Online Educator Coursera Plans to Sell Shares
2021-03-21
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1If you are like over 70 million other people around the world, you may have taken a class with Coursera.
2Coursera is an online education company that helps create Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs.
3Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller are computer science professors at Stanford University.
4They started Coursera in 2012.
5The company gives professors and universities a way to make a version of their classes available to students all over the world.
6With the system from Coursera, a professor from Duke University in North Carolina can reach a student in Korea or a woman from Brazil.
7The company says it works with over 200 universities, from the small Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia to the large Peking University in Beijing, China with its 3000 professors.
8There are now over 6,600 courses listed for anyone who wants to learn a new skill or prepare for a new job.
9Coursera is the largest online education company of this kind.
10Other companies include FutureLearn and Udacity.
11While Coursera says it has 77 million people registered for its website around the world, it is not clear how many of those have actually taken a class.
12People who support online education say it opens up classrooms to everyone.
13They say it costs less than a class in person.
14Critics say many people who start online classes never finish.
15They are not as invested in finishing a free or less costly course.
16In the past, people took classes on Coursera to satisfy an interest in learning about a subject.
17Now, more students have taken classes for certificates that are accepted by many organizations.
18Some Coursera courses now count toward college degrees.
19And degree programs can cost up to $45,000.
20In the last 12 months, many people were not able to go to class in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
21So they turned to Coursera as a way to continue their studies.
22Coursera launched "Coursera for Campus" to help schools offer courses to stuck-at-home students.
23By the end of 2020, over 130 colleges and universities paid Coursera to use "Coursera for Campus" to teach online.
24Coursera also has a similar program for government agencies and businesses that want to teach their employees online.
25Some high school students in the U.S. also took classes with Coursera because after-school activities were canceled.
26In 2020, Coursera took in 59 percent more money than in 2019.
27Its revenue was almost $300 million.
28It also spent a lot of money to expand so it lost almost $70 million last year.
29However, Coursera and other online education companies think the business is expanding.
30For example, some people who lost jobs during the pandemic are now learning new skills online.
31Even before COVID-19 closed schools, research company HolonIQ said people spent over $2 trillion on higher education around the world in 2019.
32Since 2012, Coursera has been supported by private investment companies.
33As interest in online learning grew, the Silicon Valley-based company filed for a stock market listing in early March to look for new investors.
34Carla Hickman studies online education for a company called EAB.
35She said the investment will help Coursera as it grows.
36"I do think some of this initial capital is just going to make sure Coursera can continue to deliver the product they are today at a high standard as they grow."
37With the new money, Coursera should be able to offer more classes to its audience, Hickman said.
38It may help Coursera keep students coming back for more classes.
39In 2012, when Coursera started, it permitted universities that did not have strong online learning systems to make some of their classes available to more people.
40This was a form of marketing and advertising.
41Now, however, most universities have a way to teach online.
42Do they actually need Coursera, or can they have their own system instead?
43"With many institutions, you have to ask yourself 'what uniquely is Coursera providing that benefits the college and university that they would not do on their own?"
44As the company grows, Hickman said it is becoming less "open and massive as you have to pay money to access the content."
45I'm Dan Friedell.
1If you are like over 70 million other people around the world, you may have taken a class with Coursera. 2Coursera is an online education company that helps create Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller are computer science professors at Stanford University. They started Coursera in 2012. 3Opening classrooms to the world 4The company gives professors and universities a way to make a version of their classes available to students all over the world. 5With the system from Coursera, a professor from Duke University in North Carolina can reach a student in Korea or a woman from Brazil. The company says it works with over 200 universities, from the small Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia to the large Peking University in Beijing, China with its 3000 professors. 6There are now over 6,600 courses listed for anyone who wants to learn a new skill or prepare for a new job. 7Coursera is the largest online education company of this kind. Other companies include FutureLearn and Udacity. 8While Coursera says it has 77 million people registered for its website around the world, it is not clear how many of those have actually taken a class. 9People who support online education say it opens up classrooms to everyone. They say it costs less than a class in person. 10Critics say many people who start online classes never finish. They are not as invested in finishing a free or less costly course. 11In the past, people took classes on Coursera to satisfy an interest in learning about a subject. Now, more students have taken classes for certificates that are accepted by many organizations. Some Coursera courses now count toward college degrees. And degree programs can cost up to $45,000. 12More interest during the pandemic 13In the last 12 months, many people were not able to go to class in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So they turned to Coursera as a way to continue their studies. 14Coursera launched "Coursera for Campus" to help schools offer courses to stuck-at-home students. By the end of 2020, over 130 colleges and universities paid Coursera to use "Coursera for Campus" to teach online. 15Coursera also has a similar program for government agencies and businesses that want to teach their employees online. Some high school students in the U.S. also took classes with Coursera because after-school activities were canceled. 16In 2020, Coursera took in 59 percent more money than in 2019. Its revenue was almost $300 million. It also spent a lot of money to expand so it lost almost $70 million last year. 17However, Coursera and other online education companies think the business is expanding. For example, some people who lost jobs during the pandemic are now learning new skills online. Even before COVID-19 closed schools, research company HolonIQ said people spent over $2 trillion on higher education around the world in 2019. 18Stock market offering 19Since 2012, Coursera has been supported by private investment companies. As interest in online learning grew, the Silicon Valley-based company filed for a stock market listing in early March to look for new investors. 20Carla Hickman studies online education for a company called EAB. She said the investment will help Coursera as it grows. 21"I do think some of this initial capital is just going to make sure Coursera can continue to deliver the product they are today at a high standard as they grow." 22With the new money, Coursera should be able to offer more classes to its audience, Hickman said. It may help Coursera keep students coming back for more classes. 23In 2012, when Coursera started, it permitted universities that did not have strong online learning systems to make some of their classes available to more people. This was a form of marketing and advertising. Now, however, most universities have a way to teach online. Do they actually need Coursera, or can they have their own system instead? 24"With many institutions, you have to ask yourself 'what uniquely is Coursera providing that benefits the college and university that they would not do on their own?" 25As the company grows, Hickman said it is becoming less "open and massive as you have to pay money to access the content." 26I'm Dan Friedell. 27Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 28Have you ever taken a class with Coursera? What did you think? We want to hear from you. Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 29_______________________________________________________________ 30Words in This Story 31massive -adj. large in amount or degree 32course -n. a document that is official proof that you have finished school or a course of training 33certificate -n. a document that is official proof that you have finished school or a course of training 34stuck -adj. in a place or situation that is difficult or impossible to get out of 35stock market listing -n. the act of making a small part of company for sale at a place where stocks are bought and sold 36initial capital -n. money, property, etc., that is used to start or operate a business 37product -n. something that is made or grown to be sold or used 38unique -adj. very special or unusual 39content -n. the ideas, facts, or images that are in a book, article, speech, movie, etc.