The mission of the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics is to foster excellence in mathematical research and to offer a strong undergraduate and graduate education that will prepare students for stimulating and rewarding employment, career and lifelong learning opportunities. In addition, the department strives to help all VCU students achieve a level of quantitative literacy and analytical skills enabling them to deal effectively with the quantitative issues that they will encounter throughout their lives.

The program offers maximum flexibility by allowing students, in consultation with their graduate committees, to design a course of study that will best develop competence in those areas most relevant to their scholarly and professional objectives. Students may obtain a designation on their transcripts indicating that their graduate study has emphasized the applied mathematics concentration by completing the requirements that are listed here. A student who has not satisfied the requirements for one of the program concentrations offered, but who has otherwise fulfilled all the requirements for a master’s degree, will be awarded a degree of Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences without any specialization.

• Students will develop creative-thinking skills to apply to mathematical problems and proofs.
• Students will be able to analyze mathematical arguments and write their own arguments and proofs.
• Students will be able to read and interpret mathematical literature including technical articles within their chosen mathematical subfield.
• Students will be able to use technology, including specialized computational and graphics software, to test the validity of certain conjectures, to solve problems, to conduct mathematical experiments and do mathematical research.