The academic anxiety of university students taking a course in statistics in a college of education was compared to the academic anxiety of students taking other courses. Results from the study indicated that students in statistics classes had higher levels of debilitative anxiety (p < 0.05) and lower levels of self-efficacy (p < 0.01) than students taking other professional education courses; yet no significant difference was noted for facilitative anxiety. Statistics students with prior course work in statistics demonstrated less anxiety (p < 0.01), more self-reported readiness (p < 0.05), and higher expectations for course success (p < 0.05) than statistics students without prior course experience. Attitudes toward the statistics course and the field of statistics in general did not differ between students with and without prior course work. Strategies of reducing statistics anxiety and increasing academic self-efficacy are discussed.