Making Ivy League Degrees More Accessible with Alexis Abramson

We sat down with Alexis Abramson—a mechanical engineer, the thirteenth Dean of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, and co-founder of Edifice Analytics. Degrees as a credential, particularly from top institutions, continue to be a major driver of long-term economic mobility. Offering them online creates unprecedented access for learners to gain from these prestigious programs. However, fully online degrees from Ivy Leagues are relatively uncommon —but Dartmouth is changing that. In this conversation, we go behind the scenes of how Alexis and her team created Dartmouth’s very first fully online degree—a Master of Engineering in Computer Engineering—from building equity in admissions to crafting a program as engaging and valuable as a traditional on-campus experience. We also cover her outlook on how universities are adapting to prepare students for the changing tech landscape, and what excites her most about the future of engineering. From virtual assistants to virtual reality, intelligent systems are embedded in our everyday lives, and it is critical that engineers in our world understand both the technology and the human impact. You can begin your engineering journey today by checking out Dartmouth’s Master of Engineering in Computer Engineering—available now on Coursera. +++ With Coursera Plus, you’ll have unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs from world-class universities and companies like Yale, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Sign up for Coursera Plus today.