The University of Illinois and Coursera Launch a Master of Computer Science in Data Science Degree
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 30, 2016) - Coursera, a leading online education company known for massive open online courses (MOOCs), today announced a professional data science master's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Home to one of the top five computer science graduate programs in the United States, the University of Illinois will open access to its world-class data science curriculum at a fraction of the cost of a traditional on-campus or online master's degree through the Master of Computer Science in Data Science (MCS-DS) degree on Coursera.
Data science has quickly become one of the most sought-after and highest-paid professions in the United States, yet few highly ranked master's programs exist today that are developed specifically for training data scientists, and none offer the scale of an open online course platform. The MCS-DS degree taps a whole new demographic of potential data scientists who are unable to take a traditional education path by reimagining graduate-level education as a "stackable" degree. Unlike other master's degrees, students can test the waters of the MCS-DS degree with a shorter Specialization certificate program in data mining or cloud computing, earning a meaningful credential that can then fully transfer to the MCS-DS if they later decide that they want the full degree.
"This degree combines an education in the most high demand career skills with an entirely new educational structure that empowers the student with choices in how to pursue his or her education," said Daphne Koller, President and Co-founder of Coursera. "In a world where taking time off of work for a master's degree is increasingly difficult, this degree offers people a unique opportunity to choose exactly how much learning they need at different stages in their careers."
The University of Illinois MCS-DS degree is unique for these reasons:
"The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was the first land-grant university to partner with Coursera to help achieve its mission to provide top-quality education to as many as possible," said Rob A. Rutenbar, Head of the Department of Computer Science at Illinois (CS @ ILLINOIS). Computer science Professor John Hart added, "The Coursera platform enables us to offer the expertise and guidance of our faculty to a larger, more diverse community of learners worldwide than ever before."
Open for admissions today, the deadline to apply for the Master of Computer Science in Data Science degree is June 15, 2016. The first cohort of 150 will begin classes on August 22, 2016, with larger cohorts to be admitted in the following months.
Learn more about the program at online.illinois.edu/MCS-DS or explore other courses offered on Coursera by the University of Illinois.
About the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Since its founding in 1867, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has earned a reputation as a global leader in research, teaching, and public engagement. Illinois is also a pioneer in innovative distance and online education, led by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. CS @ ILLINOIS has partnered with The Graduate School of Library and Information Science (The iSchool at Illinois), and the Department of Statistics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to launch the new Master of Computer Science in Data Science.
About Coursera
Coursera is an online education company that offers courses and learning experiences from the world's top universities and education institutions. Coursera has more than 18 million registered learners worldwide. Anyone, anywhere can access over 1,800 courses and Specializations in dozens of topics including business, technology, social sciences, health, and art. Coursera empowers learners around the world to achieve their career, educational, and personal enrichment goals throughout their lives. For more information, visit www.coursera.org.