Students at the University of California, Berkeley will soon have the opportunity to gain a master’s degree in engineering—all online and at their own pace.
In a newly announced partnership with Coursera, Berkeley’s college of engineering is set to offer a master of advanced study in engineering (MAS-E) degree beginning next summer. As a highly renowned public engineering school, the program hopes to provide those already in the workforce a way to upskill.
“We’re making a major investment in online education because we realize that there’s a growing need for working professionals, engineering professionals to upgrade or update their knowledge, upgrade their skills as technology is advancing continually,” says Tsu-Jae King Liu, dean of Berkeley’s College of Engineering.
Demand for engineers is predicted to continue to rise over the next decade by a pace of 5%, according to the American Society of Engineering Education. And, with nearly 1 million U.S. jobs this year requiring or preferring a master’s degree in engineering, there is an “incredible” amount of value in this new MAS-E program, says Marni Baker Stein, Coursera’s chief content officer.
Interdisciplinary course offerings—on your own time
On top of a two-credit capstone course, students will choose and complete 22 one-credit, asynchronous micro-courses across five themes:
- Infrastructure systems engineering;
- biomedical and biomechanical engineering;
- engineering data analysis;
- advanced manufacturing and materials; and
- electrical, power, and autonomous systems.
Some of the over 40 initial course offerings include Legged Robots: How to make Robots Walk and Run; Manufacturing in a Climate Emergency; and Data Science and Machine Learning Fundamentals. The program hopes to eventually offer around 200 different courses.
Tarek Zohdi is Berkeley Engineering’s associate dean for research and faculty director of the MAS-E degree program. He says the finely focused courses allow for maximum flexibility tailored to students’ own interests and timeframe.
“This is truly a very rigorous degree,” he tells Fortune. “But it’s designed so that professionals that are working can upgrade their knowledge, or people that don’t even have a master’s degree and just have a bachelor’s degree in some STEM field and want to reinvent themselves in a different way.”
Zohdi says each course can be completed in five to seven weeks. He anticipates students will complete the whole program in 9 to 24 months, depending on a student’s motivation.
“That’s the beauty of the program—its extreme flexibility,” Zohdi tells Fortune.
According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, engineering master’s degree graduates in the class of 2023 were projected to have the highest projected salary—$86,826—as compared to other disciplines like business and computer sciences.
Tuition and admission
The degree will cost about $42,000, plus additional per-semester campus fees. The program plans to set aside 15% of MAS-E tuition revenue for student financial aid. According to Zohdi, students will have the ability to pay-as-they-go.
Applications open in September for the first cohort, and classes will begin in summer 2024. Zohdi says they hope to start with 100 to 200 students and grow enrollment to around 500.
The admissions process will be holistic, with a multitude of factors being considered like professional history and educational background. The degree is set to serve students of all ages but may be best for those with a STEM background.
Liu says the MAS-E degree can help people jumpstart an engineering career, advance existing careers toward research and development roles, or prepare people for project management positions.
While the program will be very similar to an in-person master’s program—with many of the same Berkeley faculty—it will also be unique since it spans the entire engineering college as compared to just one department.
Growing demand for online learning
During and after the pandemic, enrollment in online learning programs has skyrocketed, with companies like Coursera boasting of millions of users.
Zohdi says learning as a whole has experienced a paradigm shift. Previously, people may have stayed in a job for decades, but now, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, workers are looking to change careers “more than ever before.”
But while Zohdi adds lifelong learning is now “critical,” that can be easier said than done—especially for working families. Providing the MAS-E degree online can take away the stress of many in-person programs like having to commute or find childcare.
While some students may prefer in-person experiences, new technology is making learning more immersive.
“The advancements that we’re seeing in pedagogy online, in the digital space are really amazing, very powerful,” Stein tells Fortune. “Obviously, they’re not the same as an in person experience, but they are powerful in their own right.”
She adds that new technologies driven by generative artificial intelligence (A.I.) as well as extended reality (XR) are creating newfound, effective educational landscapes.
“I would challenge us as human beings in this humanity to think: is the virtual world any less real than the real world?” Zohdi says.
