Master of Industrial and Labor Relations (MILR)
MILR is a two-year, on-campus degree based in Ithaca, NY, designed for people who aspire to leadership roles. It’s a professional degree for people ready to tackle the issues of organizational success, employee wellbeing, and labor relations. MILR covers leadership, decision-making, and conflict resolution. This degree brings both the theoretical and the practical into focus. Senior corporate executives and labor managers enrich MILR through deep interactions with students focused on real challenges faced in the workplace.
The degree is both wide and deep. It’s built up from the research of ILR’s world-class faculty and the real-world experience of practitioners. You can study from a huge range of courses from organizational design and culture to human resource leadership to compensation to labor relations to mediation, while also focusing on the application of workplace research.
MILR alumni succeed in what they set out to do. Many students have job offers before graduating. Most experience faster career advancement and stronger earning power.
Graduates join the wide network of Cornell alumni – many actively recruit MILR graduates for both career placement and advancement.
Admissions
Find out more about the courses that make up the MILR degree, and the required credits needed to graduate.
The MILR Spring 2022 and Fall 2022 applications open on August 15!
Student Stories
Read all MILR student stories
The ILR School is at the center of Cornell's Ithaca campus. Plan a visit (virtual or in-person), register for online tours and events, and get in touch with our team to find out more about the place where you will study.
Career Outcomes
There are many job and career field options available to those who earn a degree from the ILR School, including corporate HR, labor relations, labor, government, law, non-profit, consulting, and financial services.
We regularly survey graduates to find out what they do after MILR. You can find out more, read recent data, and get in contact with the careers office if you have any questions.
Degree Specializations
The Human Resources and Organizations (HR&O) Concentration focuses on people in organizations, including the roles of line managers, the HR function and HR professionals in contributing to organizational success and employee well-being and such key aspects of organizational life as leadership, decision-making, and conflict resolution.
You can focus your MILR studies on labor from the perspectives of international and comparative labor or collective representation.
By focusing on dispute resolution, students can prepare for a career as neutrals, advocates, or consultants in conflict resolution. The rise of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in employment relations and other fields has created opportunities for people interested in pursuing careers as mediators, arbitrators, or facilitators.
Get in touch and meet the MILR team.
Find answers to common questions applicants and potential students have.
