Master of Professional Studies in Artificial Intelligence
I've been accepted into a few master's programs. I also got accepted into Penn State for their Master of Professional Studies in Artificial Intelligence. I have never heard of an MPE until now. Is this marketable, or should I pursue a M.S. in Artificial intelligence? I'm more interested in working in AI vs theory or research. I'm trying to move into AI software engineering. TC: $170k YOE: 2 #swe #artificialintelligence #ai #masters
The exact title of the degree matters less than things like the reputation of the school, the content of the curriculum, the program’s history of placing graduates, etc. To use an extreme example, this degree would be far more valuable than an MS in AI from some for-profit college.
Does the reputation really matter that much? I’m just trying to break into AI
It will certainly help. This is a very competitive field. Just having a degree will not be sufficient. Being backed by a good school with a strong alumni network can only help, both immediately and down the road.
Doesn’t look particularly in depth. What do you mean by “AI software engineering”? Productionizing models vs developing them? MLOps? Etc? You don’t need a masters for those things.
It doesn’t matter honestly, I just want to get into AI. The masters will be free from the army so I think it can help get me a solid foundation. Also what doesn’t look In depth?
The problem is there's a lot of things that "getting into AI" could mean. Getting a more clear idea of the type of work you want to do (research? infra? ML eng? etc) will help guide whether or not this is a good use of time and money. My perspective, just apply and get an entry level role in some ML org given your YOE, because unless you're doing research, none of them require a Masters. And if you want a Masters, be it for personal enjoyment or professional development I would recommend something more widely accepted in the field.
MS in Artificial Intelligence. No one will know what the other degree is. It sounds like a sociology degree.
Professional Studies = Cash cow program.
So you’ve seen this before?
Yep. Lots of schools do shit like this. Harvard does it with their “extension school” and Columbia also does it with the “School of Professional Studies”. It’s a way of making a ton in tuition without diluting their more prestigious programs.
Professional studies means interdisciplinary. Meaning not focused on math and science of AI. Meaning liberal arts kinds of ideas about AI. I'd assume a lot of writing about AI, discussions of AI ethics+risks, a statistics course on par with what you'd do in a business degree, and an intro to coding class that maybe uses some off the shelf data tools. Maybe a course on prompting techniques? Maybe an overview of the field of AI and what domains and classes of models exist? Or maybe I'm completely wrong, but lots of hiring managers might make the same assumptions I'm making. As a swe I think you'd be better suited by an MS.
Ask which one has the highest job placement rate after graduation.
Ask the advisors?