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http://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 workload depends on how quickly students wish to complete the program.

This is revolutionary.

Not only is it much cheaper, the incentives are now back in alignment. I know plenty of people that could graduate much faster and get on with their lives - The schools on the other hand, want them to stay longer (and thus pay more).

This removes the nickel and dime element and all kinds of backwards tedium.

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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 option of taking advantage of campus facilities/options (libraries/labs, office hours, study groups, etc), too. An added perk was -- as the GT FAQ notes -- the ability to work at my leisure. With a full time job and two toddlers, it took me almost four years to complete the program, but I did and it was a fantastic experience.

<edit> To address a question below about GT's program, NC State's is practically equivalent to their campus-based stuff. You apply, and are admitted, following exactly the same process as everyone else. After admission, you follow the same rules and processes as everyone else. The one exception I've found -- besides making it easier to study part time and draw out the total duration -- is that professors are usually much more lenient with deadlines for their online students. They know a large percentage of online students are doing it that way because they're working full time (or are deployed military, or any of a plethora of other situations), and they offer a lot of leeway. This helped me & my peers quite a lot.

To emphasise the point about the distance education program being equivalent, some 'on-campus' students who can't get into a class because it's full often take the distance ed class (which is often simultaneously recorded).

As far as I know, they have the exact same work.

To address a question below about GT's program, NC State's is practically equivalent to their campus-based stuff.

Out of curiosity, how does this work with project-based courses where the students design their own projects? Or do those not exist?

At least in the kinds of CS masters projects I'm familiar with, they tend to require a lot of one-on-one meeting time, which seems like it would be hard to scale up. It's certainly possible to do online, so online vs. physical isn't really an issue. But if one of the goals of offering these programs online is also to massively increase student:teacher ratio (as GT seems to be indicating), that seems like it would present a problem for individualized projects.

A typical arrangement is that students propose a project, possibly based on some suggestions from the professor. In the ideal case it intersects students' interests with something active going on in the research world or even the professor's lab, so the students and professor might even co-write a conference paper at the end of the course (for the best projects). They meet with the professor a few times to refine the project idea and scope so it's appropriate for the course, likely to be doable, etc. Then they meet a few more times during the project to ensure they're on track, agree on what parts could be cut if time doesn't allow them to be completed as originally envisioned, etc. Finally they do an oral, conference-style presentation of their work/results, and then hand in a report.

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?

Interesting. I'm also doing an EOL degree from NC State (but an MCS). I'm nearly halfway through. I agree on the deadline thing. A couple weeks ago I asked for an extension due to family medical issues (never done this before) and the professor was very accommodating.

The biggest pain has been exam proctoring. It seems to all be done by hand (exams being emailed/faxed back and forth) and I've experienced every point of failure in the system. And strangely the professors always refuse to tell us when the exam windows are... haven't figure that one out yet.

I assume the differentiating factor here is the quality of the courses, Georgia Tech is ranked in top 10 for CS grad school. Also your tuition was low due to the fact that you were an in state student, out of state tuition is much more expensive.

How do you like the program? I tried Nova Southeastern Online masters just for one course and it was horrible quality. Do you think the program was worth your time?

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.

Tech's MSCS is pretty competitive in terms of admissions. I assume this will be somewhat broader in its acceptance?

Well, there's no real scarcity of teaching faculty and other resources in a MOOC format, so that pressure will be removed. But I don't know how the standards will be set. I'm not sure Georgia Tech knows that yet, either.

According to http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/14/georgia-tech-a...:

> Georgia Tech said it does not plan to lower admission standards to find 6,000 or so students for this track -- a number than is 20 times larger than its current computer science master’s degree program. Instead, Georgia Tech hopes to attract more qualified applicants from across the world, including inside the military and at companies – places that harbor nontraditional students who could not previously come to a traditional campus or find the money for a full degree, on campus or online.

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.

True but some degree of selectivity must be related to capacity rather than qualification. They probably have an abundance of applicants with enough skills to get through the program but their capacity forces them to be even more selective than that. Those are the people that would likely be well served by this program.

Except no GRE, which is removing another unnecessary barrier to entry. The admissions process also seems to be an effort-based process of testing out of some initial curriculum. Much better than studying for a standardized test.

> 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.

I think the GMAT is only required for MBA programs. When I was admitted to Georgia Tech as an Aerospace Engineering graduate student in 1992, I didn't need the GMAT, just the GRE.

Ah, I stand corrected.

You're right -- that was phrased ambiguously. I should have said "there will be an admissions process similar to that for the non-online MS CS". I don't know what the exact requirements will be.

Well, they also plan to offer certificates, I assume based on the same program, which they say will cost substantially less.

And the materials themselves will be free, like a regular Udacity class.

As a non-CS grad, could I really get an MS in CS from doing an online class? Seems pretty insane, but something I might consider for 7k.

Yes. Maybe you'd have to take some remedial courses first though. SNHU offers B.S. in CS online. http://www.snhu.edu/

There is nothing in CS that requires your physical presence in a lecture hall to learn.

I would worry about the legitimacy of any MS in CS program that did not make someone without a CS undergrad degree take significant remedial coursework.

In my experience, at least with average state schools, their MS in CS curriculum is--to a degree--a rehash of their undergraduate curriculum. Often times they'll just assign more work, or slightly harder work. I'm sure it depends on the program, but many programs seem to assume that even if a candidate comes into the program with a BS in CS, they'll have to have their memory "refreshed" to a significant degree.

Also, there is an element of selection bias. Those who are likely to apply to an MS in Computer Science self-select according to their perception of the requirements of those programs. This enables programs to capture those without a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science but who still have the level of motivation, acumen, and interest necessary to succeed in an MS program in Computer Science.

