Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) - The Best Degree Program Ever?" with Dr. Zvi Galil.

Abstract: In May 2013, Georgia Tech together with its partners, Udacity and AT&T,announced a new online master’s degree in computer science delivered through theplatform popularized by massively open online courses (MOOCs). This new online MS in CS(OMSCS) costs less than $7,000 total, compared to a price tag of $40,000 for an MS CS atcomparable public universities and upwards of $70,000 at private universities. The fi rst-of-its-kind program was launched in January 2014 and has sparked a worldwide conversationabout higher education in the 21st century. President Barack Obama has praised OMSCS byname twice, and hundreds news stories mentioned the program. It’s been described as apotential “game changer” and “ground zero of the revolution in higher education”. HarvardUniversity researchers concluded that OMSCS is “the fi rst rigorous evidence showing anonline degree program can increase educational attainment” and predicted that OMSCS willsingle-handedly raise the number of annual MS CS graduates in the United States by at least 7 percent.

OMSCS started in 2014 with 5 courses and 380 students; in the spring of 2026 semester ithad 46 courses and almost 19,000 students. OMSCS is to our knowledge the biggest academic program in the world in any subject, whether in person or online. So far 16,500students have graduated from OMSCS, over 7,000 in the last 3 years. The number ofapplications to OMSCS keeps rising. In the 2024-25 academic year there were 9,860applications, 31% higher than the record in the year before. The program has also paved theway for more than 50 similar programs in over 30 universities. In November 2023, a Forbesarticle described OMSCS as the best degree program ever. There has been a big shortage ofcomputing professionals in the US. Therefore, OMSCS is satisfying a great national need.Starting in 2017, Georgia Tech expanded its online off erings to undergraduate computerscience students. The talk will describe the OMSCS program, how it came about, its fi rsttwelve years, and what Georgia Tech has learned from the OMSCS experience. It will alsodiscuss the speaker’s vision of the future of higher education with a much larger role for online learning.

Bio: Dr. Zvi Galil earned BS and MS degrees in Applied Mathematicsfrom Tel Aviv University, both summa cum laude, and his PhD inComputer Science from Cornell University. After a post-doctorate inIBM’s Thomas J. Watson research center, he returned to Israel andjoined the faculty of Tel-Aviv University, serving as chair of theComputer Science department in 1979-1982. In 1982 he joined thefaculty of Columbia University, serving as the chair of the ComputerScience Department in 1989-1994 and as Morris and Alma A. Schapiro Dean of The FuFoundation School of Engineering & Applied Science in 1995-2007. In 2007 Galil returned toTel Aviv University and served as president. In 2009 he resigned as president and returnedto the faculty as a professor of Computer Science. In July 2010 he became The John P. Imlay,Jr. Dean of Computing at Georgia Tech. In June 2019 he stepped down as dean and becamethe Frederick G. Storey Chair in Computing and Executive Advisor to Online Programs.

Dr. Galil was a moving force behind the establishment of Georgia Tech’s online master’s incomputer science (OMSCS), which by Fall 2025 had grown to almost 17,000 studentsrepresenting more than 100 countries. Inside Higher Education noted that OMSCS “suggeststhat institutions can successfully deliver high-quality, low-cost degrees to students at scale.”The Chronicle of Higher Ed noted that the OMSCS “may have the best chance of changinghow much students pay for a traditional degree.”

Dr. Galil’s research areas have been the design and analysis of algorithms, complexity,cryptography and experimental design. He has written over 200 scientifi c papers, edited 5books, and has given more than 250 lectures in 30 countries.

In 2008, Columbia University established the Zvi Galil award for student life. In 2009, theColumbia Society of Graduates awarded him the Great Teacher Award.

In 2025 the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association awarded him the Michael PupinMedal for service to the nation in science, technology, or engineering. The advisory boardof the College of Computing at Georgia Tech raised over $2 million from over 130 donors toestablish an endowed chair named after Galil.

Galil is a fellow of the ACM and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a memberof the National Academy of Engineering. In 2012 he earned an honorary doctorate from the University of Waterloo Canada and in 2024 he earned one from Columbia University.