Top Coursera Statistics (2023)

Coursera is one of many online learning platforms that offer training to businesses and individuals. They have a range of Bachelor, Masters, and postgraduate programs in a wide variety of subjects. 

We take a look at some Coursera statistics, including the courses that they offer, who they are aimed at and the partners that Coursera collaborates with. 

Learner outcomes will be considered as well as looking at how the courses are taught. 

Finally, the cost of these courses will also be examined, and we will look at the return on investment that companies can expect when using Coursera.

Coursera Overview

Coursera was founded in 2012 by computer science professors from Stanford University, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng.

Their vision is to give everyone the opportunity to access life-transforming learning experiences. 

The company is now a global online learning platform which allows students to access degrees from top universities and courses from successful companies.

They are headquartered in Silicon Valley, California and their CEO is Jeff Maggioncalda. 

Coursera has 60 non-profit and community partners. They have worked with 70,000 underserved learners including refugees. 

Learning Programs

Coursera offers different levels of learning depending on the desired outcome. Most courses, unless free, will give students a certificate on completion.

Although there is the option to upgrade from free courses to paid which will then provide a certificate. 

Guided Projects are project based courses where students learn to complete the selected task while under tutor guidance.

An example would be learning how to use Excel spreadsheets. 

Specializations are the next type of learning program offered by Coursera.

These allow students to choose a subject that will enhance their employability or give them increased prospects of promotion. 

Professional certificates are another way to enhance a learner’s industry skills or move into a new area. These courses allow students to build job-ready skills. 

MasterTrack certificates are a way of earning credits that count towards a Master’s degree with real world projects and expert tuition. 

Coursera Plus allows learners to pay a subscription fee and have access to 90% of the learning programs in their catalog.

Students can take as many courses as they like if they’re included in the Coursera Plus program.

Degrees Offered

Partnering with leading universities, Coursera offers a variety of degree courses in multiple subject areas. 

There are 19 degree programs available in online MBA and Business, 8 in Data Science, 9 Management degrees, and 8 Computer Science and Engineering degrees. 

In Social Sciences there are 2 degree programs available, 5 in Data Analytics and 4 Public Health degrees. 

Bachelor’s Degrees

Coursera offers 4 Business Bachelor’s degrees. 

These include Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences and Bachelor of Science in General Business both offered by the University of Texas. 

The University of London offers Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. 

Coursera also has 2 Computer Science Studies Bachelor’s degrees. 

Both are Bachelor of Science in Computer Science programs. One is offered by the University of London and the other is from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani in India. 

Master’s Degrees

Coursera has more Master’s degrees than Bachelor’s degrees and postgraduate programs combined with 32 available degree courses. 

The areas covered are Business, Public Health, Computer Science, Social Science and Data Science. 

They offer 14 Business Master’s degrees, 3 in Public Health, 6 in Computer Science, 2 in Social Science and 7 Data Science Master’s degrees.

Postgraduate Programs

Coursera provides postgraduate courses in Management, Business, Public Health, and Data Science. 

Their Global Management Programme for Infrastructure and Global Management Programme in Operations and Supply Chain are both offered by the Indian School of Business. 

The Graduate Certificate of Global Business Practice is provided by Macquarie University. A Postgraduate Certificate of Public Health is offered by Imperial College London.

Finally, a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Statistics comes from the Indian Statistical Institute. 

Business Courses

More than 3000 global companies choose Coursera for their employee training programs.

Household names such as Danone, P&G, L’Oréal and GE among others are using Coursera’s online training to keep their employees up to date with skills and learning. 

Coursera for Business helps 2,900 organizations and between them they have 620 thousand learners of whom 92% reported positive career outcomes. 

The company also serves 230 government agencies and has more than 580 thousand government students. 91% of these learners report a positive career outcome. 

Courses For Teams

Coursera offers courses for businesses with a smaller workforce offering training to between 5-125 users.

This will provide employees with access to more than 5000 courses, specializations as well as Guided Projects. 

This is a plan that is billed annually per user but does have a 14 day refund guarantee. 

Courses For Enterprise

For workforces that are larger there are courses for enterprise offered by Coursera. These allow for more than 125 users. 

As with the courses for teams there is access to more than 5,000 courses with verified certificates on completion.

There is also a catalog of 2,500 hands-on Guided Projects and access to over 10,000 bite-sized videos, clips and lessons. 

Courses For Campus

The Coursera for Campus Student Plan is available to universities who can offer job-relevant online training courses to students, faculty and staff. 

These courses are designed to enhance the curriculum through hands-on experience and quality content. This helps students prepare for their career with job-based learning. 

Faculty can use the courses for supplementary content and to promote blended learning. 

Free Courses

If you search on Coursera for free courses you will find that they offer more than 2,500 of them. Choose from photography to statistics to food and health training.

There are courses for everyone and there is an effective filter system to help you find what you are looking for. 

All of Coursera’s free courses have the option to purchase and this means you will get access to the assignments and assessments.

