College of Education debuts online master’s at the intersection of AI and education | MSUToday
College of Education debuts online master’s at the intersection of AI and education | MSUToday
https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/05/ed-stats-and-ai-launch
Publish Date: 2026-05-12 15:46:00
Source Domain: msutoday.msu.edu
Starting in Fall 2026, Michigan State University will launch the first cohort of the Educational Statistics and AI online master’s program.
The only program of its kind at MSU, the degree is designed to equip educators, researchers and administrators with cutting-edge data science and artificial intelligence skills tailored specifically for education.
Program Coordinator Porsche Fischer
“This program represents the natural next step in MSU’s and the College of Education’s AI leadership,” said Porsche Fischer, the program coordinator and an academic specialist in the college. “The M.A. in Educational Statistics and AI delivers the specialized graduate training educational stakeholders need to harness these tools responsibly, ethically and innovatively in classrooms, districts and policy settings.”
The program is led by the same world-renowned scholars who have long led the college’s distinctive, successful Measurement and Quantitative Methods, or MQM, Ph.D. program. Scholars in the programs will learn together in program-blended virtual classrooms, with activities and assignments to fit their degree and career goals.
The new program — like the MQM program — includes rigorous statistical methodologies and then takes it to the next level, also incorporating practical AI applications. Program participants will also complete a capstone project that applies AI and statistics to real-world educational challenges. Graduates will be prepared to lead the transformation of PreK-12 and higher education through data-driven decision-making and the ethical deployment of AI.
And, just as AI itself is shifting, the program will shift, too, said Kenneth Frank. Frank is a MSU Research Foundation Distinguished Professor of Sociometrics and interim program director for both the Educational Statistics and AI and the MQM degree.
Program Director Kenneth Frank
“The skills and credentials earned enable graduates to remain agile and competitive in the education field…
