MS Program in Statistics

The Statistics MS program provides students with rigorous training in one or more areas of statistics and probability.  The program is flexible enough to accommodate students with a variety of backgrounds and interests.  Students may focus on theory, applications or methodology.

The MS degree provides a valuable complement to a number of PhD programs in the sciences and social sciences, and enhances the credentials of students in these programs seeking academic or industrial jobs.  Over the years, students have completed the Statistics MS degree concurrently with a Ph.D. in areas such as Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Mathematics and Physics.  Terminal masters students, who seek employment after completion of the degree, have had little difficulty finding jobs in industry or government.

The Statistics MS degree requires 30 credit hours of coursework, and the preparation of a Masters Essay.  Students can choose from a wide variety of courses within the Statistics program, as well as courses from outside the Department.

Summary: Completion of the MS degree requires 30 semester hours of graduate coursework. The Graduate School requires that at least 24 of these credits must be taken *after* admission to the MS program. Upon approval of the Graduate School, at most six credit hours may be transferred from another accredited institution, or from within UNC-CH for courses taken before admission to the MS program. Note that this restriction on transferring credits applies to courses taken in the STOR Department as well.

All students need to take or exhibit competency in STOR 435 and 555. Students can place out of these courses with the consent of the course instructor or their graduate adviser. Under the degree requirement for the MS, students should:

• Take and pass STOR 664 (Applied Statistics I).
  
• Take and pass 4 additional Statistics Program courses from the following list of STOR courses:  555, 634, 635, 654, 655, 665, 734, 754, 755, 756, 757, 765, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 890, 891, 930, 940, 950, and 960.
  
• Take and pass 12 additional semester hours of statistics-related coursework either inside or outside the Statistics Program; outside courses need to be approved by the Statistics program's Curriculum Committee.
  
• Take at least 3 credit hours of STOR 992 (MS essay).  A maximum of 3 credit hours of 992 registration may be counted as part of the 30 credit hour minimum.
  
• Pass all ten required courses with no more than one grade of L.
  
• Complete an M.S. essay (see below).
  

Examinations: There are no written comprehensive exams for the MS degree.

Masters Essay and Examination Committee:

As part of their study, MS students complete a Masters Essay. The Masters Essay usually consists of a review of the literature in a particular area of study related to Statistics, but it may also include new theoretical results, data analysis, computational methods, or simulations. Acceptable essays are usually 20-30 pages in length.

The Masters essay is completed under the supervision of one or two primary faculty advisors. If a student has a single advisor, he or she should be a member of the Statistics Program faculty. If a student has two co-advisors, at least one should be a member of the Statistics Program faculty.

Candidates for the MS degree should, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies for Statistics, assemble an MS Committee consisting of three faculty members. The committee must include the student's primary advisor(s); other members may be from inside or outside the Statistics Program. Satisfactory completion of the MS essay is based on an oral examination by the Committee, typically 40 - 50 minutes in length. The oral examination is usually closed to the public.

The current policy of granting MS degrees to doctoral students in Statistics after the successful completion of their Preliminary Oral Examination will be maintained.

Time Limit: All work credited toward MS degrees, except transferred course work, must be completed within a period of five years from the first date of registration.