Skip to main content
Department of Statistics

Applied Statistics and Data Management Certificate

Gain Sought-after Skills and Knowledge

In this graduate certificate program, students learn important statistical methods and associated statistical programming techniques.

Our online program serves a wide audience. We have traditional students coming directly from their undergraduate studies to students that have been in the workforce for 5+ years that are looking to retool or upscale their careers.

Note that students are not required to have a calculus background to be successful in these 4 courses. However, multivariate calculus and linear algebra are required for those who want to continue and obtain our online master’s degree (6 more courses).

Coursework

The coursework for the certificate requires four courses (12 credits).

Statistical Methods Sequence

Two courses come from an applied methods sequence that focuses on statistical methods and how to apply them in real world settings. This sequence takes learners through a broad spectrum of important statistical concepts and ideas including:

  • the basics of understanding data sources, variability of data, and methods to account for that variability
  • visualizing and summarizing data using software
  • understanding core inference techniques such as confidence intervals and hypothesis testing
  • fitting advanced statistical models to the data for the purposes of inference and prediction

These two methods courses are taken from the following sequences:

or

The course sequences are similar. The main difference is that ST 511 & ST 512 focus more heavily on analysis of designed experiments, whereas ST 513 & ST 514 focus more heavily on the analysis of observational data. However, learners that take ST 511 can readily take ST 514 as their ‘second’ course and similarly those that take ST 513 can take ST 512 as their ‘second’ course.

Statistical Programming

Two courses come from a selection of statistical programming courses that teach learners statistical programming techniques that are required for managing data in a typical workplace environment. We have courses covering three of the major statistical and data science languages (R, Python, and SAS).

Learners can take any two of these courses as part of the certificate. The two SAS courses will prepare you for the highly sought after credentials of Base Programming Specialist and Advanced Programming Using SAS certification.

What is it like to be in our program?

Our learners usually take one to two courses per semester and finish the certificate in about 12-18 months.

We have a diverse and welcoming faculty and staff that want to help our students succeed and reach their potential.  To help students from such varied backgrounds achieve their goals, we have a full-time advisor for our online community.  This dedicated advisor helps each individual determine the best path for them.  This process starts immediately after enrollment.  We hold an online program orientation session prior to each semester to help students:

  • acclimate to our program and start networking
  • understand the expectations of graduate school including tips on how to be successful 
  • learn about all of the fantastic resources that come with attending NC State
  • find answers to any other questions  

As we use programming in all of our courses and some take the methods courses first, we provide free short courses in SAS, R, and Python to help everyone get up to speed using the languages. Our Basics of R and Basics of SAS course are open and available to anyone.

To build our online community, we use a slack channel and a LinkedIn group to encourage networking and to provide a means for informal student-to-student communication.  In addition, we have in-person and online networking events each semester.  

The courses for our online program are all taught by our full-time faculty.  We do not use adjunct (part-time) professors as many other online programs do.  Online students have access to the same professors, learning materials, and assessments as our on-campus students.  We utilize state-of-the-art tools to facilitate interactions between students, students and the course content, and students and instructors.  The online courses are asynchronous – meaning that there are no set times where you must attend class – but are not self-paced.  There are deadlines throughout the semester for assignments and exams.   

Learn more about how our courses work.

What is Needed to Apply?

Requirements for admission include:

  1. Completion of a bachelor’s degree (any field) with a GPA of 3.0 or greater on a 4.0 scale;
  2. Transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work (unofficial copies accepted);
  3. A personal statement of goals related to enrolling in the certificate program.

If you did not complete your undergraduate degree with a 3.0 grade point average, you can first take courses as a non-degree seeking (NDS) student in order to show you can handle the workload. These credits can then be transferred to count towards the certificate (up to six credits). Contact our program advisor (statistics_online@ncsu.edu) for more information about this path.

Apply now

After submitting your Graduate Application for the Applied Statistics and Data Management certificate, you may check the status of your application at any time. 

Cost

This certificate requires 12 credits. See the Online and Distance Education Tuition and Fees page for cost details. Our program falls under the Graduate – Standard DE Rate category.

Graduate certificate programs qualify for federal financial aid.  Once you’ve been accepted, if you are interested in receiving a federal loan to fund your graduate certificate expenses you can visit studentaid.gov and complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid can then evaluate your eligibility for federal loan funding.

If you have questions about qualifying for financial aid or about the federal loan program, please visit go.ncsu.edu/financial aid, contact your financial aid counselor, or call 919.515.2421.

NC State also offers a monthly payment plan.