University partners with 2U to offer online postgraduate degrees
The University of Sydney is partnering with 2U to offer four postgraduate degree programs online. Credit: Julia Cameron
The University of Sydney will offer postgraduate degree programs online for the first time in partnership with 2U (Nasdaq: TWOU), the parent company of leading online education platform edX.
The partnership will bring four postgraduate degrees online, beginning with a Master of Data Science and a Master of Project and Program Management, with applications expected to open in August 2022 and classes beginning in February 2023.
The University has identified that most postgraduate students, who are often working full-time, prefer to attend online.
“For the University to be partners in lifelong learning with the community we need to engage in multiple ways, for the needs of all our students, and to a world-class standard. Our partnership with 2U enables that flexibility and I’m excited that it will provide a new opportunity to satisfy the demands of our students,” said Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Mark Scott.
Our staff achieved an extraordinary result in rapidly shifting online because of COVID. This relationship gives our staff the opportunity for further capacity building and upskilling in this area - in partnership with the highly experienced and well-regarded 2U - much more quickly than would be possible through solely in-house development.
Today’s announcement expands on the University’s existing partnership with 2U, which began in 2019, with the development of two online part-time boot camps for adult learners in coding and cybersecurity. (A third financial technology online boot camp was added in 2021).
The University will retain full academic control of the new programs, determining the curriculum content and admissions standards, with all unit development and teaching undertaken by the University’s academic staff. 2U will provide the technology platform, educational design and production, student and faculty support, and marketing and recruitment services.
Our academics will work with 2U to develop the online postgraduate degree programs, using 2U’s digital infrastructure that combines a comprehensive set of technology, data and people-based services to deliver world-class online education and learning outcomes for students. Through 2U’s Career Engagement Network, students will also access career and job-relevant resources, tools, and recruiting opportunities to help them pursue rewarding and meaningful employment opportunities.
“The University of Sydney is a global leader in higher education and we look forward to expanding our digital transformation partnership and bringing four new career-relevant online degree programs to adult learners in Australia and around the world,” said 2U’s President of Partnerships Andrew Hermalyn.
Together with the initial Master of Data Science and a Master of Project and Program Management (both Faculty of Engineering), the University will later offer Master’s in cyber security (Faculty of Engineering) and data analytics (Faculty of Science).
The first two online degrees recognise that demand for professionals with mastery in data science and project management remains high across industry sectors globally. By offering high-quality online degree programs in these fields, 2U and the University of Sydney will help expand access to these in-demand careers.
2U already partners with multiple overseas institutions on full degree programs including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Yale University, Tufts University, University of London and London School of Economics.
