%0 Conference Paper %1 Park_2020 %A Park, David S. %A Schmidt, Robert W. %A Akiri, Charankumar %A Kwak, Stephanie %A Joyner, David A. %B Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale %D 2020 %I ACM %K MOOC %P 25-35 %R 10.1145/3386527.3405923 %T Affordable Degrees at Scale %U https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3386527.3405923 %X Following the initial proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a more recent trend has emerged toward offering Äffordable Degrees at Scale" or "Large, Internet-Mediated Asynchronous Degrees". In this research, we set out to understand this space: the range in tuition costs for these programs, the variety of admissions standards, and the types of assessments used to evaluate these non-traditional students. In the process, however, we found that in many ways, these programs may not be as new as we initially perceived: similarly-priced online programs have existed from traditional universities for years. In this research, we explore these two questions: what are these new degrees at scale, and how do they actually differ from traditional programs? To explore this, we collected materials for 35 MOOC-based graduate degrees and numerous non-MOOC-based comparable degrees. We then explored the patterns in tuition, admissions requirements, and syllabus information. In this paper, we report the trends we identified in MOOC-based degrees, and attempt to answer the question: what makes these programs different from non-MOOC-based online programs of the past? Ultimately, we find that this new era of programs is similar in many observable ways.

@inproceedings{Park_2020, abstract = {Following the initial proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a more recent trend has emerged toward offering "Affordable Degrees at Scale" or "Large, Internet-Mediated Asynchronous Degrees". In this research, we set out to understand this space: the range in tuition costs for these programs, the variety of admissions standards, and the types of assessments used to evaluate these non-traditional students. In the process, however, we found that in many ways, these programs may not be as new as we initially perceived: similarly-priced online programs have existed from traditional universities for years. In this research, we explore these two questions: what are these new degrees at scale, and how do they actually differ from traditional programs? To explore this, we collected materials for 35 MOOC-based graduate degrees and numerous non-MOOC-based comparable degrees. We then explored the patterns in tuition, admissions requirements, and syllabus information. In this paper, we report the trends we identified in MOOC-based degrees, and attempt to answer the question: what makes these programs different from non-MOOC-based online programs of the past? Ultimately, we find that this new era of programs is similar in many observable ways. }, added-at = {2020-08-12T23:57:27.000+0200}, author = {Park, David S. and Schmidt, Robert W. and Akiri, Charankumar and Kwak, Stephanie and Joyner, David A.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/214aea30416ff37d5569bbb7b05939258/brusilovsky}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Seventh {ACM} Conference on Learning @ Scale}, description = {Affordable Degrees at Scale | Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale}, doi = {10.1145/3386527.3405923}, interhash = {d720c2772f78215e50de0c0d717613b5}, intrahash = {14aea30416ff37d5569bbb7b05939258}, keywords = {MOOC}, month = aug, pages = {25-35}, publisher = {{ACM}}, timestamp = {2020-08-12T23:57:27.000+0200}, title = {Affordable Degrees at Scale}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3386527.3405923}, year = 2020 }