Our full-time, on-campus Master of Industrial and Labor Relations (MILR) program is ideal for career-driven professionals interested in the human side of organizations and the workplace. It is a two-year, leading degree program in the area of human resources and labor relations. This program will provide you the opportunity to customize your academic experience; acquire relevant and practical knowledge from expert faculty in their fields; and gain access to our employer and alumni networks, who actively recruit our graduates for career placement and advancement.
Concentrations include: Human Resources and Organizations, International and Comparative Labor, Collective Representation, Dispute Resolution, and Labor Market Policy.
Degree Requirements
The MILR degree requires a minimum of 48 credit hours, encompassing at least 16 courses comprised of 6 core courses, 6 concentration courses and elective courses.*
6 required core courses:
- ILRLR 5000 Labor Relations
- ILRLR 5010 Labor and Employment Law
- ILRST 5110 Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences
- ILROB 5200 Organizational Behavior
- ILRLE 5400 Labor Economics
- ILRHR 5600 Human Resource Management
*Courses offered by the ILR School and the 14 other colleges at Cornell provide an opportunity for cross-disciplinary work.
Courses taken toward fulfillment of the MILR degree requirements must meet all of the following criteria:
- 5000 level or above
- Taken for a letter grade (pass/fail and S/U grade option courses do not count)
- Final course grade must be C or above
- 3 or more credits. Courses that carry less than 3 credits do not count unless combined with another less-than-three credit course. Such instances will count as 1 course and must be taken for credit.
MILR/MBA Dual Degree Program
The dual degree MILR/MBA program from ILR and Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management offers a unique opportunity that places you in the center of today's fast changing workplace. The MILR/MBA program will:
- increase your career options
- develop management and technical skills
- increase your earning power
- gain two degrees in 2.5 years
One-Year MILR Degree
Applicants with a JD or MBA degree from an accredited U.S. institution or a BS ILR degree from Cornell University may apply to complete the MILR degree program in one year. Not all applicants will be approved for the one-year option, but each application will be evaluated individually by the admissions committee. 30 credit hours including the 6 MILR core courses are required. Students in the one-year MILR program must:
- Complete a total of 30 credits
- Complete 2 full-time semesters in the MILR program
- Complete or waive all 6 of the MILR required core courses
- Complete or waive four of the six concentration courses
- Complete as many relevant and appropriate electives as needed to fulfill the 30 credit requirement
