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Department of Statistics

Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

MS in Biostatistics

A graduate stats student working at a computer in a classroom

In the Master of Science in Biostatistics program, students develop the skills and methods necessary to thrive in the biological, biomedical and health services sciences. Coursework includes statistics, mathematics and public health as well as a comprehensive examination.

The biostatistics program is jointly administered by the Department of Statistics and the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health (SPH). 

Application Deadlines: 

We are not accepting new applications for Fall 2022.

    Student Learning Outcomes

    • Understand the theory and principles behind the statistical methods most commonly used in biomedical research (contingency tables, survival analysis, mixed models and missing data)
    • Learn and apply the underlying principles and methods to design, plan and conduct biomedical studies
    • Provide biostatistical advice as a member of a team engaged in a biomedical research project; this expertise includes the manipulation and analysis of data

     

    Accreditation

    Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSACHE) logo

    This degree program is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education through the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and by the Council on Education for Public Health through the SPH regulations.

     

    MS Transfer Credits

    Students may complete the GW Master of Science in Biostatistics program prior to admission to the PhD degree program. In this case, no more than 24 credit hours from the MS degree may be applied toward the PhD coursework requirements. In this instance, the student will be required to take a minimum of 27 additional credit hours of coursework. The distribution of these courses between statistics and public health would depend on the nature of the master's degree and whether the transferred credit hours would be used to defray statistics or public health coursework. Students should consult their academic advisor for more details on this option.

     

    Course Requirements

    The following requirements must be fulfilled:

    The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate Programs.

    33 credits, including 27 credits in required courses and 6 credits in elective courses, and successful completion of a master's comprehensive examination.

    The following requirements must be fulfilled: 33 credits, including 18 credits in statistics courses, 7 credits in public health courses, 6 credits in elective courses, 2 credits in consulting, and successful completion of a master's comprehensive examination.

    Prerequisite courses
    The courses listed below (or equivalents) are prerequisites for admission consideration and must appear on the student's transcript. Students may apply to the program only after they have fulfilled this requirement:
    MATH 1231Single-Variable Calculus I
    MATH 1232Single-Variable Calculus II
    STAT 2118Regression Analysis

    Applicants lacking the courses listed below (or equivalents) are considered for admission; however, if admitted, the student is required to complete these courses within two semesters of matriculation in the program. Credit earned in these courses does not count toward the 33 credits required for the degree and grades earned are not reflected in the overall grade-point average.

    MATH 2184Linear Algebra I
    MATH 2233Multivariable Calculus
    One of the following:
    PUBH 6853Use of Statistical Packages for Data Management and Data Analysis *
    STAT 2183Intermediate Statistics Lab/Packages
    Required for the degree
    Statistics courses
    PUBH 6266Biostatistical Methods
    or PUBH 8877 Generalized Linear Models in Biostatistics
    STAT 6201Mathematical Statistics I
    STAT 6202Mathematical Statistics II
    STAT 6210Data Analysis
    STAT 6227Survival Analysis
    STAT 6255Clinical Trials
    or PUBH 6866 Principles of Clinical Trials
    Public health courses
    PUBH 6003Principles and Practices of Epidemiology
    And two courses (2 credits) selected from the following:
    PUBH 6262Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
    PUBH 6263Advanced GIS
    PUBH 6850Introduction to SAS for Public Health Research
    PUBH 6851Introduction to R for Public Health Research
    PUBH 6852Introduction to Python for Public Health Research
    PUBH 6856Advanced SAS for Public Health Research
    And 2 credits in any PUBH course(s) in the 6800 range.
    Electives
    6 credits in elective courses selected from the following:
    PUBH 6854Applied Computing in Health Data Science
    PUBH 6859High Performance and Cloud Computing
    PUBH 6860Principles of Bioinformatics
    PUBH 6861Public Health Genomics
    PUBH 6862Applied Linear Regression Analysis for Public Health Research
    PUBH 6863Applied Meta-Analysis
    PUBH 6865Applied Categorical Data Analysis for Public Health Research
    PUBH 6879Propensity Score Methods for Causal Inference in Observational Studies
    PUBH 6884Bioinformatics Algorithms and Data Structures
    PUBH 6886Statistical and Machine Learning for Public Health Research
    PUBH 6887Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis for Public Health Research
    STAT 3187Introduction to Sampling
    STAT 4181Applied Time Series Analysis
    STAT 4188Nonparametric Statistics Inference
    STAT 6197Fundamentals of SAS Programming for Data Management
    STAT 6214Applied Linear Models
    STAT 6215Applied Multivariate Analysis I
    STAT 6216Applied Multivariate Analysis II
    STAT 6217Design of Experiments
    STAT 6223Bayesian Statistics: Theory and Applications
    STAT 6225Longitudinal Data Analysis
    STAT 6231Categorical Data Analysis
    STAT 6240Statistical Data Mining
    STAT 6242Modern Regression Analysis
    STAT 6252Statistical Methods in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
    STAT 6254Statistical Genetics
    STAT 6287Sample Surveys
    STAT 6289Topics in Statistics
    STAT 8226Advanced Biostatistical Methods
    STAT 8265Multivariate Analysis
    STAT 8273Stochastic Processes I
    STAT 8281Advanced Time Series Analysis
    STAT 8288Topics in Sample Surveys
    Consulting
    PUBH 6883Biostatistics Consulting Practicum
    PUBH 6869Principles of Biostatistical Consulting
    Master's comprehensive examination
    Students must successfully complete a master's comprehensive examination, a written examination in the field of biostatistics based on the material covered in PUBH 6266 or PUBH 8877. The examination is administered by the faculty of the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in the Milken Institute School of Public Health.

     Visit the program website for additional information.