The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) Tuesday became the first IIT in the country offer an online bachelor’s degree in Programming and Data Science.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

According to IIT Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthy, the online program will produce graduates who will be employable in the sector that presently has high demand. "The program uses an innovative combination of online learning and in-person assessment and is flexible and affordable. I believe the program will be a gamechanger in the field of education in India in the coming years and inspire other top-ranking institutions to launch many such online initiatives," he added.



The BSc degree in data science can be pursued as a second degree by someone currently in college or anyone who has dropped out of / completed their Bachelor’s Degree. There is no age or stream or geographical restrictions to join the course.


The program is split into three levels that have to be completed strictly in sequence. The three levels are Foundational Level (8 courses), Diploma Level (6 Programming courses + 6 Data Science courses) and Degree Level (11 courses).


While for doing a foundation course, a general category student will have to pay a fee of Rs. 32,000 and for diploma level, 110,000 and for degree level 100,000. In total for completing all the levels, a general category student will have to pay Rs. 242,000. There is however, relaxations in fee for students of different underprivileged segments.


“The fee structure described…applies to the case when a learner successfully clears, passes each course in one attempt. Every time a learner does not pass a course, the fee for that course will need to be paid again while re-registering for it as per norms," the IIT Madras said.