Thursday, April 7, 2005

USC, Qualcomm Reach Distance-Education Deal

The University of Southern California today announced that it has signed a deal with QUALCOMM to offer access to the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering's Distance Education Network (DEN) worldwide. The deal makes it possible for Qualcomm's employees to gain a graduate engineering degree from the University of Southern California, no matter where they are in the world. Qualcomm's U.S. and non-U.S. based employees will have the ability to tap into USC's graduate engineering and continuing education programs. The university said that the first students will likely be QUALCOMM employees in India and South Korea. USC's program allows students to use broadband connections to listen to courses, take tests, submit homework, and otherwise fully participate in engineering courses. USC said that it offers 26 Master of Science degrees online. Other schools, such as Stanford, also offer similar distance learning programs. The programs are both extending the reach of Universities beyond on-campus students, as well as making it easier for busy employees to gain graduate degrees or continuing education.