This will lead to certification on successful completion whereas the free version does not. 

Return On Investment (ROI)

An International Data Corporation whitepaper looked into the value to businesses of skills development with Coursera for Business. 

As more and more companies are equipping their employees with digital skills across the workforce these courses are becoming more widely used. 

The whitepaper found that companies will see a return on investment of 746% over three years. This equates to a total value of almost $29.5 million or $33,300 per learner.

These figures are driven by many benefits to employees. 

Companies using Coursera to upskill or reskill their employees have a higher retention rate with a 38% reduction in the number of employees leaving their workforce.

This results in $1.12 million savings in recruitment costs per year. 

Employees’ morale is boosted through professional development, and they feel more empowered and valued. Many see a 20% increase in the likelihood of a promotion. 

This increase in morale and empowerment leads to greater productivity with companies noting a 25% increase. This translates to an additional $20,000 increase in productivity value per user. 

There is a noticeable decrease in the amount of time it takes to train employees online compared to traditional methods.

With this form of learning companies can train 94% more of their workforce but using 40% fewer training resources and in 46% less time. 

Companies using Coursera for business note a 24% reduction in their training costs. 

Financials & Revenue

In 2021 Coursera reported that their revenue had grown by 64% from the previous year. Total Q1 revenue was $88.4 million. 

Of this figure, $51.9 million paid for by consumers through Professional Certificates, $25.5 million came from Enterprise users and $12 million was from degrees. 

Gross profit for Q1 in 2021 was $49.5 million. In March of that year the company was valued at between $4.3 billion and $5.5 billion.

The company increased its valuation by between 67%-100% in under a year between 2020 and 2021 potentially due to the pandemic. 

Current estimated yearly revenue for Coursera is $430.3 million and their total funding is $464 million with 6 lead investors across 16 rounds. 

Collaborations & Partnerships

Coursera collaborates and works in partnership with more than 275 leading universities and companies.

The educational institutes they work with include Stanford, Duke, University of Illinois, Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London. 

There are many well known businesses that Coursera work alongside too, including Google, IBM and Intel. 

The company collaborates with top European universities offering 9 degree programs.

Partners include Imperial College London, HEC Paris, University of London, and Queen Mary University of London. 

In total Coursera works with universities, companies and academic institutions from more than 32 countries around the world and employs approximately 2,500 people. 

Professional Certification

Coursera originally offered free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) but in 2013 monetized them by charging between $30-$100 for verified certificates. 

In 2014, they introduced Specialization certificates. This meant that students had to earn the verified certificate through several related courses, a move which saw Coursera reach $1 million a month in revenue.  

Learner Outcomes

The average age of people taking courses and degree programs with Coursera is 35 with an average work experience of 14 years.

Students are represented across 95 countries and there is a 92% 1st year student retention rate. 

As of Q4 2021 Coursera had 92 million registered learners across the globe. In 2020 the average course rating was 4.7 out of 5 stars with 81% of students giving their course 5 stars. 

More than 65% of first time learners with Coursera progressed to another course and 94% would recommend Coursera to a friend.

Courses with the highest completion rates are those that last four weeks. 

87% of learners reported career benefits and for those who don’t hold a Bachelor’s degree this rose to 88%.

Among the unemployed 84% experienced career benefits while in emerging economies 91% of students report such benefits. 

Approximately 80% of Coursera learners are outside of the United States and the top 5 countries for learner growth are Paraguay, Philippines, Lebanon, Indonesia and Guyana. 

Cost

Coursera have more than 1000 Guided Projects which cost an average of $9.99 and last approximately 2 hours. 

They offer more than 4,500 courses of between 4 and 6 week duration that cost no more than $99.

For $39-$99 per month students can take part in more than 500 specializations to attain job-relevant knowledge and skills within 3-6 months. 

Learners can also get more than 25 professional certificates within that same price range and duration. 

More than 15 different MasterTrack certificates can be gained by students at Coursera for between $2,000 and $6,000 over a 3-month or 12-month period. 

Coursera for Business Team plan costs $399 per year per user and is suitable for between 5 and 125 users. 

Over 25 fully online Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are available from Coursera at a cost of between $9,000 and $45,000. 

Reputation & Quality

The average rating for courses through Coursera is 4.7 stars out of 5, with 93% of students saying they would recommend the platform to a friend. 

Of all enrollments 99% rate Coursera at higher than 4.0 stars out of 5 and 79% have actually rated it as 5 star. 

Three quarters of learners go on to take another course with them and 87% report benefits from Coursera training when changing careers.

Confidence in 78% of learners grew after completing a Coursera course and 92% of students report increased readiness for exams. 

Final Thoughts

Coursera is a global learning platform offering thousands of courses for individual learners and companies. 

They have learning programs to suit most people from free courses to Master’s degrees.

There is something for everyone and the company works with more than 275 leading universities and companies to deliver their courses. 

We hope this look at Coursera statistics has been helpful for you or your company.