Coursera is building up its online degree and certificate inventory, taking aim at what it believes … [+]
In a bid to enlarge its global footprint, Coursera, the online learning platform and one of the pioneers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS), today announced it was launching five new degree programs at three of the world’s leading universities. The launch also includes several new online certificate programs.
The new degrees include the first programs on Coursera from universities in Brazil and India. With these additions, Coursera now offers 30 degrees from university partners across nine countries, as it ramps up to generate and meet student demand for online degrees.
The five new degree programs were described in a blog posted today by Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer at Coursera:
In addition, Vandenbosch announced that Coursera was introducing six new MasterTrack™ Certificates. These programs split complete degree programs into modules that learners complete in 3-12 months and for which they can earn a certificate. The completed courses are then counted as credit if the students are accepted into the degree program.
The new certificates include:
Finally, Coursera unveiled four new certificate programs from two leading Indian universities.
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Coursera was founded in 2012 by former Stanford University computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng. Based in Mountain View, California, the company offers an array of online content, including courses, certificates, projects and degrees from top universities.
The company went public on March 31, 2021 with an IPO of 15.73 million shares priced at $33 apiece. It is listed (COUR) on the New York Stock Exchange. As of this writing, shares are trading at $42 and the company has a market cap of nearly $5.5 billion.
Although Coursera continues to expand, it has yet to make a profit. Revenue jumped in 2020 by 59% to $293 million, but the company nevertheless recorded a net loss of $66.8 million that same year, according to its SEC filings, up from $46.7 million in 2019.
The initial vision of Coursera’s founders was to provide learners from around the world free access to college courses taught by faculty from premier universities. But since then, as the problems with that approach became apparent, it’s increased its inventory of paid offerings.
The company has three lines of business: 1) individual learners who sign up for free courses or pay for classes on a per-course or monthly basis: 2) an enterprise line where businesses, governments and other organizations pay for their employees to take Coursera courses to bolster relevant skills; and 3) undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered in partnership with what now involves dozens of institutions.
While the degree line is still the smallest in terms of revenue, that may change as the company targets the millions of learners who might opt for online courses from top-flight universities. In 2020, the number of degree students on Coursera grew by 91% compared to 2019, according to the company, and it has expanded its workforce by 300 staffers.
Coursera boasts that it now has 77 million learners from 190 countries. Converting even a modest percentage of them to paying customers for online degrees would increase its revenue dramatically. The latest course and program additions take aim at expanding this segment of Coursera’s business, specifically its overseas market.
I am president emeritus of Missouri State University. After earning my B.A. from Wheaton College (Illinois), I was awarded a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the
I am president emeritus of Missouri State University. After earning my B.A. from Wheaton College (Illinois), I was awarded a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois in 1973. I then joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky, where I progressed through the professorial ranks and served as director of the Clinical Psychology Program, chair of the department of psychology, dean of the graduate school, and provost. In 2005, I was appointed president of Missouri State University. Following retirement from Missouri State in 2011, I became senior policy advisor to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. Recently, I have authored two books: Degrees and Pedigrees: The Education of America’s Top Executives (2017) and Coming to Grips With Higher Education (2018), both published by Rowman & Littlefield.
