Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics

The Department of Statistics offers a rich variety of courses and seminars in almost all branches of statistical theory and applications. The PhD program provides excellent training in the modern theory, methods and applications of statistics and prepares students to become independent researchers. Graduates are prepared for positions in academia, business, or government. The median time to degree is five years.The PhD program also has an option in biostatistics with slightly different course requirements, but students can freely switch between options after enrollment. The admissions process pools together all applicants to the PhD programs regardless of option, so there is no need to apply to both programs.The department strives to support students in the PhD program as teaching, research, or project assistants.The Statistics Department provides extensive computing facilities, both hardware and software, to support instruction and research. Several computers and advanced graphic workstations are available for use in advanced courses enabling students to pursue the latest research directions in statistical computing and graphics. Common statistical packages and libraries are available on a variety of machines.

A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or a comparable degree from an international institution is required. International applicants must have a degree comparable to a regionally accredited U.S. bachelor’s degree. You must have completed your undergraduate degree, or similar, before starting graduate school. A minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 on the equivalent of the last 60 credit hours (approximately two years of work) or a master’s degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 is required. The Graduate School will take into consideration different grade scales from institutions that do not have 4.00 scales (e.g., institutions outside the United States of America).