Spotlight: Gain New Knowledge and Skills with NJIT's Online CPE Programs
An “overwhelmingly positive experience” – that’s how Emily Serna ’08 describes earning a master's in technical communication online. “Given that I work full time and have children, adding commuting time and the associated logistics of an on-campus program was almost impossible. Online graduate study enabled me to make the most of my time and had many benefits that I hadn’t initially anticipated, including the opportunity to interact with other students in an array of professional writing careers in various geographic locations.”
Online education is definitely a wave of the future. The growth rate for online enrollment is 12.9 percent, compared to 1.2 percent overall in higher education. A 2009 U.S. Department of Education report concludes that students taking online courses may actually learn more, and do so more quickly, than those in conventional face-to-face classes.
Essential courses, top teachers
U.S. News & World Report recently ranked NJIT sixth in the nation in online enrollment for graduate computing and engineering programs. NJIT’s 30-credit online master’s programs include engineering management, information systems and computer science. Others are management, business and information systems, professional and technical communication, and emergency management and business continuity. Online 12-credit certificates include engineering soft skills in marketing, finance, law, management and sustainability, project and construction management, data mining, IT administration, and web-systems development.
Also available are management-related certificates such as business and computing, business and information systems implementation, emergency management and information assurance, finance for managers, management essentials, management of technology, and international commerce. The 12-credit graduate certificate in technical communication essentials focuses on new media, with technical courses to help tap the potential of the social networking movement.
At NJIT, the same faculty members who teach in the classroom are adept in the online environment, where students connect with them using versatile Internet platforms and access course materials in various ways. These include podcast downloads from NJIT on iTunes U, streaming video, DVDs and CDs.
“The eLearning experience offers another significant benefit,” says Gale Tenen Spak, associate vice president of the Division of Continuing Professional Education. “Students get to perfect the collaborative and computing skills essential for successful 21st-century careers.”
Committed to affordable study
NJIT also broke new ground this past summer with a lower graduate online tuition rate for out-of-state students. “NJIT established the new rate because of its commitment to helping professionals find and keep jobs during this turbulent economy,” says Spak. “While many colleges offer online programs, not all do so at a competitive, affordable rate. Our new program will make affordable high-tech master’s degrees and certificates available to professionals across the U.S., or anywhere in the world.”
The online graduate tuition fee for out-of-state students will be, on average, 16.5 percent below the out-of-state fee to attend classes on campus. While the tuition rate will not change for New Jersey residents, and essentially is identical for online or classroom study, the in-state rate remains less than the out-of-state rate.
For more information about online graduate programs at NJIT, call 800-624-9850 in the U.S., text online 35350, email online@njit.edu, or visit http://online.njit.edu.
Check tuition rates instantly with NJIT’s easy-to-use calculator at http://online.njit.edu/tuition.
Use the calculator at http://online.njit.edu/tuition/gas-savings.php to learn how much gas money you’ll save by studying online versus driving to campus.