Helpful info about Math PhD...? Anyone?

Hello,

I am a new user to this forum and have found some of the posts quite helpful and I am hoping some users may be able to help me out.

I'm contemplating a distance (DL?) PhD program, but I have been unable to find a school which offers what I am looking for.

Some background, I'm a high school math teacher with graduate and undergraduate degrees in mathematics education and mathematics, respectively. Teaching high school students consumes most of my time, but I am sincerely interested in obtaining further education.

Ok, so I have used the school search tool of this website and it returned some schools which offer PhD degrees, but they are not located in the USA. FWIW, they are in South Africa and Australia......

These schools seem ok, but I'd really like to find something in the USA if possible. The only school which I've come across that offers something even remotely close to what I'm looking for is Walden University with its PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences, specialization in Operations Research. Sadly, its pricetag is really a boot-to-the-head. I honestly didn't figure distance education to be so much more than traditional schools.

Anyway.... I would appreciate any comments or suggestions to additional schools which may offer (via distance education) a PhD in Mathematics, Mathematics Education, or Mathematical Sciences...

Thanks in advance.

 

I think I can safely say it's currently impossible to do a US-based, distance PhD in pure math. Doing one would be pretty darn difficult, it seems to me. Most need a fair amount of hand holding and a very helpful advisor to get to the point of doing math research. I for one, wouldn't want to try doing it at a distance. Neverthless, I commend your initiative.

My understanding is that the foreign-based possibilities require finding an advisor to sponsor your research, and then setting up some kind of schedule as far as on-campus meetings. The foreign schools seemd to be more amendable to this kind of thing, but I think it's mostly done on a case by case basis. I think most would want a prospective student to have a masters already, and to be at the point of doing serious research, but I may be wrong about this.

There are some engineering-based PhD's available. I believe Colorado State has one in Industrial Engineeing (I believe Mike Albrecht, a poster on this site, is in this program; try the search feature.). I also think there may be a couple of Math Education doctorates available (readers?).

To make matters worse, I don't think you can do a pure math masters via DL in this country. There are a few statistics masters (Colorado State, RIT), and math-teaching masters (Texas A&M and Idaho), but not pure math.

I guess we're talking about a thin market for this.

 

Well, you're almost right. There are some UK degree programs around (Kent, Wales, Bradford) but for the most part you're correct. (Don't forget Union - although the price tag is pretty big). I think that the critical issue is: what do you want this degree to do for you. You're a high school teacher now. Are you hoping that this next degree will catapult you into the realm of college teaching? Don't hold your breath. If you're going to remain a high school teacher, it won't matter if your PhD is from ZA or OZ. Are you interested in the education? The pay raise? The promotion? The job shift? Your answer determines your course of action.
Jack

 

You probably have two choices, go for an Ed.D at one of several schools or try Union Insitute and develop your own program.

There is one other possibility, if you check most doctoral programs in the US the courses invloved are not vary different from the masters degree courses (often just one or two additional research tool courses). Contact a school that has a good DL masters in math and check with the professors on doing it as a PhD. It is possible as, but not generally advertised.

 

I notice you're from the Washington D.C. area. If you're willing to drop the DL requirement, and attend evening classes on campus, I'd suggest looking at the Operations Research program at George Mason University (a concentration in their Information Technology Ph.D. program). The cost is really reasonable if you're a VA resident. It also has an excellent reputation.

Todd

 

Pure Math Ph.D. not practical

Keep in mind that a Ph.D. in pure math is practically impossible to do for the following reasons:

1. Must practically invent a new math

2. Because of the nature of very high level of abstract thinking you need to be in lectures by the gods and being mentored by the gods of math.

3. Since there are few PH.D.'s in pure math in constrast to other doctorates, these guys probably live in the sky and don't want to hassle teaching esoteric stuff without face to face with another genius. Pure Math Ph.D.'s are very unique persons... ussually not very social or partying type since they have to visit other planets on the regular basis!

4. Research facilities or Pure Math libraries, in my opinion, don't lend themselves to being "online."

Unless you are a genius, you may spend the rest of your life trying to do that seminal dissertation needed for pure math.

Just my two cents...

 

If you are interested in "true" math (mot math education), start with the following math departments that offer doctorets within 2 hours of DC.

Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
The George Washington University
Washington, DC
Howard University
Washington, DC
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
University of Delaware
Newark, DE
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA

Alternatively these math ed programs that offer a doctorate (same radius).

American University
Washington, DC
Arcadia University
Glenside, PA
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Morgan State University
Baltimore, MD
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Widener University
Chester, PA

 

Re: Pure Math Ph.D. not practical

Having spent some time in a grad math department, I mostly agree with BlackBird. Not all are geniuses, but it (a PhD) is very much a way of life at that level. It's hard to see doing it DL. Any US school is still going to require passing qualifying exams and orals. As weird as the environment can be in a math department, much of the success depends on interacting with other students and professors - trying to get ideas, bouncing ideas of of others, and getting help when stuck. Again, it seems doing this DL makes it harder, not easier.

I agree with Mike that the best solution may be trying to get in to a local math department, and possibly working at it part time (if they let you).