Coursera, Inc. (NYSE: COUR), one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, has announced new initiatives to accelerate growth and operations in India. Coursera also elevated its India operations to become the hub for the entire APAC region. With 12.5 million registered learners, India is already the second-largest market for Coursera. The country also ranked highest in new learner growth globally, adding 7.5 million learners since January 2020.
“The pandemic has dramatically changed the way we learn, teach, and work. Our strong momentum in India reflects the continued trend of individuals and institutions embracing online learning to develop skills for a digital future,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera at a virtual conference on Sep 8.
As demand for Coursera rises in the country, the company unveiled partnerships with top-tier Indian institutions (including IITs and ISI), announced new enterprise customers, and introduced several platform innovations to better serve Indian learners and campuses.
Among the announcements Coursera made include:
- Partnership with four new higher education institutions in India, taking the total number of university partners to 10 in the country. New partners include IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, Indian Statistical Institute, and Ashoka University.
- A Post-Graduate Diploma in Applied Statistics, a top-tier program from the Indian Statistical Institute
- Five new certificate programs from Indian partners:
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- 5G Technologies and IoT Post-Graduate Certificate from IIT Roorkee
- VLSI Design Post-Graduate Certificate from IIT Roorkee
- Digital Transformation Certificate from IIT Bombay
- Power Electronics and Motors for Electric Vehicles (EVs) Certificate from IIT Bombay
- Data-Driven Decision Making Certificate from IIM Kozhikode
- A new course, Introduction to Basics of Ventilation, to train frontline medical staff who manage critically ill COVID-19 patients, from our latest industry partner, Philips India.
- Localized home page for better discovery, geo pricing (most individual courses are priced 40% lower than global), five new payment options, and bulk pricing for avid learners.
- New Coursera for Business customers including Reliance Industries Limited, Larsen & Toubro, Wipro GE Healthcare, Usha, ITC Infotech, Welspun India, StarTek and Vardhman Group
- New Coursera for Campus customers including UNext Learning, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, JIS College of Engineering, and Somaiya Vidyavihar
- Setting up a ‘Learner Services’ team in India to better respond to learner needs globally.
- New scholarships from industry partners:
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- Microsoft, in collaboration with Women in Cloud, will provide 500 scholarships targeted at helping increase women representation in cloud computing
- IBM will provide 500 scholarships towards various IBM Professional Certificates, Specializations, and courses on Coursera.
