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+--- Thread: Help with choosing Statistics degree (/Thread-Help-with-choosing-Statistics-degree)
Help with choosing Statistics degree - Pilotpivot3 - 04-27-2025
Your Location: Montana, United States
Your Age: 32
What kind of degree do you want?: BSc or BA in Statistics, Applied Stats, Applied Math
Current Regional Accredited Credits:
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: None
Any certifications or military experience?: None
Budget: No specific budget but would love to save as much as I can
Commitments: Working full time 9-5
Dedicated time to study: 4hrs after work and weekends
Timeline: Depends
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None but open to suggestion about FASFA
So I currently have an agriculture degree that’s too niche and been hard for me to find good jobs. I have decided to pivot my career into what I have always wanted (something math related). I have a foreign bachelor and masters and I don’t have much courses I think I can transfer.
Looking for help on how I can get into the degrees mentioned above. I did some search and found the three colleges:
Liberty University: BSc Applied Stats
TESU: BA Mathematics, BSc Data Sc and Analytics
SNHU: BSc Comp Sci – data analysis concentration, BSc Cybersecurity- Data concentration, BSc IT- data analytics concentration, BA Applied Math
Outcome: I hoping to be statistician and also try to take Actuary exams and do a Masters in Stats.
Would appreciate any form of help from how to earn a bachelors faster and cheaper. Attached by courses from previous degrees.
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - bjcheung77 - 04-27-2025
Welcome to the board, great intro post with the attachment, addendum and template details. Have you thought about just doing a Masters instead of going back for a second bachelors? There may be applied Masters programs that are interesting to you, would you go for NA degree in a very similar field or are you only interested in RA?
If you're going the TESU route, you can do a double major, the BACS & Math for the same price, you just need to get the two majors done as your general education and electives are complete, and you'll have some of the requirements for the major done as well. It really depends on what you need, want, and your energy, time to complete them.
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - Stonybeach - 04-27-2025
I was thinking the same thing. Go for a master's!
https://www.stat.purdue.edu/academic_programs/graduate/ms-applied-stats/
https://osuonline.okstate.edu/programs/graduate/applied-statistics-master-of-science.html
https://www.bryant.edu/graduate/graduate-academics/graduate-programs/master-science-actuarial-science
and many more online!
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - Pilotpivot3 - 04-29-2025
(04-27-2025, 09:27 AM)bjcheung77 Wrote: Welcome to the board, great intro post with the attachment, addendum and template details. Have you thought about just doing a Masters instead of going back for a second bachelors? There may be applied Masters programs that are interesting to you, would you go for NA degree in a very similar field or are you only interested in RA?
If you're going the TESU route, you can do a double major, the BACS & Math for the same price, you just need to get the two majors done as your general education and electives are complete, and you'll have some of the requirements for the major done as well. It really depends on what you need, want, and your energy, time to complete them.
Thank @bjcheung77. I had looked into similar Masters program but they want me to have Calc 1-3 and linear algebra. What is RA and NA? I did see another reply on this thread that recommended Purdue Global MSc in Applied Stats and they only want one calc class which can be transferred from Sophia. I'm going to look into that too.
(04-27-2025, 09:48 AM)Stonybeach Wrote: I was thinking the same thing. Go for a master's!
https://www.stat.purdue.edu/academic_programs/graduate/ms-applied-stats/
https://osuonline.okstate.edu/programs/graduate/applied-statistics-master-of-science.html
https://www.bryant.edu/graduate/graduate-academics/graduate-programs/master-science-actuarial-science
and many more online!
Thank you @Stonybeach. I really liked the Purdue recommendation. I was having trouble with the other masters i was seeing they were from colleges that don't accept transfer credits from sophia and i had given up. Purdue only wants one class.
As for actuary masters, i liked them but fear they are too niche. I feel with applied stats its broad at the same time i can do actuary exams and end up in the career.
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - Stonybeach - 04-29-2025
If I read this correctly, you hold a bachelor's and master's degree in agricultural science from a foreign school. You want to earn a second bachelor's degree with a major in statistics. If you go for a Master of Science in statistics, the math pre-requisites vary but usually include calculus, statistics, and often computer programming.
See UND: https://und.edu/programs/applied-statistics-ms/index.html#d74e1234--1
It is very possible you may get accepted into a doctoral program with your foreign master's degree. https://www.gcu.edu/degree-programs/dba-data-analytics-quantitative
If you enjoy agricultural science's educational and leadership aspects, you may consider an Ed.D. in Leadership with a "focus" in business.
https://ace.edu/degree-programs/doctoral-degrees/doctoral-education/doctor-of-education-in-leadership/
RA stands for regionally accredited, and NA stands for nationally accredited.
At first glance, a "foreigner" may consider the NA school to have a higher level of prestige, although many brick-and-mortar, well-established universities are regionally accredited. Accreditation is a big topic, and a discussion on programmatic accreditation is also needed. At a minimum, always check on the US Department of Education website to see if the school you wish to attend holds accreditation! https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home
Secondly, if the program leads to a license or certification, check to see if a nationally recognized organization accredits the program. One must also check with the state where one wants to get licensed to see if the program and license exam fulfill its requirements.
That said, I get the concept of earning a second undergraduate degree. I hold a master's in management and went back for an undergraduate and graduate degree in nursing for a change of pace. I also have a doctorate from an NA-accredited school. My other 5 degrees are from RA-accredited schools. The nursing schools are in RA-accredited universities, but the nursing programs (ASN, BSN, MSN-FNP) are "nationally" CCNE-accredited. https://www.aacnnursing.org/ccne-accreditation
Overview of Accreditation in the United States
https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/higher-education-laws-and-policy/college-accreditation/overview-of-accreditation-united-states
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - Jonathan Whatley - 04-29-2025
(04-29-2025, 08:41 AM)Stonybeach Wrote: If you enjoy the educational and leadership aspects of agricultural science, you may consider an Ed.D. in Leadership with a "focus" in business.
https://ace.edu/degree-programs/doctoral-degrees/doctoral-education/doctor-of-education-in-leadership/
The University of the Cumberlands PhD in Leadership Studies or EdD in Educational Leadership would also be options. In each students choose a content specialty area, and options include Business and Mathematics.
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - bjcheung77 - 04-30-2025
Basically, I would recommend continuing with your current goal of Masters in Applied Math/Stats to become a statistician... I would love to add a doctoral degree, but that would be secondary, after your primary educational goal has been achieved. You can investigate if there are any using the MOOC options from Coursera, Edx, FutureLearn, Upgrad, etc... first, as some institutions would go through these MOOC.
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - ghwang808 - 07-20-2026
I personally think Liberty University is your best bet for bachelor's and master's for stats
RE: Help with choosing Statistics degree - DegreeNerd - 09-26-2026
Maybe consider this masters in analytics, it is crazy affordable:
https://www.coursera.org/degrees/mba-business-analytics-jgu