New AE Online Master's Degree Attracts 10 Students

9/19/2014 Susan Mumm, Aerospace Engineering Media Specialist

Aerospace Engineering at Illinois has a good first response to its online master's degree.

Written by Susan Mumm, Aerospace Engineering Media Specialist

 

Aerospace Engineering online MS degree student locations
Aerospace Engineering online MS degree student locations
Aerospace Engineering online MS degree student locations

The first offering this fall of an online Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering degree at Illinois has attracted eight master’s degree students, and two non-degree students.

 

Eight of the students hold bachelor’s degrees from AE and the other two have degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Washington. Several work in aerospace, including for companies such as Boeing, Raytheon and UTC Aerospace Systems, and the U.S. Air Force.

"The turnout has been much more than we expected and we are really happy with it," said Prof. John Lambros, AE Associate Head of Graduate Programs. "The main thing now is to keep that up."

AE’s priority in offering the program online has been to provide the same experience and maintain the same quality as the on-campus MS degree study.

“This is not a new degree program," Lambros has said. "It’s exactly the same as the existing master’s degree with the same requirements and the same courses.”

Applications for enrollment in the non-thesis online master’s degree can be made online here. The AE Department invested in the new program as a viable option for qualified graduate students who cannot be on campus. “We will be able to reach people who are otherwise really good students but who can’t be here physically,” Lambros said. “We see this online degree format as appealing both to recent graduates just starting their careers, and to those in established careers who desire an advanced degree.”

Qualified online students must meet the same prerequisites and required backgrounds as on-campus students for admission to the online MS. A total of 32 credit hours are needed to complete the degree.

Students not wishing to pursue a complete online MS degree have the option of taking a limited number of courses available through Illinois’s continuing education program.

All AE faculty who teach graduate courses participate in teaching students enrolled in the online program. Lectures are taped, and are available on an interface panel that can include video of the instructor, audio of the instructor’s interactions with on-campus students during the class, and slides and handwritten notes. The faculty member for each course decides independently the best way to interact with online students, including through email, teleconferencing, discussion boards, direct contact, etc.

 


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This story was published September 19, 2014.