UC Chile launch three online master’s focused on job-relevant skills on Coursera

The Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC Chile) will become the first higher education institution in Chile to offer online Master's Programs on Coursera.

"Data Science," "Analytics for Business and Investments," and "Applied Finance" are the online masters that UC Chile will offer through the online educational platform Coursera. Applications for the master's degrees will start on March 8. 

Coursera currently has more than 97 million registered learners worldwide. Therefore, UC Chile will also extend its academic offer to students from other countries. The Chilean university estimates that approximately 70% of the students will come from abroad.

It is a significant step for a university ranked first in Latin America in the QS World University Rankings and has more than 100 master's degrees. Still, until now, these were somewhat circumscribed to Chile.

"Our new online degrees on Coursera will enable UC Chile to transcend borders and reach people throughout Latin America and Spain. Furthermore, they give to our university an international projection," said the Vice President of Academic Affairs at UC Chile, Fernando Purcell.

"This new initiative is very strategic for UC Chile. We'll bring the high-quality education UC Chile is known for to a broad, diverse audience," highlighted Patricio Donoso, Provost of Institutional Management at UC Chile. 

"These programs will help us reach many more students beyond those who can attend our on-campus master programs."

Mr. Donoso expects each of the online master's programs to reach more than a hundred students per edition within a period of four to five years. Currently, between 20 and 50 people participate in each version of the offline master programs.

"As higher education enters the next phase of digital transformation, we are honored to grow our partnership with UC Chile by offering three new degrees on Coursera," said Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer at Coursera. 

"Together, we are enabling students anywhere to earn a job-relevant degree from one of the best universities in Latin America. UC Chile has already reached over one million global learners on Coursera with their high-quality courses. I am eager to see how these new programs will change the lives of Spanish-speaking learners around the world," added Ms. Vandenbosch.

Following the trend of other leading universities globally, such as Harvard, MIT, Imperial College London, and the University of Pennsylvania, UC Chile, will widen access to postgraduate studies through this master's program.

One of the main advantages of these online programs, concludes Luz Montero, director of Continuing Education at UC Chile, is that "they allow greater flexibility. People can study at any time of the day and at their own pace. In addition, it eases access for those who have to care for others, work during the day or live in another country."

The project has been developing for three years jointly with the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Ms. Montero says it responds to the changes in education worldwide, where the digital transformation has deepened during the pandemic.

Online teaching modalities involve innovation in methodological terms and contribute to the institution's economic and environmental sustainability. 

"One of the expectations we have with this project is precisely to advance in teaching innovation. We ensure academic quality and complement it with multiple resources that online education allows us. We will be integrating an instructional design that considers audiovisual content, graphics, forms of different evaluations, among others", says Vice President of Academic Affairs, Mr. Purcell. 

He adds that this experience will probably not only set a precedent for other Chilean universities but may also trigger innovations for face-to-face education.

The new programs will open applications on March 8, 2022: 

• Magíster en Ciencia de Datos (Master of Data Science): The degree will use cutting-edge computational tools to train learners in the fundamentals and the application of data processing, modeling, and analysis. The curriculum will cover programming, software engineering, data visualization, and data ethics. Graduates will be prepared to work in academia or as data engineers, data scientists, and data analysts at leading companies. 
• Magíster en Inversiones y Finanzas aplicadas (Master of Investment and Applied Finance): This program will use the latest techniques to provide a foundational education in finance and investing and its application to the business world. The curriculum covers capital markets, financial analysis, corporate finance, and finance for investing. Graduates will be prepared for executive positions in finance and investing. 
• Magíster en Analítica para Los Negocios (Master of Business Analytics): This program focuses on the technical foundations of computing and data analysis and its business application. The curriculum includes digital business strategy, data analysis, machine learning, and analytical models. Graduates will be able to make data-driven business decisions in management roles. 

Each program includes opportunities to learn from industry experts and engage with peers through group projects, forums, and networking activities.

Experience and huge potential

UC Chile has significant experience providing educational programs through the Internet, such as MOOCs (massive open online courses). The university offers 35 online courses and two specialized online programs through Coursera. Added to this are the more than 500 diplomas and 800 courses that makeup UC Chile's continuing education offering.

At the Chilean university, authorities highlight the work developed together with Coursera. 

The Provost of Institutional Management, Patricio Donoso, affirms that the education provider is a very relevant platform.

Not only because of its massive reach but also because "Coursera has a lot of experience analyzing the profile of students and information about the areas and topics currently required by the market. Therefore, it makes it easier for us to design academic programs that are attractive to users of this powerful educational platform".

And that is what happened in this case. UC Chile and Coursera defined the master's programs topics based on their experience in this area.

Donoso comments they will give details of the programs' contents and prices soon. Nonetheless, he says they will be very competitive compared to other universities.

To develop the master's programs, joint and integrated work has been carried out within UC Chile between:

• the Office of Continuing Education, dependent on the Office of the Provost for Institutional Management,
• the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs,
• academic units of the institution, such as the faculties of Engineering, Economics and Bussines Administration, and Mathematics, and the Institute for Mathematical and Computational Engineering.