The University of California, Berkeley is partnering with Coursera, the online learning platform and a pioneer of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS), to launch a new online professional degree – the Master of Advanced Study in Engineering (MAS-E). It’s the first academic program that UC Berkeley has offered through a partnerships with Coursera.
According to the university’s announcement, the fully online program is aimed at professionals seeking “knowledge upgrades” in STEM fields and “to help today’s engineers keep pace with the speed of innovation and evolve their skills in a world driven by technological change — often while holding down a full-time job.”
“The new MAS-E program will enable students to tailor their degree path to align with their interests and career goals, helping them stay abreast of technological advances while accelerating their professional development,” said Tsu-Jae King Liu, dean of engineering at UC Berkeley, in the announcement. “MAS-E graduates will be better prepared to tackle complex engineering challenges and to pursue new opportunities with the knowledge, skills and connections gained through our unique online master’s program.”
The new MAS-E curriculum consists of one-semester-unit courses taught by Berkeley Engineering’s faculty. The course lectures will be pre-recorded and available anytime to students for asynchronous and self-paced study. Berkeley faculty will be available synchronously during regular online office hours to provide guidance and support.
The self-paced courses are designed to be completed in five-to-seven weeks rather than the standard 15-week semester. Students may enroll in the program either full-time or part-time. They will have up to four years to complete all the program’s requirements. It’s expected that full-time students would finish their degree in one year, while part-time students are likely to take two to three years.
Students must complete 22 one-unit micro-courses organized across five themes:
1. Infrastructure systems engineering
2. Biomedical and biomechanical engineering
3. Engineering data analysis
4. Advanced manufacturing and materials
5. Electrical, power, and autonomous systems.
Students in the program acquire a technical foundation (nine units) and then specialize in one area by taking seven courses. They satisfy a breadth requirement by completing six other courses across the other themes. The program culminates in a two-unit interdisciplinary capstone project, requiring students to apply new skills to a project.
In a blog post, Coursera Chief Content Officer Marni Baker Stein said, “We are honored to partner with Berkeley on this groundbreaking program. Online education increases access and opportunity for students from all backgrounds, and this program marks a milestone in further advancing educational equity. We look forward to seeing how increased access to this prestigious institution enables learners worldwide to transform their careers and the world at large.”
The total cost of the new program is estimated to be $42,000 in tuition, plus applicable per semester fees, but that rate is still pending approval and could change. Applications for the MAS-E program are scheduled to open on Wednesday, Sept. 13 for the for the first cohort, which is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2024.
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