Master of Science in Project Management
Overview
Now offered in hybrid format at Northeastern's Charlotte campus.
Companies succeed or fail based on their ability to bring quality products and services to market in a timely manner. Without skilled project managers in place, companies are challenged to deliver projects on time, on budget, and according to specifications. From inception to completion, project managers are responsible for every step in the process: project definition, cost and risk estimation, schedule planning and monitoring, budget management, negotiation and conflict resolution, project leadership, and project presentation and evaluation.
The Master of Science in Project Management is designed to provide you the practical skills and theoretical concepts you need to lead complex projects. Featuring real-world case studies, this project management degree presents techniques and tools for managing long- and short-term projects, successfully and cost effectively. Augmenting the core project management courses are concentrations that provide you with content-specific expertise—enabling you to deepen your knowledge in your field of interest.
Program Objectives
- Effectively manage multiple, sometimes interrelated, complex projects
- Implement enterprise-level project portfolio management (PPM) based upon an organization’s strategic business goals
- Avoid common project management pitfalls
- Develop metrics for determining and reporting project performance
In September of 2009, the Master of Science in Project Management received accreditation by the Project Management Institute's Global Accreditation Center (GAC), the world's leading association for project management professionals. Accreditation is achieved by meeting the GAC’s rigorous standards, which include an assessment of program objectives and outcomes, a review of onsite and online resources, evaluations of faculty and students, and proof of continuous improvements in the area of project management.
The GAC logo is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
Interested in learning more?
Curriculum
Attention students enrolled before winter 2012: download your curriculum here. |
Total Quarter Hours: 45-46 (effective for students starting in winter 2012)
Required Courses (21 q.h.)
| PJM 5900 | Foundations of Project Management (This course is required for students who do not have at least two years of professional experience working on projects. This course is only intended for those who are not familiar with professional project work. Students with two years or more of professional project experience should not take this course.) |
3 q.h. |
| PJM 6000 | Project Management Practices (prerequisite) | 3 q.h. |
| PJM 6910 | Capstone (recommended as last course) | 3 q.h. |
Choose five* of the following courses:
| PJM 6005 | Project Scope Management | 3 q.h. |
| PJM 6015 | Risk Management | 3 q.h. |
| PJM 6025 | Project Scheduling and Cost Planning | 3 q.h. |
| PJM 6135 | Project Quality Management | 3 q.h. |
| PJM 6140 | Managing Troubled Projects | 3 q.h. |
| PJM 6145 | Global Project Management | 3 q.h. |
| PJM 6705 | Portfolio Management in the Enterprise Environment | 3 q.h. |
*Students who take PJM 5900 are only required to take four courses in this section.
Elective Courses (9 q.h.)
Choose three of the following courses:
| CMN 6015 | Introduction to the Digital Era: The Power of Social Media | 3 q.h. |
| CMN 6060 | Negotiation, Mediation, and Facilitation | 3 q.h. |
| CMN 6110 | Group Dynamics and Interpersonal Conflict: Meeting Management | 3 q.h. |
| LDR 6110 | Leading Teams | 3 q.h. |
| LDR 6135 | The Ethical Leader | 3 q.h. |
| COP 6940 | Personal and Career Development (enrollment into this course requires participation in the cooperative education program) | 3 q.h. |
Concentrations (15 - 16 q.h.)
