I'm taking an "online" (distance learning, really) MSc in software engineering here in the UK and it'll cost about $11000 or so all in, so this is especially great value given it's the US.
Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
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Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately, at least for the moment an undergrad degree is a prerequisite. More generally, you have to be admitted to Georgia Tech as would any other graduate student. I think there will be quite a few companies willing to pay $7000 in tuition assistance so their employees can get a MS.
Tech's MSCS is pretty competitive in terms of admissions. I assume this will be somewhat broader in its acceptance?
A large part of the credentialing value of a degree is that the person was skilled enough to be accepted onto the course, if they make entrance less competitive it will likely significantly reduce the market value of the degree in credentialing terms.
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#123This would be more useful to US students than outside students. Although we can get high quality education, in the end people need jobs, may be high paying jobs and H1B is still big hurdle !
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#124This all sounds really great and is definitely a step into the direction to make higher education more accessible - a few side notes (for those getting too excited)
(1) There have been quite a few online learning (aka distance learning) degree courses from reputable universities for some time. For MSc / Master degrees until recently they all required at least some in-person workshops (normally 1 week long - for a MSc in the UK afak 6-8 sometimes 12 weeks over 2 years). These workshops were there for the benefit of the students (networking, group work / access to profs in person, socializing, campus feeling etc.) and various other requirements (e.g. degree requirements). The outcome of these degree programs was normally the same degree that you would have received for taking all courses on campus.
(2) All universities that have offered online degrees without in-person workshops in the past differentiate / protect their higher priced and more strongly access-limited on-campus degrees by providing different degrees - GaTech does the same here - after successfully completing this course you will receive an OMS in CS from GaTech not a MS in CS from GaTech. It is to be seen if this will be received differently in the industry (as this was with such degrees in the past) or we finally are getting to a change here.
(3) The course will start Fall 2014. I would be surprised if EdX and/or Coursera will not soon announce something similar.
(4) From the FaQ it looks like ATT is sponsoring the course creation etc. with US$2M.
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#125http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/faq/ > How much does the degree program cost? We’re not yet ready to announce a specific program cost, but the plan is to offer the Georgia Tech OMS CS for a total cost of under $7,000—a fraction of the cost of Georgia Tech’s on-campus program and even less than that of comparable private universities. > The total workload is the same as the residential program; the weekly or hourly worklo…
Personal anecdote: I just finished an engineering MS from NC State via their Engineering Online ( http://engineeringonline.ncsu.edu ) program. The per-3hr-course cost for EOL courses is roughly $900. For the on campus version of the same thing, it's about $2200. For a 27 credit hour program, that came out to about $8k, which I thought was entirely reasonable given I [as a student local to the school] always had the o…
Could you please help me with more info on the course you did?
If it is a undergrad course, can a non-US resident apply for that?
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, revolutionary. In a way, it costing $7000 (rather than being free or nearly free) goes further in lending it credibility. I do wonder though that still for those who would have trouble affording even that, would FAFSA provide aid/loans? And moreover, is an undergrad degree a pre-requisite? I wonder if college dropouts can enroll in this program.
Unfortunately, at least for the moment an undergrad degree is a prerequisite. More generally, you have to be admitted to Georgia Tech as would any other graduate student. I think there will be quite a few companies willing to pay $7000 in tuition assistance so their employees can get a MS.
> More generally, you have to be admitted to Georgia Tech as would any other graduate student.
I don't think they said that. In the faqs they say you don't need to take the GMAT.... which every graduate student has to take.
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree -- but we can't really know about that until the program's run for a while. I think they made a pretty smart choice starting with a CS degree. The field is notoriously full of extremely talented autodidacts, whether because the material is more amenable to that approach or because those who learn it are more capable of doing so. In any case, the attitude towards educational background in the field of CS/softw…
This course will not help autodidacts, since a BS is required for enrolling.
This degree program doesn't allow people without a BS to get a graduate degree. I think it's wrong to say that having an entire Masters degree program from a highly respected institution online and accessible to everybody, everywhere for free doesn't help autodidacts.
The biggest impact for those who don't qualify for admission may be in advancing the legitimacy of online education, with or without a degree.
As an employer, the difference between an awarded MS and a certificate of completion in this program is not going to be that substantial to me. I'm going to interview both candidates to determine their level of knowledge and skill, and both indicators communicate the same educational background.
I expect a natural outgrowth of this sort of thing will be students providing access to his/her detailed course records as part of their resume. If I'm interested in hiring developers for machine learning applications, being able to read the code from those standardized, well-known assignments would be tremendously more useful in skill assessment than asking somebody to code FizzBuzz on the whiteboard and "riddle me this, batman: why are manhole covers round?"
The "GitHub account as resume" idea is an interesting trend, but they're not standardized and I don't have time to digest 20 unique projects in 20 different languages on 20 different frameworks to ferret out the non-boilerplate bits which may tell me something about the candidate.
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#128This all sounds really great and is definitely a step into the direction to make higher education more accessible - a few side notes (for those getting too excited) (1) There have been quite a few online learning (aka distance learning) degree courses from reputable universities for some time. For MSc / Master degrees until recently they all required at least some in-person workshops (normally 1 week long - for a MSc…
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign had an online Master's in CS as far back as 2001, I believe
you had to drive down to campus for tests, though
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#129Gt alum here. Gt is a great school, but who says that is a forecast of how well an online class will be? Online classes have been around for about a decade now. But i cant see how taking a class online from Georgia Tech aint gonna be different than taking an online class from another university. The benefits of getting a CS degree at a university is gaining that physical connection with the professors. There isn't go…
You have a point, but you are also missing the point. Quite a few people who could benefit from a formal Master's program in CS which is also from a competitive University, may not have the time due to career and family to attend classes full time. But this way they can still get their education
Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech
#130The following is the current admissions requirements from GT for there MSCS. I wonder how well this is going to translate for the OMS.