Executive Master of Science in Transportation & Supply Chain Management

Move your managers into leaders and transform your business.

The Transportation and Supply Chain Institute's Executive Master of Science Degree in Transportation & Supply Chain Management is specifically designed to equip students with the relevant leadership skills, hands-on experience, and global network they need to become the transportation industry's next leaders.

This program offers high-potential individuals the opportunity to build a unique leadership skill set. Students will learn to recognize the role of organizational culture, technology, and leadership in obtaining optimal operational performance while learning to create value through supply chain risk management practices.  Students learn by working on real-world projects and developing innovative solutions to the problems their businesses are facing right now, delivering immediate value as they learn. A highlight of the program includes the five, one-week residencies across an 18-month period, plus a visit to a domestic port and a week-long international trip that exposes students to the real-world effects of foreign markets and operations.

Alumni of the program have gone on to advance their companies with clarity, determination, and success as they strive for advancements for everyone — within their organizations and around the world.

DTI Master of Transportation Management background image

View the admission requirements

Or contact David Fisher, Executive Director, at 303-871-7452, du-tsc@du.edu, with questions about the executive program.

Admission Process

"Recently, I had the opportunity to travel with the University of Denver Transportation and Supply Chain Institute students on their international residency to Rotterdam. While there, I observed firsthand the incredible educational experience this trip offers the students. The exposure to international multi-modal logistics hubs underscores the unique value proposition of the DU program."

Sergio Sabatini President & COO of OmniTRAX, TSCI Board Member

Course List

  • Core Management Courses

    Advanced Concepts of Transportation & Supply Chain (2 graduate credits)

    This course is a program-wide survey course in which each of the primary learning outcome objectives of the Executive Masters’ program are reviewed:  Leadership, Economics & Finance, Technology & Optimization, Supply Chain, Trade & Legal concerns, and more, are all explored within the context of current trends in Transportation and Supply Chain space.

     

    Excellence in Leadership (2 graduate credits)

    This course will provide an integrated exploration of current topics most important for leadership success within the transportation industry. Current best leadership practices will be reviewed, and common leadership challenges within transportation will be analyzed for successful resolution.

     

    Executive Management Practices in Organizations (1 graduate credit)

    This course will provide a comprehensive view of best practices for executive management in transportation workplaces. Organizational situations will be assessed from a variety of viewpoints and policies analyzed for optimal execution of strategy.

     

    Leading with Integrity (1 graduate credit)

    This course will explore ethical decision making and values-based leadership. Values, ethics and organizational philosophies will be assessed for best application in various corporate settings within the transportation industry.

     

    Financial & Managerial Accounting (2 graduate credits)

    This course will cover the basic theory, principles and practice of financial accounting and examine accounting statements including income and cash flow statements and balance sheets. Discussions include managerial use of accounting data useful in making investment and cost decisions, assessing cash flows and the use of the organization resources to produce profit. Additional topics will include reading and understanding the 10-K, basic accounting standards and practices, and assessing the quality of financial information found the accounting reports.

     

    Financial Analysis & Capital Structures (2 graduate credits)

    Complementing 4460, this course will use ratio analysis to determine relative performance of companies and the industry to enable management to assess operating efficiency, profitability and effective use of capital. Capital structure concepts, fixed and variable cost considerations, the use of operating and financial leverage and the concepts of business and financial risk will be discussed. The course also includes a basic review of the principle of time value of money.

     

    Capital Decision-Making & Capital Markets (2 graduate credits)

    This course will examine the management decision process for making capital expenditures that enhance the value of the firm, cash flow estimation for capital budgeting purposes, decision models for capital budgeting, weighted average cost of capital, decisions in capital constrained situations, sensitivity analysis, and a review of the capital markets.

     

    Global Trade & Economics (4 graduate credits)

    This course will examine the World Trade F15 Organization and the regional trade agreements, such as NAFTA, EU, and ASEAN, with regard to their impact on North American transportation, trade, and economy overall including their relationship to account deficits and their N20; and their impact on disputes and how trade disputes are settled. In addition, the course will address the global economy and economics and its drivers, comparing and contrasting North America, China/Asia, the European Union and selected emerging economies to include impacts on global trade, such as trading patterns, outsourcing, and changing production areas.

     

    Applied Micro Economics & Pricing (4 graduate credits)

    The course will involve fieldwork and U.S. site visits observing and discussing the physical elements underlying the long-term and marginal economics of the firm and its pricing strategies and policies. In addition, the course will discuss basic microeconomic concepts used in the analysis of business services, including the concepts of market size; marginal, average, short-run, and long-run costs; and production levels as they relate to revenue and contribution with a focus on pricing for the firm relative to its fixed and variable costs, market share framework, and competitive issues both within the mode and between modes.