Choose one of the following concentrations:
Clinical Trial Design Concentration*
| BTC 6211 | Validation and Auditing of Clinical Trial Informatics | 4 q.h. |
| BTC 6213 | Clinical Trial Design Optimization and Problem Solving | 4 q.h. |
| PMC 6212 | Clinical Drug Development Data Analysis: Concepts | 4 q.h. |
| RGA 6210 | Strategic Planning and Project Management for Regulatory Affairs | 4 q.h. |
Construction Management Concentration (online only)*
| CMG 6400 | Introduction to Construction Management (prerequisite) | 4 q.h. |
| CMG 6402 | Alternative Project Delivery Methods and Project Controls | 4 q.h. |
| CMG 6403 | Safety, Project Risk, and Quality Management | 4 q.h. |
| LDR 6110 | Leading Teams | 3 q.h. |
Geographic Information Systems Concentration (online only)*
| GIS 5101 | Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | 3 q.h. |
| GIS 5102 | Fundamentals of GIS Analysis | 3 q.h. |
| RMS 5105 | Introduction to Remote Sensing | 3 q.h. |
| GIS 5201 | Advanced Spatial Analysis | 3 q.h. |
Choose one of the following courses:
| GIS 6340 | GIS Customization | 3 q.h. |
| GIS 6350 | GIS Management and Implementation | 3 q.h. |
| GIS 6370 | Internet-Based GIS | 3 q.h. |
| GIS 6390 | Business Applications of Geographic Information Systems | 3 q.h. |
| GIS 6391 | Healthcare Applications of Geographic Information Systems | 3 q.h. |
Information Security Management Concentration*
| ITC 6300 | Foundations of Information Security | 3 q.h. |
| ITC 6315 | Information Security Risk Management | 3 q.h. |
| ITC 6310 | Information Security Governance | 3 q.h. |
| ITC 6320 | Information Security Technology | 3 q.h. |
Choose one of the following courses:
| ITC 6305 | IT Infrastructure (Systems, Networks, Telecom) | 3 q.h. |
| ITC 6345 | Systems and Network Administration | 3 q.h. |
| MIS 6080 | Network Security Concepts | 4 q.h. |
| MIS 6082 | Network Protection | 4 q.h. |
Leadership Concentration
| LDR 6100 | Developing Your Leadership Capability (prerequisite) | 3 q.h. |
| LDR 6110 | Leading Teams | 3 q.h. |
| LDR 6120 | Creating Leadership Capacity: Developing Bench Strength | 3 q.h. |
| LDR 6140 | Developing the Strategic Leader (recommended as last course) | 3 q.h. |
Choose one of the following courses:
| LDR 6135 | The Ethical Leader | 3 q.h. |
| LDR 6125 | Managing Organizational Culture | 3 q.h. |
Organizational Communication Concentration
| CMN 6010 | Foundations of Organizational Communication | 3 q.h. |
| CMN 6020 | Ethical Issues in Organizational Communication | 3 q.h. |
| CMN 6050 | Crisis Communication | 3 q.h. |
| CMN 6090 | Organizational Culture, Climate, and Communication | 3 q.h. |
| CMN 6110 | Group Dynamics and Interpersonal Conflict | 3 q.h. |
Total Quarter Hours: 45-46
Tuition rates, all fees, rules and regulations, courses, and course content are subject to revision by the president and the Board of Trustees at any time.
*These concentrations are not available at the Charlotte, NC campus at this time.
Admissions Requirements
Below are the official Admissions Requirements for this program.
- Online application
- Statement of purpose (500-1000 words): identifying your educational goals and expectations from the program; please be aware that the University's academic policy on plagiarism applies to applicant's statement of purpose
- Professional resume: current resume that displays job responsibilities, relevant experience, and education history
- Two letters of recommendation: from individual(s) with either academic or professional knowledge of your capabilities, such as a faculty member, current employer, mentor, or colleague
- Official undergraduate degree documentation
- Proof of English language proficiency: ONLY for students for whom English is not their primary language: English language proficiency guidelines
For general admissions information and recommended admissions deadlines, Graduate Admissions.
All requirements must be received prior to review.
Tuition
Estimated total tuition for this program is $25,740.00.
Tuition for individual courses is based on the number of quarter hours. Most courses are 3-6 quarter hours. See Graduate Tuition Rates for details.
Use our Tuition Calculator below to see if transfer credit or tuition reimbursement from your employer could reduce your total tuition.
Tuition Calculator
Please note: The estimated total tuition is based on tuition rates for Academic Year 2013-14 and does not include any fees or other expenses. Some courses and labs have tuition rates that may increase or decrease total tuition. Tuition and fees are subject to revision by the president and Board of Trustees at any time.
