Is the online Masters degree in Computer Science to be offered by Udacity and Georgia Tech...

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Jennie Kim

To add to Karthik's great answer, I wanted to clarify that graduates of this program earn a FULL Master of Science in Computer Science degree from Georgia Tech. The word "online" will not be on the degree. It is the exact same degree as the on-campus degree. Students achieve the same learning objectives and learn the same material.

Update (12/19/14): Prof. Ashok Goel (GT) and Dr. David Joyner (GT/Udacity) have a fantastic brown bag seminar about their OMS course here: GVU Center Brown Bag Seminar Series: Ashok Goel and David Joyner

Relevant to the question asked here, this presentation makes it clear that online students get the exact same assignments and are assessed with the same rigor as on-campus students (they employed blind grading, so graders did not know whether assignments came from on-campus or online students). One can infer from this that students who matriculate from the OMS receive the same credential and should be viewed with the same level of respect as on-campus graduates.

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Michael Terrazas

This is a great discussion about one of the million-dollar questions facing the program. Those of us in the College of Computing would likely agree with everything Karthik said in his response, and we'd also point out that there is nothing inherently different about OMS regarding the time needed/allowed to complete the program. On-campus students also have several years to finish before their credits begin to expire; it's just that, given the expense of enrolling full-time, most students choose to complete their degrees as quickly as humanly (or, in the case of GT grad students, superhumanly) possible.

There can be little doubt that--all else being equal--completing any degree program one course at a time is much easier than overloading or even taking a normal load every semester until you graduate. We do not anticipate that the majority of OMS students will take this leisurely path to graduation, unless all else is not equal--meaning they face other time pressures, such as a full-time job.

In the end, we believe that as long as the quality and rigor of OMS is consistent with Georgia Tech's long-established standards, the rest will take care of itself. The Institute enjoys an excellent reputation with employers all around the world, and from the feedback we've received so far, industry seems quite willing to engage with us on this new approach to education.

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