In partnership with AT&T and online education leader Udacity, Georgia Tech’s College of Computing is offering the first professional master’s of science degree in computer science that can be earned through the “massive open online” format.
All content will be delivered via the MOOC course format, with enhanced support services for students enrolled in the degree program. Those students also will pay a fraction of the cost of traditional, on-campus master’s programs; total tuition is expected to be below $7,000. A pilot version, partly supported by a gift from AT&T, will begin this fall. Initial enrollment will be limited to a few hundred students recruited from AT&T and other Georgia Tech corporate affiliates. Initial enrollment will be limited to a few hundred students per course and is expected to expand gradually over the next three years.
The program has earned widespread attention, featured in a speech by President Barack Obama and in a front-page article in The New York Times.
“Georgia Tech’s vision is to define the technological research university of the 21st century. We will explore technologies and instructional approaches that will improve our role as a leading provider of the best and most effective education in the state of Georgia, the nation and the world,” said Rafael L. Bras, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Georgia Tech.
The Institute has been involved in online education for more than 30 years and in the past year has taken a national leadership role in massive open online courses. This is only the latest expansion in Tech’s online offerings.
“We are thrilled to be able to join with Udacity and AT&T in taking this bold next step,” Bras said. “We are proud of the visionary role of Dean Zvi Galil in the creation of this degree offering from our nationally renowned College of Computing.”
The degree could help address the nation’s growing shortage of qualified workers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, one of the primary reasons AT&T decided to lend its financial support. The company also supports vastly expanding the accessibility to and lowering the cost of quality education.
“The OMS CS will set a new agenda for higher education—real, rigorous and marketable graduate education in computer science will now be available to tens, even hundreds of thousands of additional students around the world,” Galil said. “Computing is the catalytic field of the 21st century. Now we could potentially double the number of trained computing professionals worldwide in as little as a decade.”
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Hi Richard: I recently read your comments about the WSJ article. I agree with some of your thoughts on the unintended economic consequences, as well as the quality of the courses if not wisely administered. This article in the GA TECH Alumni Magazine was reassuring to me in those respects. Thought that you might find it of interest. It appears that they are aware of many of your concerns as they conduct this early phase work. It will be interesting to see what the future holds! There is no question that we have a national interest in training more “computing professionals.”
Wish that you and Harold could discuss some of your respective efforts in online educational pursuits. I will send you another message with his email address, and some nominal references as to how the Internet has changed his work environment!