Online education company Coursera has announced a masters degree in data science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The US-based university will open access to its data science curriculum at a fraction of the cost of a traditional on-campus or online masters degree through the Master of Computer Science in Data Science (MCS-DS) degree on Coursera.
Signaling the demand for a degree like the MCS-DS, data and computer science is already the most popular type of course among online learners in India. Nearly half (43 per cent) of Coursera course enrollments from over 1.4 million Indians registered on Coursera fall into this category.
Unlike other masters degrees, students can test the waters of the MCS-DS degree with a shorter specialisation certificate programme in data mining or cloud computing, earning a credential that can then fully transfer to the MCS-DS if they later decide that they want the full degree.
“Many of India's largest employers are technology companies and the country's start-up community is growing fast. There is a huge demand for high-tech skills that can be gained quickly and without taking time to step away from the job market to go back to school. The MCS-DS 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 statement.
The tuition fees for the programme will come under $20,000. The admissions are open for the programme. The deadline to apply for the Master of Computer Science in Data Science degree is June 15. The first cohort of 150 will begin classes on August 22, with larger cohorts to be admitted in the following months.