Online Master’s Degree Programs at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute appears in our ranking of the Top 15 Most Affordable Accelerated Master’s in Biomedical Engineering Online.
The Worcester Polytechnic Institute offers online graduate degree programs that include research opportunities on the web. Students can choose from 13 technology and engineering programs and enroll in an online master’s degree program designed for teachers. Called the Master’s in Mathematics for Educators (MME), this program prepares students for working as math teachers. It features both application and theory courses to make sure that students understand math theories and how to apply those theories in a classroom setting. Courses in this program include Applications of Calculus, Abstract Algebra, Geometry, Discrete Mathematics, and Project Analysis and Report.
In the construction project management program, students take both civil and environmental engineering courses. They learn how a construction project can impact the lives of people in the community and the surrounding environment. Students have a choice between just taking classes or doing a final project based on the program’s curriculum. This is a Master of Science (MS) program that is similar to the institute’s environmental engineering track. In the environmental engineering program, students focus more on the environment and the impact that projects have on it. Both programs include a minimum of 30 credits of classes.
Students with an interest in data science and information can earn an MS in Data Science from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This online program teaches students how to manage databases, analyze information and use new methods when working with the software. It includes Mathematical Analysis, Data Access and Management, Integrative Data Science, and Data Analytics and Mining. The institute expects students to take five elective classes too. Also available online are master’s degree programs in bioscience administration, power systems engineering, systems engineering, robotics engineering, computer science, and electrical and computer engineering.
Graduate students have the option of enrolling in certificate programs online through the institute too. The institute offers a computer science certificate program that features some of the same courses found in the MS in Computer Science degree program. Similar to that track is a cybersecurity certificate that features six classes, including Design of Software Systems, Risk Management, and Decision Making, Case Studies in Computer Security, and Computer and Network Security. A similar certificate allows students to study computer interface designs. All certificate programs give students four years to finish their work after enrolling. Certificate programs are also offered in data science, computer science, systems engineering, power engineering, and mechanical engineering for technical leaders.
About the Worcester Polytechnic Institute
The Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private university that emphasizes the importance of research in all its available degree programs. Founded in 1865 by two men who saw the need for trained manufacturing workers, it initially offered programs that helped them gain the skills to work in the mechanical industry. They hoped that proper training and education would change the way others looked at factory workers. Multiple companies and factory workers helped build the original campus with donations of their time, money, and resources. Known as WPI today, the institute is in Worcester, Massachusetts, which is one of the two largest cities in the state. Businessweek included WPI on lists of the best student satisfaction and the top MBA programs in the nation. WPI also ranks as one of the top institutes for education in the nation and the world.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Accreditation Details
The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is an organization that replaced the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). It offers regional accreditation for schools in New England and accredited WPI. This is why the institute can give a student a financial aid package that includes several types of federal aid when it receives the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). WPI also has accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), American Chemical Society (ACS), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Application Requirements
WPI encourages students to look at all the available online master’s degree programs and pick one before they apply. They can also look at the institute’s application requirements, which vary across departments. Most departments have a soft deadline of January first for applications. This gives the admissions board time to gather and look over the necessary information to decide on the student’s application. Even programs that have a rolling admissions policy have soft deadlines that students should follow. The institute must receive all documents within 30 days of the student applying online.
Prospective graduate students must pay a $70 application fee and make sure that the institute receives their official college transcripts. Their transcripts should show that they either have a bachelor’s degree or the date when they will finish the degree. WPI asks for up to three letters of recommendation that demonstrate why it should select the student based on factors such as professional experiences and academic strengths. Some programs require a GRE score and/or a statement of purpose. The statement of purpose is a typed document that shows why the student wants to study at WPI and what the institute can do for them.
Tuition and Financial Aid
At WPI, all graduate students pay $1,566 per credit hour, which comes to $28,188 a year for full-time enrollment. Online students can skip the room and board fees that traditional students pay, but they can still purchase health insurance from the institute at a cost of $1,252 per year. Those who take classes in the summer receive a 30 percent discount that drops their tuition to $9.345 for the whole term. Students will pay other costs if they sign up for summer programs in Acadia National Park or one of the institute’s studies abroad locations.
During the summer term and the traditional semesters, online graduate students can qualify for the same financial aid. They can use federal loans if they did not borrow the maximum $20,500 earlier in the year. Grad students can use PLUS loans too, but they will need to use a different application to get those loans after filing the FAFSA. The Worcester Polytechnic Institute allows online students to use any grants that they might get as well as alternative loans and scholarships, which reduce the cost of the institute’s online master’s degree programs.
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