Ph.D. Program

The Department of Mathematics at UCCS offers a curriculum leading to a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics, which is part of the university's Applied Science program. For more information on this graduate program, please contact the department's Graduate Chair. Please refer to the research page for the primary research interests of the department faculty.

The admission criteria include but are NOT limited to the following requirements. Decisions regarding admission are made by the Graduate Committee on an individual basis, after taking into consideration the application materials and supporting documents. Promising students who do not meet all of the admission requirements may be considered for provisional admission.

• Must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. Applicants with degrees in fields other than mathematics (e.g., biological sciences, physics, engineering) should have mathematical preparation comparable to that provided be a baccalaureate in mathematics.
• Must have an undergraduate Math GPA of at least 3.00. ("A" is equivalent to 4.0.)
• Must submit GRE General Test scores, from the most recent test, taken within the last 2 years. A percentile of 80 or higher is recommended on the Quantitative Reasoning portion.
• International applicants must demonstrate English language proficiency and submit additional documentation, as specified on the Applications page.

See also the admission requirements of the Graduate School.

Please visit the Applications page to apply.

A limited number of scholarships are available each year from the Department of Mathematics to provide financial support to students enrolled in the Ph.D. program. These scholarships are awarded based on the merit as well as the financial need of the applicants.

• Ph.D. Financial Support Application (Graduate Teaching Fellowship)

Students transferring into the program with graduate work or a Master's degree in an appropriate discipline must satisfy the admissions requirements above. Graduate-level courses completed outside UCCS prior to admission may be transferable into the program. Normally, transfer credits will not exceed 25% of the total required credit hours. In unusual circumstances, applicants may request a review of their records to determine whether additional credits may be transferred. Decisions regarding transfer of graduate credits are made by the Graduate Chair, and are subject to the regulations of the UCCS Graduate School.

• Students must satisfy coursework, examination, and dissertation requirements.
• The total hours of graduate coursework and dissertation work applied to the degree must be 60. This total may include coursework applied toward a Master's degree.
• A minimum of 30 hours of dissertation work must be completed.
• A minimum of 30 hours of graduate coursework must be completed, including: Linear Algebra I (MATH 5130), Modern Analysis II (MATH 5320), 3 two-semester sequences of core courses (see below), and 2 additional courses at the 5000/6000 level.
• Independent study may not exceed 25% of the minimum number of hours required for the degree.

Each Ph.D. student must take a two-semester course sequence in three of the following areas.

• Complex Analysis (MATH 6610 and 6620)
• Applied Differential Equations (MATH 5430 and 6440)
• Probability (MATH 6910 and 6920)
• Real Analysis (MATH 6330 and 6350)
• Ring Theory (MATH 6170 and 6180)
• Scientific Computation (MATH 5670 and 6680)

• Students in the Ph.D. program normally take two written preliminary examinations and two written comprehensive examinations.
• These examinations are closely linked to the content of graduate courses, but they have distinct content descriptions, and may require independent study of material not covered in the courses.
• The preliminary examinations cover real analysis and linear algebra at the Master's degree level. The Graduate Committee will review the performance on the preliminary examinations to determine if the student may move forward in the Ph.D. program. At the discretion of the Graduate Committee, the required preliminary examinations may be waived for students entering the graduate program with a Master's degree, or with a comparable level of preparation.
• The two Ph.D. comprehensive examinations each cover material corresponding to one of the three required Ph.D. core sequences. Additional information can be found here.
• Copies of preliminary and comprehensive exams from prior years can be found on the Ph.D. Exams page.
• Normally, students will have at most two attempts to pass each comprehensive exam, and may attempt exams in no more than three distinct core subject areas. Exceptions must be approved by the Graduate Committee.
• There will be an oral dissertation proposal examination administered by the dissertation advisory committee to determine if the dissertation topic is appropriate, and if the student is adequately prepared for work on the dissertation.
• After the dissertation has been accepted by the dissertation advisor, a final oral dissertation defense examination will be conducted by the dissertation advisory committee.