Coursera Expands With 10 New University Partnerships

Earlier this year, MOOC superstar Coursera’s cred went up a notch. With the American Council on Education giving its official approval to certain Coursera programs, the MOOC provider has gone beyond the idea of learning for the sheer pleasure of it. Indeed, with some courses having the potential to be counted as credit toward a university degree, Coursera has taken on a new significance. Only about three months after this initial development, Coursera is not sitting on its laurels. In fact, it is expanding – with 10 new university partnerships.

Coursera was born with the grand vision of everyone having access to a world-class education without having to pay an arm and a leg. While there are still issues regarding access – after all, not everyone has Internet access – the startup has certainly made learning accessible to countless people all over the world. Early in its life, it might have seemed to critics that this MOOC concept was only a trend. There might not have been much credibility in terms of “official” diplomas.

However, Coursera and its partners have proven otherwise. With millions of students benefitting from the programs offered by various universities, Coursera can only go further. And the 10 new university partners is part of that expansion.

You might be thinking that this is a regular activity expected of Coursera. That’s true!

The significant thing detail here is that the new university partners are not the only ones providing content. As a matter of fact, the universities are also adding MOOC content to their course offerings as well. Isn’t that a testament to the credibility and quality of MOOC content?

The 10 new university partners of Coursera are:

1. State University of New York (SUNY)
2. Tennessee Board of Regents
3. University of Tennessee Systems
4. University of Colorado System
5. University of Houston System
6. University of Kentucky
7. University of Nebraska
8. University of New Mexico
9. University System of Georgia
10. West Virginia University

And it looks like we’re going to hear more in the near future. Coursera CEOs are looking positive, as well:

“We think the coming decade will see a transformation in the way education is delivered, where teachers and online content come together to better serve students on campus and beyond. With this announcement, we take a step further in our goal to expand quality education to all.”

To learn more about upcoming courses and enrol, visit Coursera.

[Image via Michael Saechang]