This spring, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) celebrates the seventh year of a program that has redefined online learning.
Its Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) was launched in January 2014 with 380 students. With over 4,500 graduates—soon to top 5,000 with the upcoming graduating class—the program has grown at a steady pace since 2014, currently offering over 50 courses to 11,000 students. OMSCS has not displaced on-campus programs, but tapped populations universities have been unwilling or unable to reach.
OMSCS, which uses the massive open online course (MOOC) platform of Udacity, combines the flexibility and accessibility of MOOCs with the academic rigor, support, and credential of an in-person Master’s degree. And social life, too: students have organized over 74 networking groups via social media platforms. Its alumni praise it, some even volunteering to stay on as teaching assistants and coach the following class of students.
“We have been growing every semester,” says Dr. Zvi Galil, former John P. Imlay, Jr., Dean of Computing at Georgia Tech, who initiated and oversaw the development and deployment of this innovative program, which was the first affordable fully online Master’s degree in the U.S. “We break every previous application record each year.”
In addition to alumni feedback, the program has garnered praise both inside and outside of academia. In her wildly popular newsletter, Dr. Barbara Oakley called the program “the most significant leap forward in higher education of recent decades.” The New York Times referred to OMSCS as “the new frontier of study online.” The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the program’s success, naming Galil “the man who made online college work.”
Galil, an international leader in Theoretical Computer Science and member of the Marconi Society’s Board, whom ‘Academic Influence’ recently included in the list of 10 most influential computer scientists in the last decade, reflects on the program’s vision.
“The traditional Master’s program is inaccessible to far too many,” says Galil, “like full-time workers, or those living at a distance from a university offering a high-quality program. And degree programs are prohibitively expensive in the U.S. At around $7,000, OMSCS is the most affordable degree of its kind. Our motto is accessibility through affordability and technology—we are making a Master’s degree in computer science available to thousands of students.”
Due to its accessibility, Galil notes, the program is also reaching students across the globe.
Reflecting on the challenges of setting up such an ambitious program, Galil notes the fundamental, revolutionary shift from the prevailing paradigm of top-tier universities, in which brand is maintained by exclusion and high tuition fees. By contrast, OMSCS accepts 74% of applicants, aiming to admit all who meet the basic qualifications.
The revolution was made possible by the overwhelming support of the College of Computing faculty and a generous founding grant from AT&T.
“Zvi did something unheard of,” says Sebastian Thrun, chairman and founder of Udacity. “This happened at a time when MOOCs were criticized as poor educational choices. To the present day, I have to pinch myself when I think about how Zvi managed to convince his faculty. This was a piece of absolute Jedi mastery.”
While Galil has stepped down as Dean at Georgia Tech, he remains a vocal advocate for the program. The program continues to grow, now under the stewardship of current Dean of Computing Charles Isbell and David Joyner, Executive Director of OMSCS. Their book, The Distributed Classroom, is slated for publication in September of 2021.
“They were both crucial to the development of our online learning platform,” Galil says. “Their book captures the lessons we learned from OMSCS and shows several new ways that classroom teaching can be combined with online learning in the future.”
How will online degree programs continue to shape higher education? The pandemic caused most institutes of higher learning to shift online for the 2020–21 academic year. Students, faculty, and administrators had to contend with failures as well as opportunities. Galil hopes that online degrees will become an integral part of the top-tier universities ecosystem, allowing much greater access to these institutions.“I am happy I was able to initiate and lead OMSCS. Its high quality and low cost enabled many—16,000 so far—to fulfill their aspirations and improve their lives,” he says. “Everywhere I go I meet grateful alumni and students. There is no greater legacy.”
