Cheap, Flexible, Name-Brand Master's in Statistics?

Hi there. I haven't posted here for about a year, and since then I've taken an LSU math course and a couple of data mining courses at Central Connecticut State. But I don't feel like I've gotten much closer to my degree goal, and I wanted to get some feedback from the experts.

Here's the holy grail:

1. a master's in statistics, data analysis, applied math, or something along those lines
2. with enough flexibility to create at least some courses around my own interests
3. with the ability to get some credits for work I've already done and credentials I've already earned
4. without spending a fortune
5. from an institution with a name that people recognize (nothing that sounds too fly-by-night).

I'm really enjoying the data mining courses at CCSU. The problem is items 3, 4 and probably 2. It's about $500 per credit when you figure in all the fees (which seems like a lot to me, though maybe it's par for the course), and there doesn't seem to be much flexibility. (Or at least I can't seem to get a solid answer.)

Anything outside the defined coursework program appears to be verboten. For instance, Perl is widely used as a data capture and parsing language, but there doesn't appear to be any way that I can learn Perl for credit (even if I teach myself and pay for the credits). Also, we're using an SPSS software package that is virtually unheard of in the real world, where SAS is the standard. Not a big deal, but I wish there were a way to learn SAS for credit. In short, the program is narrowly defined and one-size-fits all. And expensive!

LSU is great - $70 per credit - but of course there's no program, just courses, and fairly limited courses at that. I'm using LSU for prerquisites.

I know that some people here suggested Excelsior, but that violates my requirement No. 5. Yes, it's accredited. It just sounds ridiculous. Why did they change their name? USNY was close enough to SUNY so that most people would not have questioned it. But Excelsior? Please.

Are requirements 1-5 an impossible quest? I'd appreciate some feedback.

Thanks.

Dan Armstrong

 

OK, you want fries with that? Supersize?
I typically think that "cheap" and "name-brand" are somewhat contradictory but if you just want it to sound like a real school then that's probably not too much to ask. The flexibility part may be the hardest of all because most Masters programs that I'm familiar with are quite structured with only a couple of opportunities for electives and even these electives are drawn from a fairly short list. In any case, here's the list I've got:
Macquarie U
Monash U
Murdoch U
U of Melbourne
U of New England
(wow, what's with all these Australian schools?)
Colorado State U
and, of course, UNISA
Good luck,
Jack

 

Continuing the Australian theme, U. Newcastle also has a Master's program. Charles Sturt has a graduate certificate in Biometrics - I don't know whether this can be expanded into a Master's. USQ has a Master of Science (Professional Mathematics/Statistics).

Possibilities in the U.S. are Colorado State and Rochester Inst. Tech.

 

See Colorado State and Rochester Inst. of Technology. Also Georgia Tech has a Statistics option through their OR degree (or at least they used to). However, all of these options are fairly expensive.

Also, don't fret, SPSS is very well known, and is still used extensively.

Also check out this recent thread.

http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14653

 

For 1, 2 & 5 try:
http://www.csu2learn.colostate.edu/degrees/statistics.asp