UMass Amherst Dept of Mathematics and Statistics: Statistics Five College MS

This page explains how a Five College student can earn a Masters degree in statistics in a fifth year.

This is a brief description of the MS degree. Click here or consult the Coordinator of the Statistics Program for details.

Five Year Plan A student can earn the MS in five years by attending to two points.

Earning enough credits. If a student takes four courses each semester at UMass, that's a total of only 24 credits. Therefore, six credits must be transferred from the student's undergraduate program. But the same credits cannot be used to satisfy both the undergraduate and graduate degrees. So the student must take six extra credits (two courses) as an undergraduate, beyond those necessary for the BA or BS. Those extra credits can be transferred to the MS program.
Taking the right courses. Some courses taken as an undergraduate can satisfy the MS requirement for specific courses. In particular, undergraduate courses at the Five Colleges in linear regression and experimental design can satisfy the requirement for Stat 505 and 506. Undergraduate courses in probability and statistics might satisfy the requirement for Stat 607/608, depending on their level. Courses taught from texts such as Casella & Berger, DeGroot & Schervish, or Lavine do satisfy the requirement, while courses from texts such as Larsen & Marx or Mendenhall, Wackerly & Schaeffer are more similar to Stat 515/516 and do not satisfy the requirement for 607/608. When in doubt, check with the coordinator of the statistics program at UMass. Note: to complete the MS in one year, the student must take Stat 705 in the first semester. Because 607/608 is a prerequisite for 705, the student must take the equivalent of 607/608 as an undergraduate.