In a commendable step, the University of Texas at Austin is establishing a new online master’s program in Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the potential to bring thousands of new students into the field. The decision is well timed as artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) are emerging as the burgeoning sought-after skills in the global workforce.

The Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) will be the first far-reaching degree program unparalleled and the only master’s degree program in AI from a top-ranked institution expected to have been priced at $10,000 approximately, provided by the Department of Computer Science and Machine Learning Laboratory.

This new master’s degree program offers well-prepared course content that the students can take up at the student’s own pace within the span of two years. The program will be offered in partnership with edX, the well-known online education platform.

The AI master’s program offered by other institutions are five to ten times higher and serves just a few dozens of students, let alone hundreds or thousands which the Texas projects can reach annually within five years. Likewise, the data science and computer science online master programs from the university have seen an enrolment of 2500 students in less than five years of their launch. Set of the basis of these programs, the completely online MSAI program is equally accessible and flexible.

Adam Klivans, a computer science professor, said, “The fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning have seen unprecedented growth over the last 10 years. With the MSAI program, we have removed geographic barriers entirely and significantly lowered the cost barrier of graduate study.”