Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree with a Major in Operations Research

Program Learning Outcomes for the BA Degree with a Major in Operations Research

Upon completing the BA degree with a major in Operations Research, students will be able to:

Formulate appropriate mathematical programs and stochastic processes that model real-world situations.
Calibrate models with appropriate real-world data, using statistical and data science tools.
Use commercial and open-source software to solve operations research models.
Communicate the solutions and insights generated by operations research models to a non-technical audience.

Requirements for the BA Degree with a Major in Operations Research

For general university requirements, see Graduation Requirements. Students pursuing the BA degree with a major in Operations Research must complete:

A minimum of 17 courses (53-55 credit hours, depending on course selection) to satisfy major requirements.
A minimum of 120 credit hours to satisfy degree requirements.
A minimum of 11 courses (33-35 credit hours, depending on course selection) taken at the 300-level or above.
A maximum of 4 courses (12 credit hours) from study abroad or transfer credit after matriculation at Rice may be applied towards specific major requirements. For additional departmental guidelines regarding transfer credit, see the Policies tab.
The requirements for one area of specialization (see below for areas of specialization). When students declare the major in Operations Research, students must additionally identify and declare one of four areas of specialization, either in:
- Data Science, or
- Financial Engineering, or
- Supply Chain Management, or
- Breadth in Operations Research.

The courses listed below satisfy the requirements for this major. In certain instances, courses not on this official list may be substituted upon approval of the major’s academic advisor or, where applicable, the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies. (Course substitutions must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the major's Official Certifier.) Students and their academic advisors should identify and clearly document the courses to be taken.

Summary

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Total Credit Hours Required for the Major in Operations Research		53-55
Total Credit Hours Required for the BA Degree with a Major in Operations Research		120

Degree Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Introductory Requirements
COMP 140	COMPUTATIONAL THINKING	4
MATH 101	SINGLE VARIABLE CALCULUS I	3
or MATH 105	AP/OTH CREDIT IN CALCULUS I
MATH 102	SINGLE VARIABLE CALCULUS II	3
or MATH 106	AP/OTH CREDIT IN CALCULUS II
MATH 212	MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS	3
or MATH 232	HONORS MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS
Intermediate Requirements
Select 1 course from the following:		3
CMOR 302	MATRIX ANALYSIS
CMOR 303	MATRIX ANALYSIS FOR DATA SCIENCE
MATH 354	HONORS LINEAR ALGEBRA
MATH 355	LINEAR ALGEBRA
CMOR 350	STOCHASTIC MODELS	3
CMOR 360	INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND OPTIMIZATION	3
ELEC 378	MACHINE LEARNING: CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES	3
or CMOR 438	DATA SCIENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING
Select 1 course from the following:		3-4
STAT 310 / ECON 307	PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS
STAT 311	HONORS PROBABILITY AND MATHEMATICAL STATISTICS
STAT 315 / DSCI 301	PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS FOR DATA SCIENCE
Advanced Requirements
Select 1 course from the following:		3
CMOR 404	GRAPH THEORY
CMOR 442	LARGE-SCALE OPTIMIZATION
CMOR 444	DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION
CMOR 451	SIMULATION MODELING AND ANALYSIS
Elective Requirements
Select 1 from the following Areas of Specialization (see Areas of Specialization below):		18-19
Data Science
Financial Engineering
Supply Chain Management
Breadth in Operations Research
Senior Design
Select 1 from the following:		4
DSCI 435 / COMP 449	APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS
CMOR 492 & CMOR 493	SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT I and SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT II
Total Credit Hours Required for the Major in Operations Research		53-55
Additional Credit Hours to Complete Degree Requirements ^*		34-36
University Graduation Requirements ^*		31
Total Credit Hours		120

Footnotes and Additional Information

Note: University Graduation Requirements include 31 credit hours, comprised of Distribution Requirements (Groups I, II, and III), FWIS, and LPAP coursework. In some instances, courses satisfying major requirements may additionally meet distribution requirements, such as the Analyzing Diversity (AD) requirement, or some of the student's declared major, minor, or certificate requirements. Additional Credit Hours to Complete Degree Requirements include general electives, coursework completed as upper-level, residency (hours taken at Rice), and/or any other additional academic program requirements.

Course List to Satisfy Requirements

Students must complete the requirements as listed for one of the following areas of specialization as offered by the Operations Research major. A total of 6 courses (18-19 credit hours, depending on course selection) must be taken in the area of specialization, including a minimum of 3 courses (9 credit hours) taken from departmental (CMOR) course offerings.

