ASU announces new master's degree in computer science

Arizona State University and Coursera, one of the world’s largest online education platforms, today announced the launch of an online Master of Computer Science program. The degree program will be offered through ASU and the Ira. A Fulton Schools of Engineering and hosted on Coursera’s learning platform. This marks the first time ASU has hosted a degree program on a fully open scale platform.

ASU’s new online Master of Computer Science degree, offered through the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, will help prepare a highly technical, highly competent global workforce for emerging technology careers at a time when information is expanding at a higher rate than ever before. Offering courses in foundations, systems and applications of computer science, the degree will focus on four key competency areas: artificial intelligence and machine learning, cybersecurity, big data systems and software engineering.

“These are the kinds of skills and competencies our students will obtain, but also an opportunity for the existing workforce to upscale, and develop new talents that we know are going to be important,” said Kyle Squires, dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Arizona State University has offered the Master of Computer Science degree for more than 20 years. The program’s strong body of faculty, students and graduates have gone on to work for top domestic and international tech companies. With the addition of the online MCS program, thousands of students around the world will be able to access ASU’s rigorous computer science education through courses and course content optimized for the Coursera platform.

The online MCS program is designed for students with undergraduate degrees in computing or related areas who seek a deeper understanding of computing fundamentals as well as practical experience through real-world projects. The program is 100 percent online, giving students the flexibility to learn at their own pace and meet their educational goals without disrupting their career. The average student will take 18 to 36 months to complete the degree program.

“ASU’s Master of Computer Science on Coursera will make a degree with job market value accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, the CEO of Coursera. “In order to serve the millions of people who come to Coursera to learn computer science skills, we’ve built out a platform of features and technology integrations that give instructors a wide variety of options for creating assignments of varying complexity. The result is a highly effective learning experience for computer science content.” 

Applications are available now. To learn more about the program, visit the ASU’s online Master of Computer Science website.