This article has four main sections. Section 2 summarizes the state of academic mathematics and statistics and argues that, in most institutions, the two disciplines need each other. It would repeat false starts from the past to think primarily of statistics departments, or even of large research universities more generally. I believe that growth of undergraduate statistics programs in other institutions will generally require the cooperation of the mathematics department, and that mathematics may be ready for more cooperation. Section 3 presents some market research--data on trends that ought to influence our thinking about statistics for undergraduates. Section 4 offers some cautionary findings from research in mathematics education. The unifying theme of these three sections is the need for realism in discussing programs for undergraduates.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education