Jump to content

Coursera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coursera Inc.
Screenshot
Coursera's homepage in March 2020
Type of businessPublic
Type of site
Online education
Available inMultilingual (40)
Traded asNYSE: COUR
HeadquartersMountain View, California, U.S.
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)
Key people
IndustryE-learning
RevenueIncrease US$636 million (2023) [1]
Operating incomeNegative increase US$−146 million (2023)[1]
Net incomeNegative increase US$−117 million (2023)[1]
Total assetsDecrease US$921 million (2023)[1]
Total equityDecrease US$616 million (2023)[1]
Employees1,295 (2023)[1]
URLcoursera.org
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Users142 million (2023)[1]
LaunchedApril 2012; 12 years ago (2012-04)
Current statusActive

Coursera Inc. (/kərˈsɛrə/) is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in 2012[2][3] by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller.[4] Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects.

On February 2, 2021, Coursera announced its B Corporation certification from B Lab[5] and its transformation into a Public Benefit Corporation.[6]

As of 2023, more than 300 universities and companies[7] were offering courses through Coursera, and by 2024, the number of courses available had risen to approximately 7,000.[8]

History

[edit]

Coursera was founded in 2012[9] by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng[10] and Daphne Koller.[11] Ng and Koller started offering their Stanford courses online in fall 2011,[12] and soon after left Stanford to launch Coursera. Princeton, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania were the first universities to offer content on the platform.[13]

In 2010 Coursera received both the Webby Winner (Websites and Mobile Sites Education 2014) and the People's Voice Winner (Websites and Mobile Sites Education) awards.[14]

In March 2021, Coursera filed for an IPO.[15] The nine-year-old company brought in roughly $293 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31 — a 59% growth rate from 2019, according to the filing. Net losses widened by roughly $20 million yearly, reaching $66.8 million in 2020.[16] Coursera spent $107 million on marketing in 2020.[17]

Finances

[edit]

Coursera's revenues rose from $184 million in 2019 to $294 million in 2020. The company lost $66 million in 2020 as it ramped up marketing and advertising.[18]

For the first quarter of 2021, Coursera reported revenue of $88.4 million, up 64% from a year earlier, with a net loss of $18.7 million, or $13.4 million on a non-GAAP basis.[19] Coursera said consumer revenue was $51.9 million, up 61%, while enterprise revenue was $24.5 million, up 63%, and degree programs had revenue of $12 million, up 81%.[19]

For the third quarter of 2021, Coursera reported revenue of $109.9 million, up 33% from $82.7 million a year ago. Gross profit was $67.7 million or 61.6% of revenue. Net loss was $(32.5) million or (29.5)% of revenue.

To date, Coursera has never made a profit.[20]

Funding

[edit]

The startup raised an initial $16 million funding round backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates. In 2013, GSV led the Series B investment, which totaled $63 million. In 2015, NEA led the Series C round of venture funding, which totaled more than $60 million. In 2017, the company raised $64 million from its existing investors in a Series D round of funding.[21] In 2019, the company raised $103 million in Series E round of funding from the SEEK Group, Future Fund and NEA.[22] The company reached valuation of $1 billion+ in 2019. In July 2020, the company announced it had raised $130 million in Series F funding and updated its valuation to $2.5 billion.[23]

Coursera priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $33 per share in New York on March 31, 2021, valuing the company at approximately $4.30 billion. The IPO aimed to raise about $519 million. Coursera's revenue rose by 59% to $293.5 million in 2020. The IPO included around 14.7 million shares of common stock, with approximately 1.1 million shares offered by selling shareholders.[24]

Business model

[edit]

In September 2013, it announced it had earned $1 million in revenue through the sale of verified certificates that authenticate successful course completion.[25] Coursera first rolled out a series of fee-based course options, which included verified credentials for completion, in 2013.[26] As of October 2015, the company had raised a total of $146.1 million in venture capital.[27]

