Admission Requirements
To be admitted for a graduate degree, students are expected to satisfy the Graduate School's general requirements for admission, as stated in the "Academic Policies" section of the Graduate School catalog. In support of the application, each applicant must submit scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical portions of the Graduate Record Examination; the advanced portion is desirable but not required.
Degree Requirements
Masters of Arts- Each student's program for the master's degree must be approved by the department. Students may choose to specialize in applied mathematics, pure mathematics, or a combination of both. A total of 30 hours of graduate work is required to obtain a Master's degree in Mathematics.
Candidates for the Master's degree may choose either of two plans. One plan (Plan I) requires successful completion of 24 semester hours of course work, plus a thesis. The other plan (Plan II) requires no thesis, but requires successful completion of 27 semester hours of course work plus 3 semester hours of work devoted to a project supervised by a member of the graduate faculty in Mathematics. At least 21 of the course hours must be taken in Mathematics; courses in related areas, such as physics, finance, or computer science, may be taken with the approval of the Graduate Advisory Committee. An oral examination is required for the completion of the degree.
Candidates for the Master's degree must complete three of the following four core courses: MATH 510 (Numerical Linear Algebra), MATH 532 (Graph Theory and Applications), MATH 580 (Real Analysis I), MATH 585 (Introduction to Complex Analysis).
Doctor of Philosophy- The student's program for the Ph.D. degree in mathematics must be approved by the department. Ph.D. students in mathematics normally take 3 two-course sequences in mathematics. A total of at least 48 hours of coursework is required. Dissertations for the Ph.D. degree in mathematics can be written in any one of several areas approved by the department. A total of at least 24 hours of dissertation research must be taken. Before officially becoming a Ph.D. candidate, the student must pass a qualifying examination in two areas of mathematics within three years of becoming a full-time graduate student. One of the passes obtained should normally be in the area of the dissertation.
The Ph.D. degree in applied mathematics is a joint program with the UA system campuses in Birmingham and Huntsville. Admission to the program is by passing the joint program examination in linear algebra, numerical linear algebra, and real analysis. Each program of study requires a minimum of 54 semester hours of coursework approved by the student's joint graduate study supervisory committee. Those hours must include a major area concentration consisting of at least six courses in addition to the courses needed to prepare for the joint program examination, and an application minor consisting of at least four related graduate courses in some area outside the department. Before officially becoming a Ph.D. candidate, a student must pass the comprehensive qualifying examination that covers the entire program of study. Neither the joint program examination nor the comprehensive qualifying examination can be taken more than twice.
