Digital learning company Coursera, which has over
15 million people around the world taking its massive online open
courses (MOOCs), markets itself to a wide demographic— from curious
middle schoolers to mid-career professionals seeking promotions at work.
The company thinks it can do more to help out the latter.
Coursera yesterday (March 30) announced a new
program that curiously departs from its prior offerings: a MOOC
curriculum that leads to an actual degree. Starting this fall, users
will be able to earn
a computer-science master’s degree in data science from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—whose computer-science graduate program
is ranked fifth in the US—through a series of “stackable” online courses on Coursera’s site.
It’s this “stackability” that’s intriguing. Users
can test out the program by taking some courses for free and earning
specialization certificates. Then, they’ll decide whether they want to
pursue additional classes—which include direct contact with the
university faculty—for the full degree, at a cost of $20,000 (less than
either an on-campus degree or a traditional online degree). There’s no
need to commit to anything from the start, as there is with most
graduate programs physical or digital.
“The
computer-science degree is quite a formidable degree, and students
might be a bit unsure whether they can complete the entire sequence,”
says John Hart, a University of Illinois computer-science professor.
“This program helps people test the waters… It’s part of our plan to
appeal to a wider audience.”
Stackable courses
already exist in some vocational degree programs—but they’re rarely seen
in graduate-level academia. At a time when the worth of an advanced degree is growing ever shakier,
Coursera’s new model might prove appealing both to people looking for
cheaper ways to improve their job prospects and universities looking to
attract more students. It might also appeal to employers, since the flexibility of its online format means workers won’t need to take years off to go back to school.
Coursera’s new program won’t necessarily displace
existing graduate programs, though. While research does show that a
graduate degree in computer science can yield a $30,000 salary bump—and data science has also been dubbed
the “sexiest career of the 21st century”—many employers still like to
see brick-and-mortar degrees over online ones. And, at $20,000,
Coursera’s new program is cheap but not that cheap.
Yet the company is optimistic, and even expects
to launch similar programs in the near future. “There’s a template of
what an online degree is, and people tend to gravitate naturally to it,”
Daphne Koller, Coursera’s president and co-founder, said. “Most people
don’t really think outside the box.” Coursera’s new venture puts it
squarely outside of the lines of traditional education; soon we’ll see
whether any other players decide to follow.
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