     

    Business Planning Thesis (4 graduate credits)

    This course will guide students through the creation of a comprehensive business development and/or productivity improvement-oriented business plan, with a preferred focus on the transportation industry, to develop a new revenue growth or new service opportunity for their organization or an assigned organization. Through work over the six quarters of the program, this project provides each student with important business planning and development skills to create an implementable business plan, which may provide tangible benefits to their sponsoring organization as well.

  • Advanced Transportation & Supply Chain Management Courses

    Marketing, Sales, Procurement and Customer Management (4 graduate credits)

    This course will examine the foundations of marketing as well as the process of developing, assessing and implementing marketing strategies in the transportation and supply chain industries. The foundations are grounded in an understanding of customers' wants and needs and a commitment to satisfying those needs within the resources of the organization, the long-term benefits of society and the economy, and the highest ethical and moral standards in this global economy. Based on this foundation, students will learn the process of formulating marketing strategies, such as segmentation, targeting, positioning and the four P's of marketing: product, price, place and promotion.

     

    Legal Studies: Contracts & Regulations (2 graduate credits)

    This course will focus on the fundamentals of creating and implementing effective contracts, whether with customers, suppliers, or labor. The contract discussion will be framed by regulatory and policy realities both in domestic and international contexts, including an understanding of federal and international laws, liability, regulations, policies, programs, and agencies impacting contracts.

     

    Policy & Regulatory Effects in Transportation & Supply Chain (4 graduate credits)

    The purpose of this course is to explore how public policy and regulation manifest in transportation and supply chain systems and how companies can effectively navigate that process. Students will learn about the history of transportation and supply chain regulation and how it has changed over time. They will review how infrastructure and systems are planned, operated, and financed and what roles the public and private sectors play. Additionally, the course explores safety, security, and trade concerns, Environmental Social & Governance (ESG), and how to develop strategies for their companies to engage in the policymaking process in ways that maximize value for their enterprises.

     

    Principles of Supply Chain Management (4 graduate credits)

    This course will provide an overview of the basic principles of supply chain management, giving students an understanding of supply chain processes from sourcing to finished goods and customers to suppliers, identifying the five core supply chain processes and examining the role that transportation and logistics play in the supply chain. Students will learn the key operating and financial measures of supply chain management that impact the users and providers of services. Additionally, current trends in the technology of supply-chain management, including applicable global trends will be covered.

     

    Advanced Supply Chain Management (4 graduate credits)

    Building on foundation of Supply Chain Management from TRANS 4820, this course enables the business leader to gain a customer centric system view of supply chain management that is achieved by today's top companies. A more advanced view of the six pillars of supply chain management will be studied as it relates to a stakeholder model of both customers and suppliers. In this course, the goal is to understand how a stakeholder's (customer, supplier, partner, etc.) supply chain operates across three flows (physical, logical/system, and financial) related to a transportation provider. The goal of this course is to provide the student a process and functional understanding of supply chain management in order to achieve success from a process, financial and strategic standpoint. The course will offer particular emphasis on industrial engineering skills related to supply chain operations.

    Data Laboratories (1 graduate credit)

    The Data Laboratory emphasizes the use of advanced data analysis to enable students to learn and solidify intermediate level skills related to data management. Students will learn to manage data and produce results with the data that can be used to support management decisions in real word scenarios.

     

    Innovation and Technology in Global Transportation and Supply Chain (4 graduate credits)

    Global Supply Chain relies on continuous improvement, innovation, and applied technologies to create competitive advantage. This course explores how to identify, design, and implement solutions for an ever changing world..

     

    Senior Management: Executives & Issues Seminar (4 graduate credits)

    Through the use of transportation executives in the classroom, this course will explore in-depth some of the key concepts covered during the course of the degree program, to include topics such as applied transportation finance, merger and acquisition issues, shipper transportation metrics/requirements, global freight flows to/from North America, and government/military transportation. In addition, in case studies, students will propose options for real-world challenges using knowledge and data from current events, degree program courses, case material, and guest executive presentations.

     

    Individual Leadership Development Project (4 graduate credits)

    This course will guide students through the process of developing and executing individualized leadership development projects to enhance specific leadership skills and goals within their current management structure or an assigned organization. Through work over the six quarters of the program, the leadership projects will provide a unique opportunity for each student to hone critical aspects of her/his leadership, which, in turn, benefits the students, their organizations, and the larger transportation, logistics, and supply chain community.

