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.
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.
Intership Program
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.
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
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