MA, Mathematics

Degree Program Summary:

The Department of Mathematics has one of the highest ranked mathematics graduate programs in the southeast. It is also one of the largest departments at UGA. The Department of Mathematics offers four graduate degrees: Master of Arts (MA), Master of Arts Non-Thesis (MA), Master of Applied Mathematical Science (MAMS), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The Department of Mathematics is in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. It is located in Boyd Graduate Studies Research Center which is situated adjacent to the Science Library on UGA’s south campus. The department offers instruction and research training in the areas of algebra; analysis; applied mathematics; ordinary, partial, and stochastic differential equations; algebraic, differential, and integral geometry; mathematical physics; number theory; numerical analysis; probability and stochastic processes; and topology. Financial aid in the form of assistantships is available to students admitted into the graduate program. This support will be continued for up to six years (five years for students admitted with a Masters degree), as long as the student makes timely progress and maintains a satisfactory academic record.

The purpose of the MA program in mathematics is to offer students who hold a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics an opportunity to broaden their knowledge in several areas of mathematics and its applications. The MA program trains students for careers outside the standard research university environment. This program will prepare a student for teaching at junior colleges or for careers in business, government, or industry. An inadequately prepared PhD applicant may be admitted to the MA program with the possibility of transferring later to the PhD program if he or she makes sufficient progress.

Candidates for the MA Degree with Thesis take 30 credit hours of mathematics-related coursework and write a thesis. It is desirable that the thesis should present original research. However, the thesis may be expository in nature in which case it should be a synthesis of several research articles and books. Candidates must also demonstrate knowledge of one foreign language.