In January 2016, Coursera rolled out fees to earn grades and assessments for "the vast majority of courses that are part of Specializations".[28] The company offers financial aid to people who demonstrate a need.[29] In July 2016, the company launched an enterprise product called Coursera for Business. TechCrunch notes that the company "opened itself to additional revenues from the lucrative corporate e-learning market, which some reports suggest was worth $12 billion in the US alone".[30] Coursera for Business customers include L'Oréal, Boston Consulting Group, and Axis Bank. In October 2016, Coursera launched a monthly subscription model for Specializations and a 1-week free trial. The company has said subscription costs will vary "depending on the topic area".[31]

In January 2017, the company launched Coursera for Governments & Nonprofits. Coursera has announced partnerships with the Institute for Veterans & Military Families (IVMF) in the United States and entities in Egypt, Mongolia, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.[32] In June 2017, Jeff Maggioncalda became the CEO of Coursera.[33][34][35]

In March 2018, Coursera launched six fully online degree courses, including bachelor's and master's qualifications in various domains.[36]

In 2020, reports indicated that Coursera operates on a mixed model, with fewer than 10% of students choosing to pay for courses, whereas the vast majority preferred the free options available. Around 60% of students in degree programs initially explore free courses. Coursera's CEO describes the platform as a "managed marketplace," akin to Apple's app store, where the company curates courses, sets format standards, and establishes pricing guidelines. Revenue sharing varies, with universities receiving 60% of revenue from degree courses, and an even split for certificate courses in technology and business.[37]

Strategic partners

[edit]

As of December 2019, the total number of partners is more than 200 across 29 countries. Coursera mainly works with universities and colleges, but also with corporations[38] and governments. University partners include University of São Paulo in Brazil,[39] University of London[40] in the UK, Indian School of Business of India,[41] Yonsei University in South Korea,[42] and institutions like Yale,[43] University of Illinois and University of Pennsylvania.[44] Google launched Professional certification program.[45] Google will consider all of its certificates as the equivalent of a four-year college degree.[46][47]

Product and services

[edit]

Courses

[edit]

Coursera courses last approximately four to twelve weeks, with one to two hours of video lectures a week. These courses provide quizzes, weekly exercises, peer-graded and reviewed assignments, an optional Honors assignment, and sometimes a final project or exam to complete the course.[48] Courses are also provided on-demand, in which case users can take their time in completing the course with all of the material available at once. As of May 2015, Coursera offered 104 on-demand courses. They also provide guided projects which are short 2–3 hour projects that can be done at home.

According to 'Coursera Impact Report 2020', the top five most popular courses that people learn from Coursera were contact tracing, digital marketing, project management, Python programming, and social psychology.[49] In addition to this, the DeepLearning.AI specializations by Coursera founder Andrew Ng, including AI for Good Specialization are widely reported on in media.

Degrees

[edit]

As of 2017, Coursera offers complete master's degrees. They first started with a Master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MSIE) from HEC Paris and a Master's of Accounting (iMSA) from the University of Illinois but have moved on to offer a Master of Computer Science in Data Science and Master of Business Administration (iMBA), both from University of Illinois.[50] Also as part of their MBA programs, there are some courses which are offered separately, which are included in the curriculum of specific MBAs when enrolling in classes such as their digital marketing courses, and now days they also offer Master of Science in Cyber Security from University of London besides Bachelor of Science in Marketing.[citation needed]

Professional certificate

[edit]

Google, IBM, Meta[51] and other well-known companies, launched various courses for professional certificates, allowing students to fill the workforce in various sectors, such as data analytics, IT support, digital marketing, UX design, project management, and data science.[47][45] According to Google, their courses are equivalent to 4 year degrees. Such courses include courses on Generative AI, Data analytics, IT Support, Digital Marketing & E-commerce, Cybersecurity, and more. Google has a total of 1,172 courses on Coursera. They also offered 100,000 scholarships.[52] Google and its 20+ partners will accept those certificates as 4-year degree equivalent.[53][54]

Pricing and Fees

[edit]

Some people find Coursera's pricing and fees confusing.[55][56][57][58] Many of its courses are free to students—over 2,900 free courses as of 2023.[55]

The free courses (also called "auditing a course") do not include a certificate of completion or grades or any other instructor feedback. A free course can be "upgraded" to the paid version of a course, which includes instructor's feedback and grades for the submitted assignments, and (if the student gets a passing grade) a certificate of completion. [56][59]

