It's something I haven't looked into for many years but I find it interesting that Masters engineering programs seem to span the range from coursework-only one year programs to two year plus programs with a thesis. With relatively little correlation between that and the overall reputation of the school/degree.
In my experience, the thesis is a huge part of the degree when it's present so I find it at least somewhat curious that some (many?) programs that are generally considered quite good don't have one.
Oh, I certainly understand that. I just find it interesting that there often doesn't seem to be a big distinction drawn between Masters degrees with a thesis component and those without--even though that's a pretty big difference. It's hardly unique to Georgia Tech. My understanding is that many Stanford Masters degrees don't require a thesis either.
It definitely is interesting. I did most of a Master's in CS at a state school ~2013 that offered both thesis and non-thesis options. The non-thesis was newer and more popular for part-time.
Another thing one professor explained to me is that the standards for a Master's thesis are actively changing. You can either do a glorified undergrad senior project (but with you doing all of the work that a small team might do in undergrad) or intense publication-worthy research. The latter was mostly people going forward with a PhD to follow. I definitely went in to the degree with the impression that all Master's students were doing a thesis in the second category, but I think this is a case of the times are changing.
In my experience, the thesis is a huge part of the degree when it's present so I find it at least somewhat curious that some (many?) programs that are generally considered quite good don't have one.