The B.A. in Statistics

Statistics is a science of information gathering, data analysis, and decision making. It is a discipline that blends the applied with the theoretical and our courses reflect this mix. These courses provide an excellent preparation for careers in industrial statistics, actuarial science, biostatistics, and statistical research.

Statistics majors must fulfill the following degree requirements:

General Education Requirements

A description of the General Education requirements can be found at General Education Requirements. Note that statistics majors will satisfy the Quantitative Methods requirement by fulfilling the Statistics Major Requirement described below. The Natural Sciences requirement will be partially satisfied by fulfilling the Science Requirement described below.

Exit (course) Requirements

Statistics majors are required to take two courses that are classified as Major Works & Major Issues and one course that is classified as Literature & Writing. This will typically involve a total of 9 hours of courework. A list of the approved courses can be found at Exit Courses.

Computer Language Requirement

Statistics majors are required to take a course which teaches proficiency in computer programming. There are many courses that will fulfill this requirement, but most statistics majors take Statistical Computing because it also counts toward the Statistics Major requirement described below.

Foreign Language Requirement

Statistics majors are required to fulfill both a foreign language entrance requirement and a foreign language exit requirement. A description of these requirements can be found at Foreign Language Requirement. As mentioned at this website, students should go to the Department of World Languages in CPR 419 to determine exactly what must be done to fulfill the foreign language exit requirement.

Note: Statistics majors are encouraged to take French, German, or Russian to fulfill the language requirement since these are the primary languages, other than English, in which higher-level statistics is written. However, the student may choose another language if he/she desires.

Exception: American Sign Language may not be used by statistics majors to fulfill the language requirement.

Science Requirement

Statistics majors are required to take one science course with lab. This course must be from the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Geology, or Physics and must be required for the majors of that department. Most students select this course from the following list:

BSC 2010/2010L
CHM 2045/2045L
GLY 2010/2000L
PHY 2048/2048L

Statistics Major Requirement

Statistics majors are required to take a minimum of 41 hours of statistics (and math) courses.

Core Requirement

The following five Core courses are required (19 credit hours):

MAC 2311 — Calculus I (4)
MAC 2312 — Calculus II (4)
MAC 2313 — Calculus III (4)
STA 2023 — Introduction to Statistics I (4)
STA 3024 — Introduction to Statistics II (3)

Note: Statistics majors can take the Engineering Calculus sequence MAC 2281/2282/2283 instead of the sequence MAC 2311/2312/2313.

Statistics Requirement

The following three courses are also required (10 credit hours):

COP XXXX — Statistical Computing (4)
STA 4321 — Essentials of Statistics (3)
STA 4442 — Introduction to Probability (3)

Elective Requirement

Four Electives must be chosen from the following list (12 credit hours minimum):

STA 4222 — Sample Survey Design (3)
STA 4502 — Nonparametric Statistical Methods (3)
STA 4504 — Categorical Data Analysis (3)
STA 4702 — Multivariate Statistical Methods (3)
STA 4821 — Stochastic Processes (3)
MAP 2302 — Differential Equations (3)
MAS 3105 — Linear Algebra (4)
MAT 4930 — History of Statistics (3)

Notes:

MAT 4930 (Selected Topics in Mathematics), or 5000-level statistics courses, may be taken as electives, with the prior approval of the Statistics Undergraduate Advisor.
One or two courses from another department which are of high statistical content may be taken as electives, with the prior approval of the Statistics Undergraduate Advisor.