Other Coursera courses, projects, specializations, etc. cannot be audited—they are only available in paid versions. Many of them begin with a 7-day free trial.[57][58][59]

Impact

[edit]

In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Coursera launched a course by the Jameel Institute at Imperial College London.[60] Called "Science Matters: Let's Talk About COVID-19", the course was the most popular launched on Coursera in 2020, with over 130,000 enrolled learners that year.[61] The course was presented by Jameel Institute research lead Professor Helen Ward and deputy director Dr Katharina Hauck, with specific modules in collaboration with other researchers from across Imperial.[62]

Outreach and sponsorship programs

[edit]

In March 2020, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Coursera, alongside its partners, sponsored over 115 certification courses for people who may have been affected by the global pandemic. This is part of an outreach initiative for people who may have lost their jobs, been retrenched, had their salaries reduced, or merely want to improve and grow by learning and developing their technical skills through recognized certifications. The program ended on December 31, 2020, but many free courses on Coursera remain available through auditing.[63]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Coursera Inc. 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 22 February 2024. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  2. ^ Pappano, Laura (2012-11-02). "The Year of the MOOC". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  3. ^ "How Coursera Makes Money". Investopedia. Archived from the original on 2023-07-02. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  4. ^ Leighton, Mara. "Coursera is one of the top online learning platforms, with thousands of courses from schools like Yale, Geis College of Business and companies like Google — here's how it works". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  5. ^ "Coursera – Certified B Corporation – B Lab Global". www.bcorporation.net. Archived from the original on 2024-04-22. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  6. ^ Iris (2021-02-02). "Coursera Receives B Corp™ Certification". Coursera Blog. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  7. ^ "Coursera to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results". www.businesswire.com. 2024-01-18. Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  8. ^ Obias, Rudie (2024-01-31). "Sign up for Coursera Plus and Save $200 on an Annual Subscription". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2024-02-06. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  9. ^ Tamar Lewin (17 July 2012). "Universities Reshaping Education on the Web". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  10. ^ Quora. "Coursera Co-Founder Andrew Ng: AI Shouldn't Be Regulated As A Basic Technology". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  11. ^ NPR Staff (30 September 2012). "Online Education Grows Up, And For Now, It's Free Listen·18:14". NPR. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  12. ^ Staff (August 2012). "Teaching the World: Daphne Koller and Coursera". IEEE. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  13. ^ Waters, Audrey (18 April 2012). "Coursera, the Other Stanford MOOC Startup, Officially Launches with More Poetry Classes, Fewer Robo-Graders". Hacked Education. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Coursera | The Webby Awards". Webby. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  15. ^ "Online education startup Coursera has filed for an IPO". Mar 6, 2021. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved Mar 8, 2021.
  16. ^ León, Riley de (2021-03-05). "Coursera files for IPO amid online learning boom". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  17. ^ McKenzie, Lindsay (9 March 2021). "'MOOCs Failed, Short Courses Won'". www.insidehighered.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Coursera S-1". sec.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  19. ^ a b Savitz, Eric J. "Coursera Posts Strong Growth in First Quarter Since IPO". www.barrons.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  20. ^ "Coursera, Inc. (COUR)". finance.yahoo.com. Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  21. ^ "Online learning startup Coursera raises $64M at an $800M valuation". TechCrunch. 7 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  22. ^ "Online learning startup Coursera picks up $103M, now valued at $1B+". TechCrunch. 25 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  23. ^ Adams, Susan (17 July 2020). "Online Learning Platform Coursera Raises $130 Million At Reported $2.6 Billion Valuation". Forbes. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  24. ^ "Coursera to raise about $519 million in U.S. IPO at over $4 billion valuation". Reuters. 2021-03-31.
