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Statistical Software

Different courses will require students to have access to different statistical software packages for the entire length of the course. Check the course syllabus as soon as you can to see which application is required. Various licenses can be obtained directly from the company web sites. Also, certain software can be obtained through the Software at Penn State at the educational discounted prices. (Please note: due to Federal export laws, statistical software packages can not be shipped by Software at Penn State to students living outside of the United States at this time.)

The information below is the latest that we have regarding these applications. Be certain to always check with the company's web site as there are often changes or updates to these products.

STUDENTS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO ORDER AND/OR INSTALL REQUIRED STATISTICAL SOFTWARE PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF CLASSES.

 

Minitab

Information about Minitab software

Official Site:

Technical Requirements:

This software runs on Chrome, Chromium Edge, or Safari. At this time, Firefox is not supported.

Review the minimum requirements from the Minitab - System Requirements page.

Available:

Minitab is available online through Software at Penn State / OnTheHub.



See: How do I access the Minitab Web App?

Quick Tutorial:

Introduction to Minitab

 

SAS

Information about SAS software

Official Site:

Technical Requirements:

Please note: This is a Windows only product.

System Requirements for SAS®

Always check the most recent information about the supported operating environments for SAS:

https://support.sas.com/supportos/list

A Note to macOS users. You could attempt to use a macOS computer and Virtual PC software to run SAS. However, SAS does not guarantee the outcome. You are, therefore, strongly discouraged from using anything but a Windows PC for this software.

Available:

SAS Windows License & Media

Please Note: This software will not run on Windows Basic edition, you must have a Pro, Ultimate, Education, or Enterprise edition to use this software.

From the Software @ Penn State: "One license per machine. Expires annually in June, but will run for another 90-day grace period after June 30th. Customers buying the downloadable version please be aware that this is an extremely large file (27GB), if you have a slow internet connection you will want to buy the USB flash drive. We only recommend purchasing the digital download if you do not live in the continental US and are unable to purchase the USB flash drive. There are NO REFUNDS on this product."

Software at Penn State

Quick Tutorials:

Introduction to SAS

WebLabs - Accessing Statistical Software Remotely (NOTE: Review this page. WebLabs function differently than a locally installed application and versions may differ! Check with your instructor to see if this is permissible for your course.)

Note: Students using a psu.edu email address AND who have purchased a current license for SAS from Software @ Penn State are entitled to access free SAS eLearning modules: (More Information).

 

R

Information about R software

Official Site:
Technical Requirements:

This is an open source product available for a variety of computing platforms.

R for Mac OS X FAQ

R for Windows FAQ

Available:

Download for free at: https://www.r-project.org/

Quick Tutorial: Introduction to R

 

SPSS

 

Information about SPSS software

Official Site:
Technical Requirements:

Please note: This product runs on both macOS and Windows.

Always check the most recent information about the supported operating environments for SPSS, see:

https://www.ibm.com/products/spss-statistics/support

Available:

IBM® SPSS® GradPack Base or IBM® SPSS® Statistics GradPack Base for Mac

Available through various re-sellers such as OnTheHub for 6- and 12-month rental periods.

https://www.onthehub.com/spss/

Quick Tutorial: Introduction to SPSS

The general technical requirements for the online learning courses match or exceed the technical requirements for any of the statistical packages listed above. In other words, if you meet the minimum technical requirements to enroll in an online course, then you should also have the required specifications to download and run these programs.

Help & Support

Visit: https://science.psu.edu/stat/education/help