Construction Project Management

The construction management program focuses on project management in the construction industry. It was established at Michigan State University in 1948 and is one of the oldest such programs in the United States. Construction management is the study and practice of managerial and technological aspects of the construction industry. 

The program emphasis is on management.

Graduates of this program are expected to fill the management gap between the skilled labor trades and upper management. Many will rise quickly to middle- and upper-level management positions in construction companies, project management companies, and general contracting companies.    

Students learn the aspects of the profession from highly educated and skilled faculty and from working with experienced managers in the industry. 

Estimating a job entails understanding the materials and methods so that quantities of needed supplies and corresponding costs can be calculated to result in a final estimated cost of the project. 

In the project management class, students work in teams to develop a complete project from the feasibility stage, to estimating the costs and scheduling the work, to the final completion, including a marketing plan. Most classes involve some formal lectures, laboratories that are primarily computer based, and project work in teams. All graduates will also complete a business cognate consisting of accounting, economics, finance, business law, business management, and marketing.

There is a shortage of properly educated people entering the industry, so the employment opportunities are excellent and will continue to be so. Advancement opportunities likewise are excellent.