  25. ^ Heussner, Ki Mae (12 September 2013). "Coursera hits $1M in revenue through verified certificates". Gigaom. Archived from the original on 21 June 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  26. ^ Fain, Paul (9 January 2013). "Paying for Proof". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  27. ^ Staff (9 January 2013). "Coursera: CNBC Distruptor". CNBC. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  28. ^ Staff (25 January 2016). "Coursera to Charge Fees for Previously Free Courses". EdSurge. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  29. ^ Staff (20 June 2016). "IIE to Connect Refugee Students with Online Courses through New Coursera for Refugees Program". Institute of International Education. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  30. ^ Sawers, Paul (31 August 2016). "Coursera for Business launches to tap the billion-dollar corporate e-learning market". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  31. ^ Kuchler, Hannah (31 October 2016). "Education start-up Coursera shifts to monthly subscriptions". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  32. ^ Sawers, Paul (24 January 2017). "Coursera for governments and nonprofits launches to 'close the growing skills gap'". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  33. ^ Korn, Melissa (2017-06-13). "Coursera Names Financial Engines Ex-CEO Jeff Maggioncalda as New Leader". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  34. ^ "Coursera gets a new CEO: former Financial Engines CEO Jeff Maggioncalda replaces Rick Levin". VentureBeat. 2017-06-13. Archived from the original on 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  35. ^ "Coursera hires CEO who helped his last company go public". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-18. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  36. ^ Atack, Patrick (6 March 2018). "Coursera joins ranks of online degree expansionists with six new degrees". thepienews.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-02. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  37. ^ Lohr, Steve (2020-05-26). "Remember the MOOCs? After Near-Death, They're Booming". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2024-02-20. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  38. ^ "IT Support Professional Certificate". Grow With Google. Archived from the original on 2020-07-09. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  39. ^ Heim, Anna (4 October 2014). "September in Latin America: All the tech news you shouldn't miss from the past month". The Next Web. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  40. ^ Staff (19 August 2016). "New IoT and Embedded Systems courses launched on Coursera". eCampusNews. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  41. ^ Dasgupta, Brinda (9 June 2016). "Coursera and ISB launch series of investment management courses". The Economic Times. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  42. ^ Fairhead, Harry Connolly (12 October 2016). "Online Training For IoT Development". I-Programmer. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  43. ^ Martell, Bess Connolly (22 February 2016). "School of Music launches 'Music and Social Action' Coursera course". Yale News. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  44. ^ DQIndia Online (17 August 2016). "Coursera partners with U.S. Department of State and University of Pennsylvania". DataQuest. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  45. ^ a b "learn google it guide". Archived from the original on 2021-07-08. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  46. ^ "Google announces 100,000 scholarships for online certificates in data analytics, project management and UX". CNBC. 13 July 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  47. ^ a b "google to launch new career certificate-program". 21 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  48. ^ Kamenetz, Anya (2012-08-08). "How Coursera, A Free Online Education Service, Will School Us All | Fast Company | Business + Innovation". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
  49. ^ "Report: Coursera Impact Report (2020)". Coursera Press. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  50. ^ Sinha, Nikhil (12 March 2017). "Coursera Launches Two New Master's Degrees from HEC Paris and the University of Illinois". Coursera. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  51. ^ "Facebook offers social media marketing professional certificate course via Coursera". 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  52. ^ "Google announces 100,000 scholarships for online certificates in data analytics, Project management and UX". CNBC. 13 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  53. ^ "Google Has a Plan to Disrupt the College Degree". 19 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  54. ^ "Google sets out to disrupt four-year degrees". 28 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  55. ^ a b Catherine Cooke. "Coursera Costs: How Much Does It Cost?" Archived 2023-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. 2023.
  56. ^ a b "Coursera Pricing: How Much Does It Cost?" Archived 2023-10-30 at the Wayback Machine.
  57. ^ a b Liz Hurley. "How much does Coursera Cost? Coursera pricing clearly explained" Archived 2023-10-30 at the Wayback Machine.
  58. ^ a b Ryan Harris. "Coursera Cost 2023: Detailed Pricing Breakdown" Archived 2023-10-30 at the Wayback Machine. 2023.
  59. ^ a b Pat Bowden. "How much does Coursera cost?" Archived 2023-10-02 at the Wayback Machine. 2023.
  60. ^ "COVID19: Imperial launches free online course exploring science behind outbreak | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  61. ^ "Free COVID-19 online course re-launches to learners worldwide | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. 28 March 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  62. ^ "Science Matters: Let's Talk About COVID-19". Coursera. Archived from the original on 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  63. ^ "Coursera Together: Free online learning during COVID-19". 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
[edit]
  • Official website Edit this at Wikidata
  • Business data for Coursera Inc.:
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coursera&oldid=1246249234"