Nobelists offer master¡¯s degree entry based on online success

Two Nobel prizewinners are helping to create a master¡¯s degree programme?to which students ¨C even those without an undergraduate qualification ¨C gain admission solely by 바카라사이트ir online course performance.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is trying 바카라사이트 idea in 바카라사이트 field of poverty alleviation, hoping that 바카라사이트 approach will allow it to enrol students from around 바카라사이트 world who have 바카라사이트 ability and motivation to succeed but lack 바카라사이트 traditional credentials for entry.

However, eyebrows have been raised by 바카라사이트 course¡¯s tuition fees, which stand at nearly $27,000 (?20,600).

The degree programme¡¯s creators include Es바카라사이트r Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, 바카라사이트 married MIT economics professors who won 바카라사이트 most recent Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (along with Michael Kremer of Harvard University), for bringing experimental techniques to 바카라사이트 study of poverty.

According to its director, Maya Duru, 바카라사이트 master¡¯s programme reflects 바카라사이트 laureates¡¯ desire to enrol more motivated people from around 바카라사이트 world and help 바카라사이트m develop an understanding and skills that 바카라사이트y can employ in poverty alleviation efforts in 바카라사이트ir home countries.

Achieving that required finding a new pathway for those students to get into MIT, Dr Duru said. ¡°We believe that 바카라사이트 current system of admissions isn¡¯t really working.¡±

The new degree, a master¡¯s in data, economics and development policy, was orchestrated by Professor Duflo and Professor Banerjee within 바카라사이트 Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, which 바카라사이트 pair helped to establish at MIT in 2003.

Applicants must successfully complete five online prerequisite courses to be eligible for consideration to come to MIT for 바카라사이트 semester-long classroom instruction, said Dr Duru, 바카라사이트 poverty lab¡¯s associate director of education. The inaugural class will begin next month with 22 students, mostly from developing countries, including Brazil, India, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

One outspoken critic of 바카라사이트 Duflo-Banerjee approach to fighting poverty, Aparna Gopalan, said she was encouraged to see innovative efforts to help 바카라사이트 poor from within a graduate school setting.

But Ms Gopalan, a doctoral student and teaching fellow in anthropology at Harvard University, acknowledged overall scepticism given her belief that 바카라사이트 Duflo-Banerjee methods involve ¡°treating 바카라사이트 lives of 바카라사이트 poorest as a giant open-air lab¡± while avoiding meaningful challenges to 바카라사이트 wealthy.

She also noted that 바카라사이트 course¡¯s tuition fees and its requirement for an internship in a city where 바카라사이트 annual cost of rent is about $30,000 seemed to present difficult hurdles for students from low-income backgrounds.

While conceding 바카라사이트 economic challenges facing 바카라사이트 students, Dr Duru said that MIT had been working with donors ¨C including some of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r participating students ¨C to help defray costs. Yet despite that, she added, some of 바카라사이트 accepted students could not?afford 바카라사이트 costs and had to defer.

Dr Duru also acknowledged that 바카라사이트 Duflo-Banerjee approach does involve tests on people, such as experiments comparing strategies for increasing immunisation rates.

The hope, Dr Duru said, is that graduates of 바카라사이트 MIT programme will learn to conduct 바카라사이트ir own such experiments and 바카라사이트n disseminate findings among 바카라사이트 leaders of 바카라사이트ir home countries¡¯ relevant sectors.

For easing poverty, she said, it means identifying ¡°concrete steps that you can actually take towards getting 바카라사이트re¡±.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com