Statistics, MS

The Department of Statistics offers programs of study leading to the degrees of Master of Science (Plan A or B available), Doctor of Philosophy, and Master of Applied Statistics (Online). The M.S. degree is professionally oriented for the student who plans a career in government, business or industry and is preparatory for the Ph.D. The Ph.D. program offers a broad training in both statistical theory and methods while affording options to suit the student’s interests. The statistics Ph.D. is well-suited for academic, business, government and industrial positions. In addition to formal course work and research training, the advanced student has opportunities to gain valuable practical experience by participating in consulting activities under faculty supervision. Master of Applied Statistics is an innovative,online professional graduate degree which is designed to train professional, practice-oriented statisticians who have both data analytic and computing skills.

Both, the M.S. and the Ph.D. program offer a Mathematical Statistics track, as well as a Biostatistics track. The latter tracks are designed for students who envision a future at the interface of Statistics and the Life Sciences.

Course work is available in areas associated with statistics such as biological modeling, probability, inference, experimental design and analysis, computational statistics, nonparametric methods, Bayesian analysis, mixed modeling, multivariate analysis, survival analysis, clinical trials, and many other selected topics of the student’s choice.

The University of Kentucky is represented on the Committee on Statistics of the Southern Regional Education Board.

Admission Requirements

Students with an undergraduate major in any of the mathematical, physical, biological, social or applied sciences are encouraged to apply.

The minimum GRE and GPA admissions requirements for the M.S. program in Statistics is the same as for the Graduate School. However, the number of admissions is limited and admissions decisions are made on a competitive basis. All M.S. applicants must have successfully completed a three or four semester sequence in calculus and a course in linear algebra and have good communication skills. Students wishing to apply for teaching assistantships and/or fellowships must submit three letters of recommendation.

Please see the departmental website for up-to-date information and answers to frequently asked questions about the admissions process.

Degree Requirements

The Statistics Department offers the degree of Master of Science with (Plan A) or without (Plan B) a thesis, and in two different tracks: a Mathematical Statistics track and a Biostatistics track.

Shared Core (Required for all students)

Mathematical Statistics Track

Curriculum requirements for the Mathematical Statistics track are the shared core courses above, plus at least two of the following courses:

Biostatistics Track

Curriculum requirements in the Biostatistics track are the shared core courses above, plus at least two of the following courses:

STA 635 SURVIVABILITY AND LIFE TESTING (3)
STA 653 CLINICAL TRIALS (3)
STA 643 ADVANCED EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN (3)
STA 665 ANALYSIS OF CATEGORICAL DATA (3)
STA 632 LONGITUDINAL DATA ANALYSIS (3)
STA 693 PRACTICUM IN STATISTICAL COLLABORATION (1-3), as a 3 credit hour course in the final semester of the M.S. program

Programs of study for Plan B require a total of at least 35 semester hours. Students will typically fulfill this requirement by taking electives (additional courses besides the shared core and track requirements) in the Fall and Spring of their second year. Programs of study for Plan A (with thesis) require a total of at least 30 semester hours which are satisfied by either of the two course lists above plus 1 or more hours of STA 768 or additional coursework.

The electives can be selected from the menu of courses listed below. Before the end of the second semester, the M.S. candidate must present a proposed plan of study for approval by the Director of Graduate Studies. There are no formal minor requirements.

Comprehensive Exams

All master’s candidates are required to pass a comprehensive departmental written examination on the content of the courses STA 602 , STA 603 , STA 605 , STA 606 , STA 623 , STA 697 , and STA 698 . This examination is normally administered in late May/early June. It is truly comprehensive also in the sense that all parts must be taken together: If a student decides not to take a part of the examination, that part is automatically counted as failed. Students taking the comprehensive exam will receive either a pass at the doctoral level, a pass at the master’s level, or a failure. The examination may be repeated only once. Successful completion of the comprehensive examination at the doctoral level is required for admission into the PhD program.

Electives

The electives may be chosen from any course in the following menu that is NOT used as a track requirement.

STA 607 THEORY OF STATISTICAL INFERENCE II (3)
STA 612 SEQUENTIAL ANALYSIS (3)
STA 621 NONPARAMETRIC INFERENCE (3)
STA 624 APPLIED STOCHASTIC PROCESSES (3)
STA 626 TIME SERIES ANALYSIS (3)
STA 629 STATISTICAL MACHINE LEARNING AND PREDICTIVE MODELING (3)
STA 630 BAYESIAN INFERENCE (3)
STA 632 LONGITUDINAL DATA ANALYSIS (3)
STA 635 SURVIVABILITY AND LIFE TESTING (3)
STA 643 ADVANCED EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN (3)
STA 644 ADVANCED LINEAR AND NONLINEAR MODELS (3)
STA 653 CLINICAL TRIALS (3)
STA 661 MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS I (3)
STA 662 RESAMPLING AND RELATED METHODS (3)
STA 665 ANALYSIS OF CATEGORICAL DATA (3)
Additional 600-level or above courses with prior approval from the program DGS.

A student who takes both STA 653 and CPH 664 may only receive credit towards the degree for one of these two courses.

All students, master’s and doctoral, will be required to take part in an internship program. This will usually consist of teaching (three or six semester hours) or an equivalent amount of work in a research assistantship working with researchers across campus.