Outsource ed.

Qualcomm Inc. engineers in India and South Korea no longer have to leave family and homeland behind in order to pursue an advanced degree in the United States. USC's graduate school of engineering is coming to them.

In April, the Viterbi School of Engineering's Distance Education Network established a partnership with Qualcomm to offer three-year master's degrees to the company's workers abroad through the school's online program.

USC has been offering "distance learning" programs in engineering for more than 20 years in the U.S., but this year is the first time the degrees are being offered internationally. Qualcomm employees in the U.S. have had access to the distance learning program since 1997.

The San Diego telecom equipment maker is the second Fortune 500 company to establish a partnership with USC for its international employees. ChevronTexaco Corp. became USC's first international partner, offering the school's petroleum engineering program to its international employees.

"The students have to meet the same admissions standards as U.S. students," said Kelly Goulis, executive director of the Distance Education Network at USC. "When they graduate, they do earn a real degree. The only difference is they don't have to drive to campus."