By Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera
Coursera was founded in 2012 with a mission of providing universal access to world-class learning. At no time in Coursera’s history has this mission been more relevant or urgent. The world is facing unprecedented economic disruption, and the need to develop skills for a digital future is even more apparent now. The pandemic has created irreversible changes to the ways universities, enterprises, and governments operate — and online learning will be at the heart of how the world responds.
As we adapt to a “new normal,” Coursera is seeing unprecedented demand. Since mid-March, over 21 million learners have joined Coursera, a 353% increase from the same period last year. Similarly, during that time, we’ve seen more than 50 million course enrollments on Coursera, a 444% increase. Thousands of colleges and universities now offer Coursera to enrich their students’ learning experience.
In Coursera’s inaugural impact report, you’ll find that how the world learns is dramatically changing. Students globally are seeking high-quality online learning options. Universities are ushering in a new era of digital transformation. Workers are learning job-relevant skills to stay competitive. Public health officials are training thousands of contact tracers at scale. Together with our partners, we launched a number of initiatives to help learners and institutions every step of the way, providing them with access to free content, job-relevant skills, and many resources on Coursera.
What started as a short-term response to a crisis will result in a long-term digital transformation of higher education. Much still needs to be done, but together we have made a difference that we all can be proud of.
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