Udacity is collaborating with Georgia Tech and sponsor AT&T to offer an MSc in Computer Science. The degree is being offered “at an affordable price and individual courses will also be available for students to take for free or for individual certification”. The ‘affordable’ number, reported to be under $7,000 US total, deviates from the present MOOC practice of offering all courses free. The net cost to learners is substantially lower than the minimum $27,000 per year it costs out-of-state students per year of study. It will be interesting to see how learners respond to this latest twist in Udacity’s business model.
Expect some controversy about the validity of the degree and platform, but the program is well worth considering. After all, Udacity has the knowledge and experience, they have been actively building on the success of the 2011 Stanford Computer Science MOOC that put xMOOCs on the map and until recently, money hasn’t been a bar to excellence.
The big question in all this is whether online learners will be willing to take the risk. $7,000 is still a lot of money and there are no guarantees the degree will net the recipient the same respect as that grad who actually walked on campus.
See ‘Udacity Shifts Business Model’
What are your thoughts?
Related articles
- Georgia Tech Announces Massive Online Master’s Degree in Computer Science (prnewswire.com)
- Georgia Tech Offering $7K Master’s Degree (newser.com)
- Sebastian Thrun: Announcing Online Masters Degree in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech and AT&T (udacity.com)
- Get A Full Master’s Degree in Computer Science for $6K (collegenet.com)
All Things Moocable 
Wouldn’t it be nice to see a model that is pay what you can? As this movement grows, I am sure a method of authenticating the quality of the education and participation will emerge as well. I am excited.
Hi Katherine! It is exciting isn’t it? I firmly believe that with both educators and learners working together, much can be accomplished. Thanks for stopping in!