No bachelor degree, no problem – How Matt Daiter wins his Cu Boulder Msee online

When New Jersey native Matthew Daiter participated in the MS in the electrical engineering program at the University of Colorado Boulder University, he already had nearly a decade of real-life experience behind him. No undergraduate degree. There is no traditional academic trajectory. It’s just a “fashionable educational path”, an attitude that can be done, and the career building and breaking boundaries spent in hardware startups.

The story of Matt, now based in Hong Kong, is nothing more than a traditional but inspiring story that can be read.

Skip college and join the workforce

“I didn’t go to college,” Matt said. “I started working immediately after high school.” This decision began a four-year journey for Tornado: two startups, a lot of hands-on learning, and doesn’t seem to really need to go back to the path of education. Then, in his 20s, after he tried to return to a semester of undergraduate courses, he quickly realized that it wasn’t the right one.

“Most undergraduate courses are rigid, structured four years of experience,” he explained. “I want to see – is there a path that reflects my past experiences, being able to start school again without the repetitive matter or time flowing?”

Enter: Cu Boulder’s Performance-Based Admission

Matt found his answer in Boulder’s online MSEE, which offers performance-based admissions (PBA), a system that allows learners to prove their readiness through an initial course (rather than a previous transcript).

“There is help that you can prove that you enter into the program helps,” he said. “The boulder of flexibility provides that can be skipped based on performance or merit, which really helps.”

For those who are already consulting, signing and making real products, traditional gatekeepers in academia make no sense. He needs something to build for the actors.

Why go back to school?

“You can teach yourself to some extent,” Matt said. “But I’m running into boundaries. I want to rely on product development and physical product development, and I’m limiting products that I can produce independently.”

Despite speaking at conferences and advising startups, he found that no formal degree had brought him back, especially internationally. “Visa issue. The government is not taking it seriously. If you only have a high school degree, they want you to produce at a certain (lower) level.”

What wins the owner is to gain effectiveness, expand his choices, and eventually sneak into topics he desires to explore, such as microelectronics, signaling systems and power systems, he is half-joking, “the ability to plug any device into a wall without blowing the fusion.”

What is online learning real like

Matt doesn’t sugar his experience: Boulder’s online program isn’t for everyone.

“This shouldn’t be for everyone,” he said. “If you want to learn how to swim, you can find a pool, take online classes and teach yourself. Or you can pay to show up at the pool and have the coach hold your hand. Both work, but they are different types of personality.” For Matt, Boulder’s online learning experience is more like the former, allowing him to really maintain a deep interest and self-start mindset.

As part of the program’s first cohort, he recalls frustrating moments—the final answer is wrong, the isolation of never physically meeting classmates and the occasional “Reddit-Plus” confusion of discussion forums and slack clues. But the tradeoff is worth it: total flexibility.

“With Boulder, if you want to speed up, you can. It almost feels like a game to get to the end of these course marks.”

He completed his degree between October 2019 and December 2020 and was proud of finally making the decision to make sure to go back to school. “I’m not good at taking vacations and school is a good cover. Even though I don’t have a job, I still feel like I’m improving.”

Suggestions for future learners: Get started

Matt’s biggest advice? Don’t wait for the perfect time.

“Just start,” he said. “Let it blister and find the right time to dip in. I remember feeling it two years before actually going back.”

“Optional” is a trap, he added, “keep the door open and the other doors close on the road. Just call and decide if you want to do it.”

What does rewriting education mean

Now, Matt continues to work on contracts and consulting for startups around the world with his formal master’s degree and years of entrepreneurial experience, and is following his next move.

“I’m working on how to conceptualize education and what it should mean,” he said. “But you just have to jump in and swim.”