Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree with a Major in Operations Research

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

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

  1. Formulate mathematical programs and stochastic processes that model real-world situations. 
  2. Design and analyze exact and approximate approaches to solve operation research models. 
  3. Design, implement and debug software to solve operations research models. 
  4. Communicate the solutions and insights generated by operations research models to a non-technical audience. 

Requirements for the BS Degree with a Major in Operations Research

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

  • A minimum of 20-21 courses (64-70 credit hours, depending on course selection) to satisfy major requirements.
  • A minimum of 120 credit hours to satisfy degree requirements.
  • A minimum of 14 courses (43-45 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 six areas of specialization, either in:

The undergraduate program in operations research has been designed to accommodate a wide range of student interests. Students are strongly encouraged to take additional courses in pure and applied mathematics, computation, and modeling.

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

Total Credit Hours Required for the Major in Operations Research64-70
Total Credit Hours Required for the BS Degree with a Major in Operations Research120

Degree Requirements

Introductory Requirements
COMP 140COMPUTATIONAL THINKING4
COMP 182ALGORITHMIC THINKING4
COMP 215INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAM DESIGN4
MATH 101SINGLE VARIABLE CALCULUS I3
or MATH 105 AP/OTH CREDIT IN CALCULUS I
MATH 102SINGLE VARIABLE CALCULUS II3
or MATH 106 AP/OTH CREDIT IN CALCULUS II
Select 1 from the following:3-6
MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS
HONORS MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS
HONORS CALCULUS III
and HONORS CALCULUS IV
Intermediate Requirements
CMOR 350STOCHASTIC MODELS3
CMOR 360INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND OPTIMIZATION3
MATH 302ELEMENTS OF ANALYSIS3
or MATH 321 INTRODUCTION TO ANALYSIS I
Select 1 course from the following:3
MATRIX ANALYSIS
MATRIX ANALYSIS FOR DATA SCIENCE
HONORS LINEAR ALGEBRA
LINEAR ALGEBRA
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS
HONORS PROBABILITY AND MATHEMATICAL STATISTICS
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS FOR DATA SCIENCE
Advanced Requirements
CMOR 441LINEAR AND INTEGER PROGRAMMING3
CMOR 442LARGE-SCALE OPTIMIZATION3
CMOR 451SIMULATION MODELING AND ANALYSIS3
Elective Requirements
Select 1 from the following Areas of Specialization (see Areas of Specialization below):15-18
Algorithms in Operations Research
Data Science
Financial Engineering
Foundations of Operations Research
Supply Chain Management
Breadth in Operations Research
Senior Design
DSCI 435 / COMP 449APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS4
Total Credit Hours Required for the Major in Operations Research64-71
Additional Credit Hours to Complete Degree Requirements18-25
University Graduation Requirements *31
Total Credit Hours120

Footnotes and Additional Information

Course Lists 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 5 courses (15-18 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: Algorithms in Operations Research

Core Requirements
Select 3 courses from the following:9-11
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION 1
GRAPH ALGORITHMS
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION 1
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS 1
OPTIMIZATION: ALGORITHMS, COMPLEXITY AND APPROXIMATIONS
GENOME-SCALE ALGORITHMS AND DATA STRUCTURES
LARGE-SCALE MACHINE LEARNING
MACHINE LEARNING WITH GRAPHS
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 1 course from the following:3
SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Theoretical Foundations
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
GRAPH THEORY
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION 1
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION 1
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY I
APPLIED STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
STOCHASTIC NETWORKS AND QUEUEING SYSTEMS
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS 1
Total Credit Hours15-18

Footnotes and Additional Information

Area of Specialization: Data Science

Core Requirements
Select 3 courses from the following:9-10
OPTIMIZATION FOUNDATIONS OF DATA SCIENCE
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
OPTIMIZATION: ALGORITHMS, COMPLEXITY AND APPROXIMATIONS
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
LARGE-SCALE MACHINE LEARNING
INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING
INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING
INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL MACHINE LEARNING
MACHINE LEARNING WITH GRAPHS
LEARNING FROM SENSOR DATA
NEURAL MACHINE LEARNING I
NEURAL MACHINE LEARNING AND DATA MINING II
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 1 course from the following:3
SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 456
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Theoretical Foundations
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
GRAPH THEORY
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC NETWORKS AND QUEUEING SYSTEMS
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS
Total Credit Hours15-17

Footnotes and Additional Information 

Area of Specialization: Financial Engineering

Core Requirement
Select 3 courses from the following:9
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CMOR 456
1
OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE 1
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION 1
FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
TOPICS IN BUSINESS ECONOMICS: FINANCIAL MARKET AND INVESTMENTS
QUANTITATIVE FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT
QUANTITATIVE FINANCIAL ANALYTICS
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 1 course from the following:3
SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 456
1
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE 1
OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Theoretical Foundations
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
GRAPH THEORY
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION 1
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY I
APPLIED STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
STOCHASTIC NETWORKS AND QUEUEING SYSTEMS
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS
Total Credit Hours15-16

Footnotes and Additional Information

Area of Specialization: Foundations of Operations Research

Core Requirements
Select 4 courses from the following:12-13
GRAPH THEORY
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY I
APPLIED STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
STOCHASTIC NETWORKS AND QUEUEING SYSTEMS
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research and Theoretical Founcations
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
GRAPH THEORY
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION
SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CMOR 456
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION 1
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION 1
COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY I
APPLIED STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
STOCHASTIC NETWORKS AND QUEUEING SYSTEMS
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS
Total Credit Hours15-17

Footnotes and Additional Information

Area of Specialization: Supply Chain Management

Core Requirements
Select 3 courses from the following:9
SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS 1
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 1
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING 1
MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS
CMOR 466
Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 1 course from the following:3
SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS 1
CMOR 456
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 1
OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING 1
CMOR 466
Theoretical Foundations
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
GRAPH THEORY
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION
COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY I
APPLIED STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
STOCHASTIC NETWORKS AND QUEUEING SYSTEMS
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS
Total Credit Hours15-16

Footnotes and Additional Information

Area of Specialization: Breadth in Operations Research

Elective Requirements
Applied Operations Research
Select 2 courses from the following:6
SERVICE SYSTEMS ANALYTICS
CMOR 456
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
OPTIMIZATION METHODS IN FINANCE
OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE
REVENUE MANAGEMENT & PRICING
CMOR 466
Theoretical Foundations
Select 2 courses from the following: 6-7
GRAPH THEORY
DISCRETE OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC CONTROL AND APPLICATIONS
CONVEX OPTIMIZATION
NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION
COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION
STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION
MATHEMATICAL PROBABILITY I
APPLIED STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
STOCHASTIC NETWORKS AND QUEUEING SYSTEMS
REASONING ABOUT ALGORITHMS
Additional Elective
Select 1 course from either category listed above (Applied Operations Research or Theoretical Foundations)3-4
Total Credit Hours15-17

Policies for the BS Degree with a Major in Operations Research

Program Restrictions and Exclusions

Students pursuing the BS 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 BS Degree in Operations Research may not additionally pursue the BA 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 and Applied Mathematics and Operations Research website: https://cmor.rice.edu/.

Opportunities for the BS 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 and Applied Mathematics and Operations Research website: https://cmor.rice.edu/.