Area of Specialization: Data Science

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core Requirements
Select 3 courses from the following:		9-10
CMOR 437	OPTIMIZATION FOUNDATIONS OF DATA SCIENCE
CMOR 4XX
CMOR 531	CONVEX OPTIMIZATION
CMOR 533	NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION
COMP 414	OPTIMIZATION: ALGORITHMS, COMPLEXITY AND APPROXIMATIONS
COMP 440	ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
COMP 441	LARGE-SCALE MACHINE LEARNING
or ELEC 478	INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING
or ELEC 578	INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING
or STAT 413	INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL MACHINE LEARNING
COMP 459	MACHINE LEARNING WITH GRAPHS
ELEC 475	LEARNING FROM SENSOR DATA
STAT 502	NEURAL MACHINE LEARNING I
STAT 602	NEURAL MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA MINING II
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 3 courses from the following:		9
CMOR 452	SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 456
CMOR 461	LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
CMOR 462	OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
CMOR 463	OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
CMOR 464	MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS
CMOR 465	REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Total Credit Hours		18-19

Area of Specialization: Financial Engineering

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core Requirements
Select 3 courses from the following:		9
CMOR 455	STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CMOR 456
CMOR 462	OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
CMOR 531	CONVEX OPTIMIZATION
CMOR 533	NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION
CMOR 544	STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION
ECON 443	FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
ECON 456	TOPICS IN BUSINESS ECONOMICS: FINANCIAL MARKET AND INVESTMENTS
STAT 449	QUANTITATIVE FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT
STAT 482	QUANTITATIVE FINANCIAL ANALYTICS
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 3 courses from the following:		9
CMOR 452	SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 456
CMOR 461	LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
CMOR 462	OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
CMOR 463	OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
CMOR 464	MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS
CMOR 465	REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Total Credit Hours		18

Area of Specialization: Supply Chain Management

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core Requirements
Select 3 courses from the following:		9
CMOR 452	SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 461	LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
CMOR 464	MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS
CMOR 465	REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 3 courses from the following:		9
CMOR 452	SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 456
CMOR 461	LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
CMOR 462	OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
CMOR 463	OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
CMOR 464	MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS
CMOR 465	REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Total Credit Hours		18

Area of Specialization: Breadth in Operations Research

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 3 courses from the following:		9
CMOR 452	SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 456
CMOR 461	LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
CMOR 462	OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
CMOR 463	OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
CMOR 464	MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS
CMOR 465	REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Additional Electives
Select 3 courses from category listed above (Applied Operations Research) or from departmental (CMOR) course offerings.		9
Total Credit Hours		18

Policies for the BA Degree with a Major in Operations Research

Program Restrictions and Exclusions

Students pursuing the BA Degree with a Major in Operations Research should be aware of the following program restrictions:

As noted in Majors, Minors, and Certificates, under Declaring Majors, Minors and Certificates, students may not obtain both a BA and a BS in the same major. Students pursuing the BA Degree in Operations Research may not additionally pursue the BS Degree with a Major in Operations Research.
As noted in Majors, Minors, and Certificates, students may not major and minor in the same subject.
Students pursuing the major in Operations Research may not additionally declare the major in Computational and Applied Mathematics.
Students pursuing the major in Operations Research may not additionally declare the minor in Computational and Applied Mathematics.

Transfer Credit

For Rice University’s policy regarding transfer credit, see Transfer Credit. Some departments and programs have additional restrictions on transfer credit. Requests for transfer credit must be approved for Rice equivalency by the designated transfer credit advisor for the appropriate academic department offering the Rice equivalent course (corresponding to the subject code of the course content). The Office of Academic Advising maintains the university’s official list of transfer credit advisors on their website: https://oaa.rice.edu. Students are encouraged to meet with the applicable transfer credit advisor as well as their academic program director when considering transfer credit possibilities.

Departmental Transfer Credit Guidelines

Students pursuing the major in Operations Research should be aware of the following program-specific transfer credit guideline:

No more than 4 courses (12 credit hours) of transfer credit from U.S. or international universities of similar standing as Rice may apply towards major requirements after matriculation at Rice.

Additional Information

For additional information, please see the Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research website: https://cmor.rice.edu/.

Opportunities for the BA Degree with a Major in Operations Research

Academic Honors

The university recognizes academic excellence achieved over an undergraduate’s academic history at Rice. For information on university honors, please see Latin Honors (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude) and Distinction in Research and Creative Work. Some departments have department-specific Honors awards or designations.

Fifth-Year Master's Degree Option for Rice Undergraduate Students

In certain situations and with some terminal master's degree programs, Rice students have an option to pursue a master’s degree by adding an additional fifth year to their four years of undergraduate studies.

Advanced Rice undergraduate students in good academic standing typically apply to the master’s degree program during their junior or senior year. Upon acceptance, depending on course load, financial aid status, and other variables, they may then start taking some required courses of the master's degree program. A plan of study will need to be approved by the student's undergraduate major advisor and the master’s degree program director.

As part of this option and opportunity, Rice undergraduate students:

must complete the requirements for a bachelor's degree and the master's degree independently of each other (i.e. no course may be counted toward the fulfillment of both degrees).
should be aware there could be financial aid implications if the conversion of undergraduate coursework to that of graduate level reduces their earned undergraduate credit for any semester below that of full-time status (12 credit hours).
more information on this Undergraduate - Graduate Concurrent Enrollment opportunity, including specific information on the registration process can be found here.

Rice undergraduate students completing studies in science and engineering may have the option to pursue the Master of Computational and Applied Mathematics (MCAAM) or the Master of Industrial Engineering (MIE) degree. For additional information, students should contact their undergraduate major advisor and the MCAAM/MIE program director.

Additional Information

For additional information, please see the Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research website: https://cmor.rice.edu/.