That is interesting- My masters program in Software Engineering was not like this. I remember a guy with an electrical engineering BS complaining he had like 16-18 remedial C-S credits to take before he could enter the MSE program.

"Formal admission into the OMS CS program will require a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from an accredited institution, or a related Bachelor of Science degree with a possible need to take and pass remedial courses." -- http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/faq/

Having never done an MS in CS...

So long as they know the fundamentals of programming (through, say, the equivalent a Data Structures class) I think a mathematician could take a go at it without much issue. An EE probably wouldn't have too much trouble either.

All I find is a BS in IT, with a concentration in software development. And the IT department is under the School of Business. It doesn't look like they actually offer any computer science courses.

Yep, I looked and discovered the same thing; it isn't a 'pure' CS program. I've discovered lots of these IT programs masquerading as CS programs - it's disappointing, to say the least. I'm really interested in pursuing an undergraduate level degree in CS (I have a liberal arts degree from a Top 15 US school, working full time, but if I could have done everything over, I would have done CS).

In my search thus far, I've found zero schools that offer a traditional undergrad CS program online. And please, before we get into the 'you can learn most of undergrad level CS topics online' - I would like the structure and support from an online, instructor led course that offers student assistance/office-hours. This is something I'd pay for, but because I'm working full time, I can't take classes during the workday.

Regis University offers an online BS in CS. I don't think it is a top 15 school, but it is ABET accredited. The only problem is tuition is $410 a credit hour, so they estimate a total cost of anywhere from 10k to 50k. http://regis.edu/CPS/Academics/Degrees-and-Programs/Undergra...

awesome find, thank you! Yes, it's a bit pricey but...I expected that. I think $15-20K is reasonable, provided students receive instructor support.

Florida State University offers an online BS in CS - http://distance.fsu.edu/students/online-programs?prog_id=177 and it's actually a CS program rather than a glorified IT program.

Generally, 2-way interaction is done via message board, but most (maybe all?) of the instructors I've had so far keep specific office hours and available are for web chat or telephone calls during those hours.

Any of the prereqs that you're missing could potentially be taken as a transient at another institution (be it locally, or online). This is how I've handled the few classes I was missing.

Based on the rates listed on the page linked above, it should be around $25k for the whole thing (based on needing 60 credits of upper-division classes, since you already have a Bachelor's), even as a non-resident.

katholieke universiteit leuven offers a masters course in AI for about EUR 5000, on campus. I checked with them in Jan of 2012. I then asked the professor if this was for students of Belgium and what is the price for international students ( I am from India). He confirmed that the price was the same. The university is ranked about 68-75 in the world, of course that is subjective.

I feel the USD 40,000-50,000 price is overpriced for the on campus course. People should verify independently of me about the University of Leuven and post something here.

In Europe education is usually cheaper.

The general idea is that the society can afford to foot the bill for education better than it can afford to have people not attain the highest level they could reach.

Yes, we do enjoy our 50-60-70% tax rates here in Europe. Thankfully Sweden recently stopped pissing away the Swedish taxpayers' money by paying for the university education of foreigners.

Yes, we do enjoy our tax rates because we know the benefits (such as the average quality of life) are higher than in other parts of the world (such as USA). Check out the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

> He confirmed that the price was the same.

Hm. Unless this is a master's course that requires that you already have a different master degree, it should only cost about 500 euros for Belgian students.

Only downside I see in the FAQ has to do with this: they say the expected time for completion is still 3 years, though they suggest people may take up to 6 years if necessary. Udacity has been tho most flexible so far in letting people accomplish what they want at their own pace but, having just taken GT's computational photography on coursera, I wonder if they're going to stick to an organized, semester-like schedule.

The only thing left is to allow people to earn a BS in CS through Udacity as well (or dropping the requirement for a BS for this program, but that seems less likely).

Why? Why wouldn't they just drop the requirements? They are not taking any risks, the online course is incredibly cheap to scale.

If the student passes the course, doesn't he deserve a masters? If he doesn't, well, he still paid 7k.

They're taking the risk of diluting the quality of their degree by letting in a lot of underqualified and unprepared students. Also if they get a load of unqualified students they'll either have to support these students or just let them fail. Either way drags down the program.

The incentives in college have always been in alignment, because there is so much interesting stuff going on (at universities worth their name) on campus, both in the academic and social spheres (visiting scholars, entrepreneurs, conferences, reading groups, debating, dinners, balls, parties, even fraternities, and foremostly time for real conversations with close friends), that finishing work efficiently always has had its own payoffs.

For all the talk about on-line degrees, I don't see them being a good replacement, unless as the cheap/distance option (makes more sense where tuition is high such as in the US), or for mature students with a job/family on the side.

Nothing can replace the full university experience (perhaps until somebody boots up a proper Matrix).

College is not just about book-knowledge, but also about being immersed in a new environment, meeting new people and developing new skills.

Naturally all this can be done in ones sleepy home-village, or on the 10/5-6 city job as well, but very few people find the time, or do the root-cutting necessary to be able to do so.

One interesting thing I noticed here: my wife obtained her Masters in French law for just over €2,000. Many universities here in Europe are free or very low cost (often £150 per semester).

It's the poorly-subsidized, "for profit" nature of the US educational system which has led to the US going from first to twelfth place in the percentage of young people with university degrees (http://completionagenda.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files...) (warning: pdf).

While I applaud what I'm seeing here and I think it's great news, the "low price" of $7000 is only for the Masters program ... you already have to have a Bachelors degree and it's still a far higher price than you'll pay in many parts of the world.

Is this course available for non-US resident ??

That appears to be the intent. See my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5709930

Thanks I am very enthusiast about the course, one thing I want to mention that if fee of this course can be paid in instalment then it will be best thing as I am from India and $7000 is equal to 350000 INR(big price for average Indian)

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