Wentworth Starts Innovative One-Year APEX Pathway
Non-STEM bachelor’s degree students can earn engineering, computing and data science master’s degrees
In support of the high demand for advanced STEM expertise, Wentworth Institute of Technology is launching APEX (Accelerated Pathways to Engineering & Computing eXperience). Serving as a pipeline for students who want to build the foundation for advanced degrees in careers in Engineering and Computing, professionals and other qualified individuals with bachelor's degrees in non-STEM fields can prepare themselves for master’s degree programs at Wentworth in Engineering or Computing and Data Science.
“We want to empower people to pursue their dreams,” says Durga Suresh-Menon, dean of Graduate Education at Wentworth. “APEX is a unique opportunity for recent graduates who want to deepen their technical proficiency, as well as for more seasoned professionals or career changers who want to upskill to more challenging and higher-paying careers.”
Although APEX students must be enrolled full-time, the program is designed with flexibility so that students can complete their training in either one or two years. Students take courses in engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, and other relevant science courses. Upon successful completion of the APEX pathway, students are eligible candidates for a master's degree in their selected field. They can complete their master’s degree in one to two years depending on their plan of study, degree requirements, and part-time or full-time status.
A science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce plays a key role in the sustained growth and stability of the U.S. economy and is a critical component to helping the country succeed in the future, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce report.
Over the past 10 years, growth in STEM jobs was three times greater than in non-STEM occupations. According to the Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce, one in five jobs in Massachusetts requires a master’s degree. Jobs associated with Wentworth’s STEM, design and management undergraduate degrees saw an 18- to 33-percent increase in salaries for STEM master’s degrees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau of Labor Statistics. STEM workers are also less likely to experience joblessness than their non-STEM counterparts.
“This innovative pathway addresses the critical need in the current market for talented individuals with advanced training in engineering, computing and data science,” says Provost Ian Lapp, who put APEX on a fast track to begin in Fall 2021.
APEX students will take classes side-by-side with undergraduate engineering and computing and data science students, bringing a new level of maturity and knowledge to the classroom and labs, and learning new technological skills from their professors and digital-native peers. They will have the same access to all the transformative hands-on learning experiences as their peers, including 60-plus labs at their disposal, a dedicated faculty and a large network of professional alumni working in their fields of interest.
In addition, non-technical undergraduates with degrees in the arts, humanities, sciences and business bring new thinking and experience to the table. In the case of the APEX engineering track, students complete foundational classes and labs in calculus, physics and differential equations, to name a few. For those selecting a Computing and Data Science APEX track, foundational classes and labs include computer science, advanced calculus, data structures and algorithms. Depending on their STEM master’s degree of choice, APEX students will be studying everything from computer-assisted design to digital logic to feedback control.
Upon completion and with a 3.0 GPA or higher, APEX graduates are automatically accepted into one of Wentworth’s growing list of engineering, computer and data science graduate degrees, including master’s degrees offered in: