At Georgia Tech, we believe in making a top-ranked education accessible, affordable, scalable, and aligned with workforce needs. This belief was at the heart of my keynote at the Open edX Conference in Paris earlier this summer. In “Rethinking the University: Access, Affordability, and Excellence at Scale,” I shared how Georgia Tech is redefining what it means to serve learners in the 21st century through our suite of world-class online master's programs. 

Over a decade ago, we launched a bold experiment: an entirely online, MOOC-based Master of Science in Computer Science, offered at a fraction of the traditional cost. What began as a “crazy idea” (sparked by a challenge from Udacity co-founder Sebastian Thrun) has become a global model for accessible education. Today, our online master’s in computer science is the largest program of its kind in the universe, serving thousands of learners worldwide while maintaining the same rigor as our on-campus offerings. 

By removing physical barriers and democratizing admissions, we have expanded opportunity and fostered inclusivity. Our online master’s programs have grown from fewer than 400 students in one program in 2014 to more than 26,000 students across three programs today. From start to finish, each of these degrees costs less than $12,000 (compared to a national average of about $60,000), proving that excellence and affordability can indeed go hand in hand. The success of these programs has also led to the creation of our College of Lifetime Learning, which is dedicated to serving nontraditional students and lifelong learners.