Operations Research, M.S.

At Florida Tech, small class sizes create a personalized learning environment where you’ll work closely with faculty on hands-on, research-driven projects.

Operations research professors bring deep industry experience and a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach, connecting theory with real-world applications in fields like medicine, engineering, computer science and the life sciences.

You’ll graduate with both the technical expertise and the practical insight to lead confidently in complex environments.

The core curriculum provides a strong foundation in operations research, covering essential topics that align with high-interest areas in the field. These fundamental skills support applications in:

• Optimization and AI integration
• Machine learning and data-driven decision making
• Risk management and uncertainty modeling
• Applied OR and real-world problem solving

Operations research students participate in interdisciplinary team projects that span optimization and optimal control, stochastic modeling, inverse problems, image processing, data mining, game theory, financial mathematics, statistics and more.

Through a range of research opportunities, students build proficiency in applying operations research methods to real-world challenges similar to those they may encounter in the workplace.

Internship opportunities are often available with companies in finance, pharmaceuticals, insurance, government and aircraft manufacturing. Eligible on-campus students may also be considered for graduate assistantships.

The operations research degree offers both thesis and nonthesis options.

Students choosing the thesis option conduct in-depth study of a topic or problem in operations research. Theses that integrate operations research with applications in science or engineering are especially welcome, and students are encouraged to submit one manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal before their thesis defense.

Those choosing the nonthesis option take a written final program examination in the areas of stochastic analysis, optimization and statistics. 

Students in operations research come from a range of academic and professional backgrounds.

Proficiency in mathematics covering topics in calculus, probability, statistics and linear algebra is necessary. Students therefore typically have an undergraduate major in a mathematics, science or an engineering discipline that requires a significant amount of mathematics.

Business majors with strong quantitative backgrounds are also encouraged to apply.

For more admission information, please see our graduate admission requirements, or start your application now!