Communications of the ACM
The $7,000 Computer Science Degree and the Future of Higher Education
Credit: TechnoBuffalo
In response to growing concern about the average debt load of new college grads, Georgia Tech is rolling out an alternative program that makes it possible for students to earn a three-year master's degree in computer science entirely online — and for less than $7,000. The university is partnering with Udacity, a for-profit provider of MOOC education, and AT&T, which is contributing $2 million and will provide connectivity tools and services. The goal of the new Georgia Tech program is to establish corporate acceptance of high quality and 100% online degrees as being on par with degrees received in traditional on-campus settings.
This isn't academia's first foray into offerings that promise some combination of low cost and high-tech education, but it's the first that industry observers say has the potential to shake up the status quo. Georgia Tech's announcement is a potential game changer that will have other top-tier universities that offer degrees in computer science scrambling to compete. The price is a key factor in that. MOOCs are typically open and free, unless you want to attach any type of assessment, credentialing, or professional certification to them. Compare that to the average cost of an online computer science master's degree program, which is just under $25,000. Georgia Tech undercuts that average by more than two-thirds.
From Time
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