🎓 Build a foundation, then choose an application

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers an M.S. in Applied Statistics and a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Statistics, alongside mathematics programs and new machine learning and data science concentrations. This creates routes for students interested in statistical methodology, applications, or the interface between statistics and computation. Explore the department’s programs and compare the M.S. and Ph.D. curricula with your goals.

🔬 Join an R1 university with growing research strength

An established research environment. Georgia State is a Carnegie R1 research university, the highest research-activity designation. Its research community brings together faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and students across many disciplines. In fiscal year 2025, GSU reported $165.86 million in research grant awards and more than 1,250 funded projects, marking its fourth consecutive year above $160 million in awards. These figures show the scale of the university’s active research enterprise. See the FY2025 research announcement.

📈 Growing national recognition. In the 2027 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, released in September 2026, GSU rose 10 places to No. 99 among public national universities. It also ranked No. 1 among public universities for undergraduate teaching and No. 3 among public universities for innovation. The ranking announcement identifies the year and category for each result.

🏅 Faculty achievements make that research environment concrete. A few examples connected to statistics, data science, and health:

• Statistics and biostatistics: Yichuan Zhao, whose research includes survival analysis and empirical likelihood, was elected an American Statistical Association Fellow in 2021.
• AI and brain imaging: In 2025, the TReNDS Center, led by Vince Calhoun, announced NIH R01 awards of $3.8 million and $2.5 million supporting Alzheimer’s-related modeling and AI methods for multimodal brain imaging. Jingyu (Jean) Liu is a co-principal investigator on the Alzheimer’s project. The project overview shows how statistical learning connects with major health questions.
• International research recognition: Andrew Gewirtz and Lanying Du in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences were included in Clarivate’s 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list, recognizing the influence of their published research.

For a prospective statistics student, these examples point to a setting where methodological questions can grow out of active scientific projects. They are useful starting points when exploring research groups and potential mentors.

🤝 Find collaborators beyond one department

A statistical question can begin with a brain image, an infectious-disease outbreak, an insurance loss, or a student’s learning record. At GSU, related expertise spans mathematics and statistics, public health, computer science, business, education, and neuroscience. The university’s research hubs and applied biostatistics and epidemiologic methodology community illustrate these connections. My GSU statistics and related faculty directory is a starting point for finding people whose questions match yours.

🏫 Connect with nearby universities

Georgia Tech and Emory are nearby, opening up possibilities for seminars, research conversations, and collaborations across statistics, computing, engineering, and health. There are established connections to build on: the TReNDS Center brings GSU, Georgia Tech, and Emory together around neuroimaging and data science.

The ARCHE cross-registration program also lets eligible students take approved courses at other member institutions when those courses are unavailable at their home university. My conference and seminar directory offers another way to find the wider research community.

💼 Build a career in a major city

Atlanta offers a substantial professional community across healthcare, finance, technology, retail, aviation, and logistics. Metro Atlanta is home to globally recognized companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, and UPS, all included in the chamber’s 2025 Fortune 500 listing. The Metro Atlanta Chamber’s industry overview shows the breadth of the local economy.

For a statistics student, this creates many directions to explore for internships, networking, and future employment: forecasting demand, evaluating experiments, modeling risk, or improving operations. Atlanta’s public-health community adds another dimension, including the CDC and healthcare organizations. Explore GSU’s Population Health Sciences to see how quantitative research connects with these questions.

🎡 Enjoy life beyond the classroom

Graduate school is also a place to build a life. Atlanta has restaurants, music, museums, festivals, and professional sports alongside its academic and business communities. Spend a weekend at the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, or High Museum of Art, or explore the city’s civil-rights history. Discover Atlanta is a useful starting point for attractions and events.

🍜 Food from around the world. Living in a large, international city means plenty of opportunities to try different cuisines or find familiar flavors from home. Metro Atlanta’s Buford Highway restaurants and international markets offer Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Ethiopian, and many other food traditions.

🛒 Groceries for your own kitchen. International supermarkets and specialty food shops also make it easier to cook the dishes you love. Buford Highway Farmers Market and City Farmers Market, featured in the same guide, carry ingredients from different parts of the world. Finding familiar vegetables, sauces, spices, and snacks can make settling into graduate life feel a little more like home.

For a break from the desk, walk or cycle along the Atlanta Beltline, enjoy its public art and nearby food spots, or head to Piedmont Park for green space and recreation. Having these options nearby is a real part of what makes studying in a large city appealing.

💻 Have tools to turn an idea into a study

Simulation studies, large datasets, and machine learning often require more than a laptop. GSU’s ARCTIC provides research computing infrastructure and support; the library’s Research Data Services offers help with data analysis, visualization, and research workflows. My research computing guide explains how to get started.

💰 An affordable MS path, with opportunities to teach

Funding can substantially reduce the cost of an MS. The Applied Statistics program reports that more than 50% of incoming MS students and more than 80% of second-year graduate students receive graduate teaching assistantships with full tuition waivers. A funded place can therefore make GSU a particularly affordable route to graduate training in statistics.

Teaching experience is another benefit. MS teaching assistants can gain experience tutoring undergraduate laboratory sessions and teaching undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses. Explaining methods, answering questions, and helping students reason through data are useful preparation for both an academic career and work that involves communicating technical ideas.

Assistantships are competitive, and the actual cost depends on your offer and tuition classification. Consult the department’s financial support page, the university’s assistantship guidance, and the current tuition and fee charts. Tuition waivers do not remove mandatory fees or all other expenses; ask about the stipend, teaching duties, insurance, and summer support when comparing offers.

Before applying, identify two or three potential advisors, read some of their recent work, and write down a research question you would like to explore. A good match between your interests, the available mentorship, and the program’s training is a strong reason to choose GSU.

📝 Notes

Written for prospective students interested in statistics and related fields; updated September 27, 2026. Research, ranking, faculty, city, collaboration, and funding information is linked to official sources. The U.S. News figures refer to the 2027 Best Colleges edition and the categories named above; research funding amounts refer to grant awards. The corporate examples use the chamber’s 2025 Fortune list. Assistantship figures describe the program’s published information, not a guarantee of funding. Program requirements and available opportunities can change.