Degree Requirements

To be eligible for graduation with a MS in Biostatistics students must successfully:

1. Complete at least eight courses (32 credits hours) of core coursework; credits are obtained from coursework, journal club, and seminar credits.
2. Pass each of the eight core MS courses with at least a C+ and maintain at least a B average.
3. Complete at least four courses (12 credit hours) of elective course work in Biostatistics courses or subject matter courses with significant statistical content.
4. Pass the first-year comprehensive examinations on the first or second attempt at the MS level.
5. Complete the second-year interdisciplinary research rotation.
6. Submit a master’s thesis detailing an original investigation in an area of biostatistics. The investigation may be theoretical or applied in nature and must represent publishable work.
7. Present thesis findings in a Departmental seminar.

The MS curriculum involves a half year of probability, a half year of inference, two and a half years of methods, and a half year of signature training. The eight core courses (all 4 credit hours) comprising the MS curriculum can be group as follows: Methods courses (311: Principles of Modern Biostatistics, 312: Modern Regression Analysis, 345-6: Advanced Regression Analysis I &II, 323: Applied survival Analysis); Probability course  (342: Fundamentals of Probability); Inference course (342: Contemporary Statistical Inference); and Signature course (350: Statistical Collaboration in Health Sciences). The table below illustrates the typical course sequence and educational trajectory for a student in the MS program.