Best Project Management Specialist programs in Pennsylvania, ranked by enrollment
Analyze and coordinate the schedule, timeline, procurement, staffing, and budget of a product or service on a per project basis. Lead and guide the work of technical staff.
126 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 10,842 people a year. The job pays a median of $100,150 in Pennsylvania across about 36,150 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Pennsylvania page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.0201In Pennsylvania → | 8,397 | 77.4% | 105 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0101In Pennsylvania → | 2,143 | 19.8% | 54 | $44,700 | $24,000 |
| 3 | CIP 11.1005In Pennsylvania → | 226 | 2.1% | 3 | $48,185 | $25,250 |
| 4 | CIP 52.0211In Pennsylvania → | 68 | 0.6% | 10 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 5 | CIP 52.0216In Pennsylvania → | 8 | 0.1% | 2 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
Top 25 schools in Pennsylvania
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 80 of the 126 schools in this state.
All 126 schools in Pennsylvania
Every school in Pennsylvania with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern University | Saint Davids | Private not-for-profit | 804 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania State University - World Campus | University Park | Public | 724 | 3 |
| University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus | Pittsburgh | Public | 453 | 3 |
| West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester | Public | 423 | 1 |
| Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania | Bloomsburg | Public | 347 | 2 |
| Temple University | Philadelphia | Public | 298 | 2 |
| Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | Kutztown | Public | 287 | 1 |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 267 | 2 |
| Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 256 | 2 |
| Villanova University | Villanova | Private not-for-profit | 249 | 2 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | Private not-for-profit | 245 | 2 |
| Strayer University - Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Private for-profit | 205 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania Western University | California | Public | 190 | 3 |
| Montgomery County Community College | Blue Bell | Public | 189 | 2 |
| Robert Morris University | Moon Township | Private not-for-profit | 186 | 1 |
What project management specialists earn in Pennsylvania
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $102,320. Pennsylvania pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Pennsylvania
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Project Management Specialists page.
How to become a Project Management Specialist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Pennsylvania
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 6 majors mapped to Project Management Specialists6 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.1005Information Technology Project Management
- 52.0101Business/Commerce, General
- 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
- 52.0211Project Management
- 52.0216Science/Technology Management
- 52.2002Construction Project Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing project management specialists programs in Pennsylvania.
What degree do you need to become a Project Management Specialist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Business Administration and Management, General, which awarded 8,397 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 77.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Project Management Specialist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Business/Commerce, Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management. Together they graduate about 10,842 people a year in Pennsylvania.
How much do project management specialists earn in Pennsylvania?+
The median is $100,150 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.1% below the U.S. median of $102,320. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for project management specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +5.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 78,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Pennsylvania?+
126 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'None' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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