Applicable only to students admitted during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Statistics

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Statistics offers the Master of Applied Statistics (M.A.S.), Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Statistics.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

The Director of the Master of Applied Statistics program is a regular Statistics faculty member who heads a committee of faculty members who may serve as academic advisers. The research interests of the members of this committee span most of the major areas of statistics. Each student chooses a primary consulting academic adviser who is responsible for monitoring the student’s degree progress and approving the study list each quarter. All students work with their primary consulting academic adviser in the first quarter of their second year to adopt a plan for degree completion. Advising and mentoring is done by the primary consulting adviser, who may either serve as a master’s committee member or also chair the student’s master’s thesis committee. Students meet with their primary thesis adviser monthly until the degree is completed, to ensure that students are assigned to and working on a thesis project that allows for timely completion of the degree. If the primary consulting adviser changes at any time during the course of the thesis, the student will need to report their new primary adviser to the department’s graduate Student Affairs Officer.

Areas of Study

The strengths of current and prospective faculty dictate the specific fields of emphasis in the department.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

M.A.S. students must earn 44 units of 400-level course credit. The Master of Applied Statistics program has a set of seven required core courses (28 units). In addition, students choose four electives (16 units) of 400 level courses that emphasize statistical modeling and programming. A written thesis is the final requirement. All students must maintain an overall grade-point average of 3.0 or better; and all students must take all core and elective courses for letter grade only.

The core consists of seven courses in statistical theory and methods. Courses are currently offered only once per year, and so students are encouraged to meet with their adviser to plan their graduation pathway.

Core Courses

The core consists of the following seven courses in statistical theory and methods.

400 Introduction to Probability Models
401 Survey of Methods in Modern Statistics
402 Applied Regression
403 Mathematical Statistics
404 Statistical Computing and Programming
405 Data Management
421B Advanced Statistical Communication

Among the core courses, only 401 may be waived upon departmental approval. If 401 is waived, the student must complete an additional elective course to satisfy the 44 unit requirement.

Elective Courses

In addition to the seven core courses, students must complete four courses (16 units) of their choosing as electives. Electives must be Statistics 400-level courses that emphasize statistical modeling and programming. 498 Master’s Thesis Research courses may not count as an elective. Only 4 units of Stats 497 (Individual Studies) may count towards the required electives. 4 units of Stats 496 (Statistics Internship) may also count towards the required electives upon approval of the M.A.S. Director.

Each elective course is 4 units.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required. However, students will be encouraged to participate in internships with industry partners. Students may, if they wish, earn up to 4 units of course credit for their internship by enrolling in Stats 496 (Statistics Internship) and writing a substantial paper relating to or arising from the internship. This paper must be closely supervised by a faculty adviser.

Capstone Plan

This plan is not available to Master of Applied Statistics.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students must find a thesis adviser, who approves the topic and form of the thesis. Students must nominate a thesis committee comprised of at least three faculty members, with at least two of whom are eligible to serve on thesis committees, and one of whom may be their adviser. The committee must be appointed by the Graduate Division. The final thesis must be approved by the thesis committee.

Each student’s thesis reports on research and analysis done under the supervision of both a faculty member who serves as the thesis adviser and an industry partner when available. While students may work with proprietary data, industry partners must agree that the student can publish and distribute the thesis. The thesis must consist of an original analysis that solves a real-world problem. The thesis adviser of the Department of Statistics supervises the thesis project to ensure the statistical integrity of the analysis. Thesis topics may originate from industry partners who propose topics and provide data sets. In these cases, a representative of the industry partner works with the student and the thesis adviser to ensure that the solution provided in the thesis is satisfactory to the industry partner. Students are expected to choose a thesis adviser and thesis topic by their fourth quarter of study in the program.

Time-to-Degree

Students must complete the requirements for the Master of Applied Statistics, including the written thesis, within 10 academic quarters. The standard time for most students will be 6 academic quarters.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.S.	6	6	10

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A student who does not complete all the requirements for the M.A.S. degree within 10 quarters is subject to a recommendation for academic disqualification. The graduate vice chair decides in each case whether a recommendation for academic disqualification is warranted. A student may appeal a recommendation for academic disqualification to the Graduate Studies Committee, which makes the final departmental decision.