The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is giving
inverted admissions a try in a pilot for students in its supply chain management
(SCM) master’s degree program. Students who successfully complete the first
semester of SCM courses online will become eligible for admission to the
Cambridge, MA, campus for one semester to complete the degree.
“Inverted admission has the potential to disrupt
traditional modes of access to higher education,” said Sanjay Sarma, dean of
digital learning, in a report for MIT News. “We’re democratizing access to a master’s program for learners
worldwide.”
The pilot includes a new academic credential developed
by MIT called MicroMaster’s. Students will earn the digital credential after
taking a proctored examination of materials covered in first-semester classes
from MITx, the portfolio of free MIT courses available online through the
interactive learning platform edX.
There are no admissions requirements for the courses,
which are available to anyone interested in taking them. Learners will have to pay
a small fee to have their MicroMaster’s verified, but then they can apply for
admissions to the semester on campus with the MicroMaster’s worth a semester of
MIT credit.
“The rising cost of education, combined with the
transformative potential of online teaching and learning technologies, presents
a long-term challenge that no university can afford to ignore,” said MIT
President Rafael Reif. “At MIT, we are choosing to meet this challenge directly
by assessing the educational model that has served the institute so well for so
long. We are experimenting boldly with ideas to enhance the education we offer
our own students and to lower the barriers to access for learners around the
world.”