Online Learning: Department of Statistics
Welcome to the Department of Statistic's Online learning web site.
The Department of Statistics takes advantage of the internet for the purposes of creatively delivering course content as well as to provide a mechanism for interation between faculty and students. Faculty employ a range of different approaches to learning online.
Through Penn State's World Campus, the Department of Statistics offers two programs.
Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics
This certificate program is designed to improve your research and data-analysis expertise and refine and maximize your analytical talents. The skills you can learn in this program can be applied across the business, education, health, science, governmental, and technology fields.
This 12-credit online graduate certificate in applied statistics consists of required and elective courses that can deepen your knowledge of statistical analysis and provide you with experience with a variety of statistical software packages, a blend of practical and theoretical data-analysis skills as well as sophisticated tools and knowledge to handle and analyze data.
The master of applied statistics (MAS) degree program is designed for professionals who handle data in their current positions, and are interested in studying a wide range of statistical application areas while developing a skill set that is now in great demand. Employment opportunities exist for applied statisticians in business, industry, government, and in educational and research organizations.
The master of applied statistics degree program is designed to provide training focused on developing data analysis skills, exploring all core areas of applied statistics (DOE, ANOVA, Analysis of Discrete Data, MANOVA, and many more) without going too deeply into the mathematical statistics foundations.
The master of applied statistics degree will be conferred upon students who earn a minimum of 30 credits and a minimum grade point average of 3.0. Of the 30 credits, 24 must be courses from the statistics department, and 21 must be at the 500 level.
In addition to the above degree requirements, all transfer students and concurrent degree students within Penn State are required to take at least 12 of the 30 credits after admission into the master of applied statistics program.
This master's program can be completed in two to five years, depending on whether you take one, two or three courses each semester. The goal is to provide graduates with broad knowledge in a wide range of statistical application areas—and the employable skills in statistics that are now in high demand.
For the course catalog of offerings by semester, application and other information related to this program, please visit the World Campus web site.
Online Curriculum Overview
All courses are 3 credits unless otherwise noted.
Math pre-requisite: standard three course calculus sequence, (for example, Math 140, Math 141 and Math 230) and knowledge of matrix algebra / linear algebra).
Statistical Analysis System Programming
Theoretical Foundations
- STAT 414 - Introduction to Probability Theory (initial offering Fall 2010)
- STAT 415 - Introduction to Mathematical Statistics (in development)
Service Level Courses
- STAT 500 - Applied Statistics
- STAT 501 - Regression Methods
- STAT 502 - Analysis of Variance and Design of Experiments
- STAT 503 - Design of Experiments
- STAT 504 - Analysis of Discrete Data
- STAT 505 - Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis
- STAT 506 - Sampling Theory and Methods
- STAT 507 - Epidemiological Research Methods
- STAT 509 - Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials
- STAT 510 - Applied Time Series Analysis
Advanced Application of Statistical Methods
- STAT 557 - Data Mining
Capstone Experience
- STAT 580/581 - Statisitical Consulting Practicum
Prerequisites Checklist
| Before you take... | You should have already successfully completed... | Statistical Software Involved? |
| STAT 414 | Math pre-requisite: standard three course calculus sequence (for example, Math 140, Math 141 and Math 230) and knowledge of matrix algebra / linear algebra. MAS students are also strongly encouraged to complete application courses STAT 500, STAT 501. |
R |
| STAT 415 | STAT 414 | none |
| STAT 480 | 3 credits in statistics | SAS |
| STAT 481 | STAT 480 | SAS |
| STAT 482 | STAT 481 | SAS |
| STAT 500 | 1 undergraduate course in statistics | Minitab, SPSS |
| STAT 501 | STAT 500, matrix algebra | Minitab |
| STAT 502 | STAT 501 | Minitab |
| STAT 503 | STAT 502 | Minitab |
| STAT 504 | STAT 500, 501, 502, matrix algebra | SAS, R |
| STAT 505 | STAT 501, STAT 502 | SAS |
| STAT 506 | 3 credits in statistics | none |
| STAT 507 | 3 credits in statistics | involves calculating basic epidemiologic measures |
| STAT 509 | STAT 500 | SAS |
| STAT 510 | STAT 462 or 501 or 511 | R |
| STAT 557 | Calculus requirements. Requires a higher level of application. Students expected to take initiative. |
involves programming |
| STAT 580 | STAT 502 and STAT 503 or STAT 504 or STAT 506 | SAS, R, Minitab, or SPSS |
| STAT 581 | STAT 580 | SAS, R, Minitab, or SPSS |
