This spring, Cal State Long Beach for the first time will offer a fully online academic program a graduate management degree for engineers moving up the corporate ladder.

The university will offer a master of science in engineering management to professionals who are too pressed for time or traveling too often to attend traditional classes.

"All they need is a laptop and Internet connection, and they are in the classroom,' said Mihir Das, associate dean of the university's College of Engineering. "They can very well study in their pajamas.'

More than 70 engineers have already expressed interest in the program, which would be run jointly with Cal State Dominguez Hill's School of Business and Public Administration, Das said.

Two-thirds of engineers move up to management positions but often have no training in that area, Das said.

"The advantage for (program graduates) is they don't have to start cold,' he said. "They will have the tools of management.'

Students in the program can get their master's degree more quickly than they could a master's in business administration, he said.

"We expect students to be in and out in about two-and-a-half years,' he said.

The classes, limited to 25 students, will be offered four times per year, he said.

The school is still waiting for approval from an accreditation body but hopes to start graduate classes in April and prerequisite courses this month, he said.

Cal State Dominguez Hills now offers master's degrees in business and in public administration online.