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UMass Amherst and Shorelight Education Announce Partnership to Offer Master’s Degree to International Students.

AMHERST, Mass. (Nov. 3, 2016) — The University of Massachusetts Amherst joined in a new global partnership with Shorelight Education of Boston that will enable international students to receive a master’s degree at one of the top public research universities in the United States. The joint initiative, UMass Amherst Global, will launch in summer 2017 with degrees in electrical and computer engineering.

The Field Degree in electrical and computer engineering (MS) is the first offering. Students will begin their studies with an intensive on-campus summer experience in Amherst and return to their home countries to complete their coursework. While there, students will attend engaging live video lectures taught by UMass Amherst faculty and receive support services to ensure their success throughout the program.

“We are excited to partner with Shorelight Education to bring the world-class faculty and student experience of UMass Amherst to top students across the globe through an innovative combination of new technology and on-campus learning,” said Katherine Newman, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Our distinguished faculty and staff have so much to offer international students and the creation of the Field Degree will enable us to broaden our impact globally.”

Newman noted that the partnership will also provide UMass Amherst with an additional source of revenue to support its educational mission and a boost to the Amherst regional economy during the slower summer months.

The initial 18-month program will begin in the summer of 2017 at UMass Amherst and continue with live lectures hosted locally by the first validated delivery partner, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of the most distinguished universities in China. The 30-credit program will provide high-level training and hands-on experience on cutting-edge problems, culminating in a capstone project based on the students’ own research. Students will benefit from support in English and their native Mandarin through involvement of UMass Amherst’s renowned Translation Center in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

“Our corporate purpose at Shorelight is to educate the world, and we are proud to take the next big step in doing that together with our partners at UMass Amherst,” said Tom Dretler, CEO of Shorelight Education. “The Commonwealth’s flagship campus has a proud record of welcoming international students from around the world, and together we can make their top graduate degree programs highly accessible to even more of the world’s top students.”

About UMass Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, founded in 1863, is the flagship of the five-campus UMass system. Home to the Commonwealth Honors College, UMass Amherst incorporates modern teaching methods involving new communication and information technology, yet remains an immersive, residential campus serving more than 22,000 undergraduate and approximately 6,300 graduate students across a comprehensive array of academic programs.

True to its land-grant roots, UMass Amherst is engaged in research and creative work in all fields and is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a doctoral university with the “highest research activity” or R1. Major areas of emphasis include climate science, food science, alternative energy, nanomanufacturing, polymer science, computer science and linguistics.

Together, students and faculty are deeply engaged in collaboration with communities—both regional and international—to improve their social and economic conditions.

About Shorelight Education

Shorelight Education is reinventing the international education experience for students worldwide. Based in Boston, the company partners with top-ranked, nonprofit American universities to build innovative degree programs and services that are both high-touch and technology-driven to help talented students succeed on campus and become globally minded alumni.

Contact: Ed Blaguszewski, 413/545-0444, edblag@umass.edu

Alex Goldstein, 617/429-4027 alex.goldstein@corporate.shorelight.com