In August, we will remove several courses from our active catalog. While we expect this change will have a small impact for most students, it will affect the computer science curriculum in our certificate programs.
What courses are changing?
After August 17, 2018, exams and certificates of completion will no longer be available for the courses below. The course content will remain available for informal use or reuse by others, most likely on our legacy courses site.
K12MATH013: Calculus AB
K12MATH014: Advanced Statistics
MA101: Single Variable Calculus
CS303: Algorithms
CS304: Compilers
CS305: Web Development
CS404: Programming Languages
CS405: Artificial Intelligence
CS406: Information Security
CS408: Advanced Artificial Intelligence
CS409: Cryptography
CS410: Advanced Databases
CS412: Mobile Applications Development (previously deprecated from March 1, 2018)
Why are we making these changes?
The three math courses are redundant with other active courses. We are moving from three Calculus I courses to just one (MA005), and from three statistics courses to two (MA121 and business statistics).
The main reason for deprecating the other courses is that the the subject areas have changed and continue to change rapidly. Most of the courses need significant updates and a handful would benefit from an overhaul. We do not want to present any courses that are simply not up to par but do want to focus our resources where they will do the most immediate good for our students and mission.
Will these courses be available again in the future?
All of the courses above should remain available as unmaintained, publicly-accessible versions, as with the rest of our legacy courses.
Some courses might be brought back later on, especially as shorter or foundational courses. As always, please let us know what you would like to see — especially in topics that are not being served by others.
What about the Computer Science Curriculum certificate program?
The deactivation of these courses will affect the CS curriculum immediately from August 17th. If you want to earn the CS Curriculum certificate, you will need to pass at least seven of the courses by then (see the curriculum for details on which courses). We do not currently have plans to replace the CS curriculum program with a smaller program, but we always welcome suggestions.
Remember that every Saylor Academy course offers its own certificate of completion and that only courses in the list above will become inactive!
Worry not — these changes notwithstanding, we have plenty of good news coming down the lane! Let us know you thoughts, concerns, questions, and ideas, and subscribe to our blog by email, RSS, or in our discussion forums to stay in the know.