College of Science
Department Office: 233 John Widtsoe Building
Mailing Address: 155 S. 1400 E. Rm 233, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090
Phone: 801-581-6851
Web Address: www.math.utah.edu
Chair: Tommaso de Fernex, Ph.D.
Associate Chair (Student Affairs & Scheduling): Peter Alfeld, Ph.D.
Associate Chair (Faculty Affairs): Christel Hohenegger, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Advisors: advisor@math.utah.edu
Graduate Advisor: grad-info@math.utah.edu
Placement and Prerequisites
Initial enrollment in the sixteen entry-level mathematics courses is by informed self-placement. Students who do not have ACT/SAT scores to use for reference are encouraged to take the Accuplacer math placement exam. There is no cost the first time a student takes the Accuplacer. Other information that will be helpful in deciding which math course to start with is on the Math Informed Self Placement page. Prerequisites are strictly enforced for all math courses other than the sixteen entry-level math courses.
Students in majors with no special math requirement will typically take MATH 1030, MATH 1035 or MATH 1040 in order to fill the QL general education math requirement. Students in Business often take courses in the Math 980 - Math 1090 - Math 1100 sequence. Students in majors that require Math 1050 or higher will take courses in the Math 980 - Math 1010 - (Math 1050 and 1060) or Math 1080 - Calculus sequence. All students should speak with an academic advisor to be sure that they are sequencing their math courses correctly.
Students with AP, IB, or CLEP scores should visit the Prior Learning Credits page for information on how these exam scores correspond to courses and credits at the University of Utah.
Undergraduate Program
To become a mathematics major one must have an interest in and talent for mathematics. There are no special departmental admission requirements. Mathematics majors must earn a grade of C or better in all required mathematics courses. Mathematics Teaching majors must earn a grade of C+ or better in all required mathematics courses.
Mathematics majors take Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, and Foundations of Analysis. Students (other than teaching majors) then choose, in consultation with the departmental advisor or a departmental mentor, elective courses in mathematics. The allowed choices depend on the emphasis chosen. Please see the links below for detailed information on the requirements/electives for each program.
Bioinformatics major take calculus, statistics, linear algebra, basic and cell biology, genetics, and genomics (including laboratory hours), general, organic, and biological chemistry, and programming classes. They then choose from an approved list of elective courses.
Allied course requirements are typically physics and computing courses. Majors whose emphasis is statistics replace the physics requirement with two approved courses offered by other departments.
Graduation Requirements
There are additional requirements for this degree. Please see the program pages for more information.
Combined BS/MS Program
Undergraduate math majors who would like to be admitted to the combined BS/MS program must apply during their junior year. To be eligible for the program a student must have maintained a 3.5 GPA overall and in their major (which must be mathematics), and indications must be that the student will successfully satisfy the requirements for both the Bachelor's and Master's degrees within two years after beginning the program. Interested students must apply to the department's graduate program and submit a detailed program of study that has been prepared with the help of the student's advisor(s). Students must also submit a graduate application to the admissions office. Students wishing to participate in this program are strongly encouraged to participate in research early in their program of study. Transfer students may be considered for the program only after completing 24 hours of coursework at the University of Utah. For more information please contact our Graduate Program Coordinator.
Graduate Program
Areas of Specialization
Algebraic Geometry
Algebraic Number Theory
Applied Mathematics
Commutative Algebra
Data Science and Machine Learning
Differential Equations
Ergodic Theory
Geometry/Topology
Materials and Fluids
Mathematical Biology
Number Theory
Numerical Analysis
Optimization and Inversion
Probability
Representation Theory
Statistics
Admission Requirements
There are additional admission requirements for these degrees. Please see the program pages for more information.