Nearly 70 percent of the graduates represented California.

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Distance Education Network granted Master of Science degrees to a record 272 students located across the United States, most of whom earned their degrees while working full-time.

The total represented an impressive 30 percent increase over last year’s 210 graduates. The distance network, which now offers more than 30 different master’s degrees online and enrolls students abroad, continues to expand its lead as the largest online graduate engineering program in the world.

“Our growth has been truly exceptional,” said Kelly Goulis, executive director of the network. “And commencement is always a special time when we get to meet some of the students we have only known by e-mail or over the phone.”

Almost 70 percent (188) of the new master’s degree holders lived in California, followed by Washington (16), Texas (8) and Missouri (5). The most distant scholar was located in Nutley, N.J.

Distance network graduates are employed at top institutions such as Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm and others, including Sun Microsystems, Occidental Petroleum, Chevron, Microsoft, Aerospace Corporation and JPL.

The distance scholars earned M.S. degrees in a number of disciplines, including electrical engineering; systems architecture & engineering; computer science; management; mechanical; aerospace & mechanical; astronautics; product development; and industrial & systems.

For 34 years, the network has been a pioneer in distance learning, providing thousands of working professionals the opportunity to obtain their M.S. degrees in more than 30 disciplines.

The network’s advanced technology allows students to view the same lectures conducted for on-campus students, transmit homework assignments and interact with professors via chat capabilities, all from the comfort of their homes and offices.

The network currently has students from more than 40 states, as well as from Canada and Korea, who are pursuing engineering graduate degrees online. It offers more engineering graduate degrees than any other research university. For more information, visit http://den.usc.edu

More stories about: Commencement 2007