What Is a Construction Management Degree and Career?

A certificate program in construction management provides students with targeted and practical training in job-specific areas. These programs are available at the undergraduate and graduate level, and learners can usually complete them in less than one year. In some cases, the credits earned can be used as transfer credits for additional training.

While some employers may hire candidates with only a certificate, these programs work best in combination with professional experience. Among the many construction occupations, experienced certificate-holders can qualify for construction inspector and cost estimator positions.

An associate degree in construction management provides learners with the foundational skills needed for a career in construction. The training introduces students to the responsibilities of building site managers, such as reading drawings, adhering to health and safety policies, and understanding materials and construction methods.

Graduates of these two-year programs can pursue entry-level careers in the industry, and with enough experience, they can even apply to higher level roles that offer on-the-job training, like cost estimator and building inspector. Experienced professionals with an associate degree may even qualify for construction management positions, though those positions typically require a bachelor’s degree. Graduates can also continue their training through a bachelor’s program.

In a bachelor’s degree in construction management, students begin with construction foundations training and then move into more advanced management topics, such as finance, bid preparation, and project management. They also learn about project types, materials, and equipment used in the field.

Students typically complete construction management bachelor’s degrees in about four years, and graduates qualify for construction occupations like construction management, architectural and engineering management, and cost estimator. Choosing a specialization can lead to expanded professional opportunities. Bachelor’s graduates can also build on their training with a master’s degree.

A master’s degree in construction management prepares students to make informed decisions while acting as leaders on a building site. They develop performance and quality assessment skills, explore issues in sustainability, and learn how to use financial and market data to perform risk analysis.

The best online construction management degrees at the master’s level usually take two years to complete and qualify graduates for most management-level positions. In addition to construction management, graduates can also pursue engineering management and management analyst positions. Graduates may also choose a specialization to develop an expertise in a subdiscipline, like finance, green construction, or cost control.

An MBA in construction management and a standard master’s degree in construction management can lead to the same careers, like construction management and management analyst positions. However, the training does differ: A typical master’s degree focuses on the technical aspects of the profession, while online MBA programs in construction management include more business topics with a focus on the intersection between business and construction.

The training in an MBA explores methods that construction managers can use to lead projects and improve business operations overall, covering areas like planning, strategic management, and legalities and policies, while a master’s in construction management focuses more on the practical aspects of a construction site, like materials and equipment. Most master’s or MBA programs take students two years to complete, but some construction management specializations may run longer.

In a doctoral degree in construction management, students learn about construction methods, policies, and leadership strategies at a high level, often helping to improve them through research. Doctoral students specialize their research in areas like sustainability, lean construction, construction technology, and international construction management. The training can take 4-7 years to complete.

Doctoral graduates have the highest level of training available and can pursue essentially any position in the field. They can take on international construction management and large-scale architecture and engineering management positions, or they can pursue research and development roles or postsecondary teaching positions.