University of Southern California's DEN@Viterbi Debuts Multi-Year, Multi-Million Dollar Upgrades to its No. 1 Ranked Online Engineering Graduate Program

DEN@Viterbi Unveils New Studios to Meet Growing Demand for its Prestigious Online Engineering Graduate Degrees Catering to Working Professionals

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As thousands of students return from summer break this Fall, the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering will unveil its multi-year, multi-million dollar technology investment in its online engineering master's program, DEN@Viterbi. Responding to overwhelming enrollment demand and input from corporate partners and professional alumni from world-class companies such as Google, Boeing and ExxonMobil, the university's investments will increase the number of students the programs can serve and provide the robust interactivity necessary to develop professional skills.

DEN@Viterbi, ranked as the No. 1 online engineering program in the country by U.S. News & World Report, offers more than 40 different online graduate engineering programs – one of the largest offerings in the country. The custom-built technology infrastructure provides the platform for seamless delivery of more than 150 courses each semester to hundreds of students.

The new upgrades expand the number of classroom studios from 11 to 13 and allows faculty to teach 30 more courses per year, increasing the capacity of the DEN@Viterbi program by about 600 more online students per year. Students returning to classrooms this Fall, or attending class remotely, will find the latest HD cameras, sound capture technology, video conferencing, tablets and computers, significantly increasing the interactive capabilities of each course. This will be matched with behind-the-scenes support of video-quality monitoring, streaming and server upgrades, as well as new soundboard and camera tracking systems, all delivering a consistent, high-quality and highly responsive student experience.  

With an 84 percent graduation rate, one of the highest of any online graduate program in the nation, DEN@Viterbi has found that flexibility and interactivity are what truly enable professional students' success in online programs; having the latest technology to facilitate the process is a critical component to that success.

"Our advanced technology platform allows students to interact with fellow classmates and professors in real-time, no matter if they're earning their degree from a remote island in the Atlantic, to an active combat zone, or at home with their growing family – all situations that have happened with our remote students," said Binh Tran, DEN@Viterbi Executive Director.

Through these upgrades, DEN@Viterbi is providing the digital tools for increased interaction with faculty and classmates. The DEN@Viterbi professors, which include faculty elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, often make themselves available via phone, Skype and WebEx during times that are convenient for the global working professional. That way, remote students have those critical opportunities to ask questions and receive insights to master the material and apply it to their professional lives, often the next day.

"DEN@Viterbi is the perfect solution for the working professional," said Jose Arche, DEN@Viterbi alumnus and Quality Engineer at The Boeing Company. "I was able to balance my career and education thanks to the flexibility of the program, plus the lessons I learned were immediately applicable to my work at Boeing. The theories from my Decision Analysis, Quality Management, Project Management, and other classes enabled me to have significantly more impactful conversations with management at work as well."

Tran added, "As a pioneer in online education, DEN@Viterbi found that a successful graduate program maximizes interactivity and flexibility for each student, and prevents overcrowding courses with limited resources. The investment to upgrade our facilities and infrastructure ensures that each of our students receive the support that is critical to their success as a student and as a professional engineer."

About the Viterbi School & DEN@Viterbi 
A groundbreaking professional school in one of the world's leading private research universities, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering was recently ranked as a top-10 graduate engineering program by U.S. News and World Report, and is consistently ranked between 10^th and 12^th in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. As the oldest professional school on the USC campus, the Viterbi School celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 2005.

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering earned the No. 1 top honor in the 2013 U.S. News and World Report rankings, for both its Online Graduate Engineering Programs and its Online Computer Information Technology Programs, recognizing excellence in peer reputation, student engagement, faculty credentials and training, student services and technology, and admissions selectivity.

The Viterbi Distance Education Network (DEN@Viterbi), one of the first of its kind, was created in 1972 to address the continuing education needs of Southern California's aerospace industry. After four decades of growth and investment, Viterbi currently offers more than 40 online engineering graduate programs and professional courses from custom studio classrooms on the USC campus.

More information about DEN@Viterbi can be found online at viterbi.usc.edu/den.

SOURCE USC Viterbi School of Engineering