It was six months ago when I first mentioned a change in one of the MOOC (massive open online course) programs out there.  The one started by MIT and Harvard that became edX.  It had survived for nine years, adding courses from a slew of other prestigious institutions, with some 40 million registered users around the world.

edX was the online source for workers and the companies for which they worked to learn new skills,  become credentialed, or even obtain a degree. All at the fraction of the cost of traditional higher education- and without spending time on a campus, since the programs operated at one’s home or office.   From its advent in 2012, the program went beyond the classroom model.  Instead of a simple lecture hall deployed online, it employed active learning theory.   Video lessons were interspersed with discussions, questions, and other processes aimed to employ the knowledge just acquired.

But, the pandemic changed the focus of the students.  Instead of seeking hard skills (programming, data science, engineering), students were opting for the soft skills- emotional intelligence, communication, and leadership.    Giving the pressing research and development initiatives that obtain at MIT and Harvard, it became clear that they lacked sufficient cash reserves and capabilities needed to populate and maintain their MOOC program at the level of excellence they felt it  required.

Which gave 2U Inc. (operations are here in DC Metro, above the New Carrolton Metro stop; it has another large office in South Africa) the opportunity to snatch up this trove for $ 800 million.  (MIT and Harvard plan to use these funds to explore education innovation via the non-profit entity they set up to receive the sale proceeds.)    It took a few months to seal the deal,  which was inked a month ago (16 November 2021).  Which means there will be a fair amount of changes coming to edX.

After all, 2U is a for-profit company, providing career development and credential programs to colleges and businesses.  And, with the edX portfolio, the quality (and quantity) of their offerings have exploded. Which certainly helps even more when one considers that this online tuition is about $ 600 per credit hour- or about ½ the list price for many of the programs offered by residential colleges.  Affordability is the key to the 2U model.

With the edX programs, 2U plans to expand its offering.  Beyond Morehouse College (an HBCU- historic black college and university), George Washington (MS Public Health), Georgetown University (MS Nursing), Yale (MS Physician Assistant), UCB (MS Data Science and Analytics, and London School of Economics (BS degrees), that are among its roster of 185 colleges and universities.  Note each university maintains full control of admission, pricing, and the requisite content for the program.

One big push is to proffer some 10 free courses for the virtual age.  To help folks cope with the pandemic- and whatever life holds for us after its extinguishment.   There will always be an offering of free courses in the future, too.

Another of the new programs will be with Boston University (formerly an edX partner).  It expects to offer a Master’s in Public Health by January 2023 for a cost of about $ 24K- more than 1/3 less that the in person version costing $ 87K.  Which will complement the online MBA BU proffers via 2U for $24K.

While 2U is slightly bigger than it rival (Coursera), both are public entities.  While 2U revenue was about $ 700 million last year [expected to approach $ 1 billion this year}, it has yet to turn a profit.   Which means, it will be a real race to see who takes the lion share of the market.

Share this: