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Local Universities Join Groups Offering Online Courses And Graduate Degrees

By: Armando Trull // December 10, 2012
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Students won't have to come to the District to take some Georgetown University courses.
Kevin Harber: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevharb/4219986941/
Students won't have to come to the District to take some Georgetown University courses.

Prospective students at some D.C. universities will soon be able to access courses and degree programs without their ever having to leave home.

Georgetown University said Monday it will join a select group of universities in edX offering MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses. A MOOC is a web-based class offered to the general public for no credit and no charge.

Plans are in place for Georgetown to offer their first courses next year.

"The opportunity to engage in a Massive Open Online Course provides a new way of learning about how to present information, how to share information, how to teach," Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said.

EdX, created as part of a joint effort between Harvard and MIT, also features courses from the University of California Berkeley, University of Texas, and Wellesley College.

American University announced Tuesday it will offer a master's degree in international relations through 2U, an online education platform based in Landover, Md. WAMU 88.5 is licensed to American University.

Classes for the online degree program, a first for American, will begin in May 2013 with about 15 students in every class. Students will be able to earn the two-year degree, which includes self-paced content as well as weekly class sessions, for about the same tuition as on-campus students. Graduates receive the same diploma as on-campus students.

2U is also partnering with George Washington University to offer a master's in public health and with Georgetown to offer a nursing graduate degree.

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