Master of Arts Program
Our department offers a Masters Degree in Statistics that prepares students for employment in a wide variety of fields including insurance, pharmaceuticals, consulting, and government. The degree can be earned as a terminal degree, or along the way while working on the PhD. The department offers a Master of Arts in Statistics with three different required specializations to choose from:
Mathematical Statistics
The Mathematical Statistics specialization gives students a more theoretical probability and statistics education. This degree is usually given to students who are working toward their PhD, but it is also available as a terminal degree.
Applied Statistics
The Applied Statistics specialization is oriented toward practical statistical situations. It aims at teaching data analytic procedures and their applications to statistical problems. In keeping with this goal, students are required to become skilled at statistical computing and participate actively in the consulting projects that arise in the Statistical Consulting Laboratory. This degree will prepare students for careers in government, industry, and quantitative research in other scientific disciplines.
Data Science
The Data Science track integrates modern statistical methodologies with computational approaches for dealing with big data. Core statistics courses are a requirement in order to develop strong conceptual understanding of statistics. Based on these, this track helps prepare students to work on analyzing big data sets, utilizing the latest software tools.
Degree Requirements
In these MA specializations, the candidate must complete 42 units with an average GPA of 3.0. Each core course must be completed with a grade of B or better.
Mathematical Statistics
The candidate must complete 42 units of upper-division or graduate work, including any two of the three basic graduate course sequences: PSTAT 207 A-B-C, PSTAT 213 A-B-C, PSTAT 220 A-B-C. Students must pass a comprehensive examination corresponding to two of the above sequences, or must pass a comprehensive examination corresponding to one of the three sequences, and prepare a thesis under the supervision of a faculty member, and defend it before their MA thesis committee.
Progress sheet: math stat (exam) or math stat (thesis)
Applied Statistics
The Applied Statistics Specialization: The candidate must complete 42 units of upper-division or graduate work approved by the Graduate Advisor in Statistics. At least 32 of these units must be at the graduate level. The 42 units must include PSTAT 220 A-B-C and PSTAT 122 and PSTAT 230. Students must pass a comprehensive written examination based on PSTAT 120A-B-C, 122, 126, and 220A-B-C and submit a project report on data analysis to the Applied Statistics Exam Committee.
Progress sheet: applied statistics
Data Science
The Data Science Specialization: The candidate must complete 36 of 42 units at the graduate level including PSTAT 220, PSTAT 234, and PSTAT 230. At least 2 of the following 3 courses are also required: PSTAT 215A, PSTAT 231, PSTAT 232, PSTAT 235, and PSTAT 237. The remaining units are to be upper-division or graduate courses from PSTAT or other departments as to avoid significant overlap. Students in this track can choose or be assigned a project in PSTAT 230 to fulfil the Data Science Project requirement, and such a project could be in a substantive area of student's interest. Each student's plan of study is subject to prior approval by the Department's Director of Graduate Studies.
Progress sheet: data science