     

    Global Transportation & Supply Chain Seminar (2 graduate credits)

    This international travel seminar will build from learning objectives of the first three courses (4810, 4830, and 4850). Students will create an integrated supply chain strategy developed from principles learned in the first three courses in preparation for the international trip. Students will then relate their designed supply chain to observed operations on the trip and assess practical adjustments needed to make a real-world operation successful. Students will examine the management and operation of transportation and supply chain operations in other countries, and be able to compare and contrast them to US based operations. Students will meet with executives, government leaders and local managers of these systems to learn directly about the challenges of serving the global economy, and will learn how to recognize and navigate international cultural differences in a business setting.

Featured Courses

TRAN 4850

Transportation & Supply Chain Strategies for the 21st Century

About this Course

Today's supply chain and transportation markets are rapidly evolving across localities and the definition of what global means. In the 21st century, supply chains will become exponentially more fluid, and transportation providers will need to understand and incorporate these changes. In this course, the 21st century supply chain expectations will be discussed from a people, process, and technology standpoint. Students will determine how transportation providers will need to respond to these changes, and how emerging technologies will be incorporated in emerging supply chain strategies and supplier/provider processes. Supply chains will become more local and global concurrently - and this course will evaluate what is required to respond successfully to these trends.

TRAN 4860

Senior Management: Executives & Issues Seminar

About this Course

Through the use of transportation executives in the classroom, this course will explore in-depth some of the key concepts covered during the course of the degree program, to include topics such as applied transportation finance, merger and acquisition issues, shipper transportation metrics/requirements, global freight flows to/from North America, and government/military transportation. In addition, in case studies, students will propose options for real-world challenges using knowledge and data from current events, degree program courses, case material, and guest executive presentations.

TRAN 4460

Financial & Managerial Accounting

About this Course

This course will cover the basic theory, principles and practice of financial accounting and examine accounting statements including income and cash flow statements and balance sheets. Discussions include managerial use of accounting data useful in making investment and cost decisions, assessing cash flows and the use of the organization resources to produce profit. Additional topics will include reading and understanding the 10-K, basic accounting standards and practices, and assessing the quality of financial information found the accounting reports.

Schedule

You will attend five, 1-week residency sessions over the course of 5 quarters at the University of Denver, plus one residency to be held near a domestic port and an international trip. The Transportation and Supply Chain Institute schedules each residency to begin at 8 a.m. on a Monday and end by 5 p.m. on a Friday. Students stay as a group at a local hotel during the residency sessions.

During the final quarter, you will attend a week-long travel seminar to an international location with significant transportation activity. This travel seminar usually takes place in late March or early April, depending on the location. Dates will be decided during the summer residency. New cohorts start every fall. 

Time Commitment

Students in the Transportation and Supply Chain Institute executive master’s program will need to commit to five ongoing week-long residency sessions over five consecutive quarters, and a week-long travel seminar. Note that dates are subject to change slightly.

 

2024
Fall Quarter

Sept. 9 -

November 15

2025
Winter Quarter

January 6 -

March 14

2025
Spring Quarter

March 31 -

June 7

2025
Summer Quarter

June 16 -

August 22

2025
Fall Quarter

September 8 -

November 14

2026
International Seminar

Date: TBD

Location: TBD

Residency

October 7 - 11

Residency

Feb. 3 - Feb. 7

Residency

April 28 - May 2

Off-Site

July 14 - 18

Residency

October 6 - 10

Off-Site

Date: TBD

 

 

 

Featured Instructors

 
Staff & Faculty

FAQs

  • Who attends the master's in Transportation Management program?

    The executive master's degree in Transportation & Supply Chain Management program attracts high-potential leaders with multiple years of professional experience. Transportation students come into the executive education program with job titles such as Director of Operations, Equipment Manager, General Manager, Marketing Manager, Supply Chain Analyst, Supply Chain Department Manager, Financial Analyst, Vice President of Corporate Strategy, and Senior Transportation Manager.

  • How long does it take to complete the program?

    The MS in Transportation & Supply Chain Management curriculum consists of 20 courses for 55 quarter hours of academic credit. Students complete the program in 5 quarters.

  • Is the program available online?

    Online coursework is integrated throughout the program. Students are required to attend five one-week on-campus residencies over 5 quarters, plus an unforgettable week-long international trip and travel to a domestic port.

  • How much does the program cost?

    Tuition for Cohort 24 is $72,500 charged in 5 quarterly installments.

    The program tuition includes tuition, program fee, technology fee, required books and materials, hotel accommodations, and selected meals during each U.S. residency. 

    The program tuition does not include transportation to and from Denver, the U.S. port city and the International Study Seminar location(s), transportation between airports and hotels, costs associated with travel between the hotel and classrooms, meals during the International Study Seminar or any personal trip expenses or incidentals.