Earn your degree online in strategic management at UW-Platteville

As industries continually evolve in the global marketplace, companies search for ways to enhance value by asking questions. How can we manufacture? How can we deliver it faster? How can we help employees be a little more productive? These questions, and many others, are central to the Master of Science in Strategic Management at the UW-Platteville School of Business.

This strategic management degree will prepare you to systematically evaluate an organization’s operating environment and find ways to increase efficiency, productivity, and more. You’ll learn why some organizations fail and why others not only succeed but dominate their competitive markets. More versatile than an MBA, the Strategic Management program emphasizes value in all of its forms—human, social, environmental, financial, and others.

The courses are taught by faculty with years of industry experience and academic credentials, affording you a nuanced picture of what factors lead to organizational success and failure. The program also provides the opportunity to deploy strategic thinking within a specific domain of the organization through emphases in strategic human resources, strategic marketing, and strategic sourcing.

Select the area of emphasis that best fits your goals

Choose how your needs will be best suited by selecting an area of emphasis for your master’s degree in strategic management.

  • Strategic human resources: Today’s dynamic labor environment demands that human resources professionals apply strategic thinking to attract, train, and retain top talent. This track can help you transform organizational strategy into practices that build competitive advantages.
  • Strategic marketing: The rules for managing a successful marketing operation are in constant flux as market pressure from local, international, and online competitors evolves. This track introduces many new strategies, business models, and tactics for capturing value in a competitive environment.
  • Strategic sourcing: The need for an innovative and robust supply chain strategy has never been more important. Small disruptions can cost tens of thousands of dollars, consumers expect unprecedented responsiveness, and instability in international trade rules means that companies must constantly adapt their networks to maximize value. With the strategic sourcing track, you will learn to analyze each of these challenges, and more, to develop a responsive, global supply chain.

Accelerated courses in management

The Master of Science in Strategic Management is offered fully online and its accelerated eight-week courses mean that you can complete your degree in as little as two years. Apply today and learn to build immediate value for you and your organization.

Total cost of the program is $22,522*. Ask your admission counselor how you can reduce this cost with transfer credits or professional credentials.

*Subject to change without notice.

Careers in Strategic Management

Earning a degree or certificate in strategic management from UW-Platteville can prepare you for an exciting and rewarding career in an executive or advisory capacity. Strategic management professionals are needed in every industry, as they use their knowledge and skills to recommend and implement strategies to improve organizational efficiencies. These business leaders are responsible for guiding their departments, business lines, or even entire organizations toward meeting and exceeding goals.

Some of the most popular and fastest-growing positions for business professionals with a degree in strategic management include:

  • Chief operating officer
  • Director of strategy
  • Management consultant
  • Management analyst
  • Human resource director
  • Director of product development
  • Vice president of sales

These job titles represent just a sampling of the many and varied potential careers you can pursue when you earn your strategic management degree. Strategic management professionals may work as corporate leaders or as consultants, working on a project basis under a contractual relationship.

“In the world we live in today, the status quo is constantly being challenged and changed. I like the strategic portion of it to where there's still learning the status quo, but you also learn to employ management styles, systems, and procedures in a strategic fashion that is going to enhance an organization."

Christopher Gordon, M.S. in strategic management


Graduate Certificate in Strategic Management

If you are not ready to pursue the strategic management master’s degree online, the certificate program can provide the tools you need to create your environment rather than simply respond to it. The online strategic management certificate allows you to learn the methods for constructing an organizational vision and equips you with the analytical and management tools to make that vision a reality.

Today’s dynamic organizational environment challenges leaders to move past administration and start spotting opportunities for value-capture throughout all aspects of a firm. Build your strategic repertoire by starting with the Strategic Management program.

The credit you earn from your certificate can be applied toward the completion of the online strategic management master’s degree.

Start Dates and Timelines

To ensure you are admitted for the semester you intend to start on your degree, you'll want to submit your application and supporting materials by:

Spring: January 15
Summer: May 15
Fall: August 15

Academic Calendar

Find important University of Wisconsin-Platteville dates such as the beginning and end of each semester, breaks in the semester, final exams, and deadlines for dropping or adding classes using our academic calendar. Spring and fall semesters are each 16 weeks in which students can take two 8-week courses; the summer semester is 12 weeks with one 8-week course opportunity available.

Transfer Information

UW-Platteville allows for students to transfer up to 12 credits of previously taken graduate coursework. Credits need to have been earned from a nationally or regionally accredited institution recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and approved by UW-Platteville program faculty. You’ll want to be sure to let your admission counselor know if you have earned credits previously.

Credit for Prior Learning

Has previous life experience already helped you build knowledge and skills applicable to your studies? If so, we want to recognize that—and help you save time and money in the process. Speak with an admission counselor to see if your previous experience qualifies.