own control software while learning fundamental control theory...

19. 3ds Max + VRay: Materials Masterclass

4.7

(288)

Use 3ds Max to create professional, photoreal materials. Shaders include VRay, Corona, Mental Ray, V-ray for Sketch Up...

20. Substance Designer 2020: Stylized material creation.

4.6

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 senior material specialists

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

Some great schools for senior material specialists 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 senior material specialists 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 senior material specialist salary by education level

According to our data, senior material specialists with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $105,911 annually. Senior material specialists with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $87,057.

Senior material specialist education level	Senior material specialist salary
Master's Degree	$105,911
High School Diploma or Less	$65,333
Bachelor's Degree	$87,057
Some College/ Associate Degree	$62,245

Senior material specialist education FAQs

What is the best college for Senior Material Specialists?

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

Search for senior material specialist 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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