Doctoral degree requirements

All doctoral students should have a background in certain mathematical topics usually presented in advanced calculus, and matrix or linear algebra courses. At K-State, these would be MATH 515, MATH 551, Math 633, and MATH 634. Students who do not have this background upon entering the PhD program should discuss with their major professor, provisional advisor, or graduate program directors the best way to quickly acquire this background after entering the program.

Students are required to have 90 semester hours of course work and research credit.

• Up to thirty hours from a Master’s program may be applied toward the 90 hours
• The remaining credit hours may include the courses required below, elective courses approved by the student’s major professor in consultation with the student’s graduate committee, and research credits.
• Elective courses may be selected from courses offered by the Department of Statistics or by other disciplines.

Required Courses

All doctoral students are required to include the following courses in their programs of study.

• STAT 842 - Probability for Statistical Inference Credits: 3
• STAT 843 - Statistical Inference Credits: 3
• STAT 860 - Linear Models I Credits: 3
• STAT 861 - Linear Models II Credits: 3
• STAT 870 - Analysis of Messy Data Credits: 3

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  and at least 7 credit hours of 900 level Statistics classes selected from:

• STAT 903 - Statistical Methods for Spatial Data Credits: 3
• STAT 904 - Resampling Methods Credits: 3
• STAT 905 - High-Dimensional Data and Statistical Learning Credits: 3
• STAT 907 - Bayesian Statistical Inference Credits: 3
• STAT 940 - Advanced Statistical Methods Credits: 3
• STAT 941 - Advanced Statistical Inference Credits: 3
• STAT 945 - Problems in Statistical Consulting Credits: 1-3
• STAT 950 - Advanced Studies in Probability and Statistics Credits: 1-3

Ph.D. Qualifying Exam

Students interested in pursuing the Ph.D. are required to first pass a departmental Qualifying Exam. Subsequently, students pursuing the Ph.D. must pass the doctoral preliminary examination (see below) in order to be approved for degree candidacy by the Graduate School. 

Students must enroll in at least one credit hour during any and all semesters in which they are actively engaged in the qualifying examination process.

The Qualifying Exam consists of three parts: applied statistics, mathematical statistics and linear models. The exam will be given once a year, in January. Students may take the exam as early as desired. The courses listed below are only intended to indicate the scope of the material covered. They are not required as prerequisite to taking the exam. Mathematical Statistics: Stat 842, 843; Linear Models: Stat 860, 861; Applied Statistics: Stat 720, 870. Students taking the Ph.D. qualifier are required to pass two of the three subject area exams. Students may take all three exams. Each of the three exam subcommittees will circulate to eligible students additional information regarding each exam during the summer semester prior to the January when the exams are given.

Preliminary Exam

The Ph.D. Preliminary Exam consists of two components: a dissertation proposal and a public seminar. 

Students must enroll in at least one credit hour during any and all semesters in which they are actively engaged in the preliminary examination process.

For more information please see the department website: http://www.k-state.edu/stats/academics/gradstudents/DegreePhD.html