Yup, these deals are all coming out from the usual MOOC providers - Coursera, Edx, FutureLearn, Udacity and Upgrad. The program you're looking at is here: https://www.edx.org/masters/online-master-data-science-utaustinx
I have been awaiting who is offering a Master of Science in Finance via EdX. I hope that would be MIT's. (https://mitsloan.mit.edu/mfin) since it has MicroMaster in Finance via EdX.
Very interesting. I have seen several schools utilizing EdX, CourseEra, etc. Does this just allow the school the remove themselves from the instructional designing of the course? I remember when I was talking with Carnegie Mellon (Tepper), they stated their program cost $67,000 because their professors design each course that they teach and that it takes about 4 months to effectively build a course from scratch.
Obviously You'd think with it being aimed at working professionals, they would have some sort of GRE waiver.
Honestly I think I would prefer that to the cookie cutter programs that 2U and the like come out with. The professors are supposed to be the experts in their field and can teach what they know the best. If they build a course themselves I'd feel confident that they'll be able to teach it better than a course they're just thrown into.
I'd gladly study GRE but the problem is availability of testing centers. They're all closed until the next year due to COVID-19. No one will be able to take any test soon.
May be this can help you? https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/gre-test-at-home-with-proctoru.57246/ IMHO if the program was really developed for working professionals, mandatory GRE still kills the deal.
IMHO if a student wants to get a STEM advanced degree, taking GRE should hardly be an insurmountable obstacle.
I understand GRE for someone fresh out of college, but let's say for a person with a Bachelor degree in Engineering with over 20 years of experience in the field - do you think requirement can be same for all?
There can be arguments either way. However, is GRE really a substantial obstacle for someone prepared to embark on Master's degree in Data Science? Surely this person has general aptitude and math chops beyond what GRE tests, no?
That person is I, and may be I have some mental block for these exams may be it's my exam anxiety. I am so crazy I completed a whole high school program (Pennfoster) to circumvent the TOEFL requirement.