*A maximum of 9 quarter hours of graduate- or doctoral-level credit obtained at another institution may be awarded as Advanced Graduate Credit to the Doctor of Education program.
Student Profile
Who Will Your Classmates Be?
While students in this program hail from a variety of industries, typical job titles include:
- Team leader
- Project manager
- Project leader
- Manager
The Master of Science in Project Management program is designed for individuals with an undergraduate degree and at least 1-3 years of project management experience.
2011-2012 Enrollment and Graduation Rates
- Program Enrollment (the number of students actively enrolled in the Master of Science in Project Management): 465
- Master of Science in Project Management Degrees Conferred
- 2010 - 67
- 2011 - 142
- 2012 - 88*
*As of August 2012.
Career Outlook
Put Your Degree to Work
As companies seek to improve productivity and effectiveness, project managers are in high demand—not only in the U.S., but also around the world. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), a shortage of 6 million skilled project professionals is expected in the Persian Gulf and China Sea regions alone by the year 2013. Pay is also on the rise. According to the PMI Project Management Salary Survey, the average compensation for a U.S. project management practitioner is $101,505.
End-of-Course Surveys
At the College of Professional Studies, we are always striving to ensure that we are providing the best possible education for our graduate students. We provide an anonymous survey to our students after each class where we solicit their opinions and feedback on the courses they have just completed. Here is what students have told us about our courses in the Master of Science in Project Management in 2010 and 2011.
| Statement | Average | Count |
| In class I learned to apply course concepts & principles | 4.34 | 615 |
| I developed additional skills [that will help me in the workplace] | 4.03 | 605 |
| This course helped me to analyze & evaluate [the information presented] | 4.16 | 610 |
| I learned a lot in this course | 4.27 | 608 |
These statements were scored on a scale of 1 to 5 where a score of 1 indicates strong disagreement with the statement and 5 indicates strong agreement. These scores indicate that students agreed to strongly agreed with these statements.
*Note the averages include only those with a valid response (1-5). It does not include those rating ‘0’ (not applicable) or those who did not answer their specific question.
Alumni Surveys
In an anonymous October 2011 survey, conducted by Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies, graduates from the Master of Science in Leadership and the Master of Science in Project Management responded to a series of questions about how the overall program helped them in their careers. Please select the following link to review their responses.
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Leigh Geiger
Dr. Leigh Geiger is the Academic Specialist for programs in project management at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies.
Dr. Geiger joined Northeastern University in September 2010 after teaching in an adjunct capacity for one year. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a PhD in survey research and two master’s degrees in education. As a Certified E-Learning Instructor, she teaches a number of courses with the College of Professional Studies and is actively involved in developing new courses and ensuring that the project management curriculum provides students with the most up-to-date information. She recently developed a “bridge course” at the College, offering a foundation in project management for students with limited project management experience.
Over the years, Geiger has taught web design, project management, advanced business statistics, and marketing research at other institutions including the USDA Graduate School, Virginia Tech, Northern Virginia Community College, and Grantham University.
In addition to teaching, Geiger has owned and operated Leigh Geiger & Associates, Inc. since 1983. Leigh Geiger & Associates, Inc. offers project management as well as statistical and IT consulting for government and private sector companies. Presently, Dr. Geiger is serving in a part-time consulting position for a federal intelligence agency, guiding and mentoring project managers in the development of sophisticated IT systems to fight international terrorism.
Talk to an Enrollment Coach
We can walk you through your program options and the application process.
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- 877.668.7727
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From “dirt poor” to a master’s degree in Project Management.
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Upcoming Academic Term Dates
-
Summer Term
Jul 1, 2013 (4- and 8-week classes)
Jul 29, 2013 (4-week classes) -
Fall Term
Sep 9, 2013 (6- and 12-week classes)
Oct 21, 2013 (6-week classes)