Georgia Tech To Offer MOOC-Like Graduate Degrees

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Jeffrey R. Young, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, describes "an unprecedented arrangement " involving MOOCs, those massive open online courses, with Georgia Institute of Technology and AT&T, offering an online master's degree in computer science at an unusually low price.

Georgia Tech will work with Udacity developing the free courses with well-known professors involving video lectures, with computer graded homework assignments. Students who want a degree or credit will apply to the university and pay tuition. At Georgia Tech the fee is $472 per credit; while those in the program will pay $134. The University and Udacity will share revenue.

Some worry that it will lead to fewer faculty and lower quality education; others are worried about partnering with a Silicon Valley company and others were concerned about serving women and minorities. Yet proudly, senior vice-president for human resources at AT&T, talks of embarking on a new era for building a skilled workforce.