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 has emerged as a prominent player in the world of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and online education.
Founded in 2012 by Stanford University professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, its primary goal is to provide accessible, high-quality learning materials to people all around the world. The company’s impressive growth and partnerships with renowned educational institutions have made it an attractive option for learners and employers seeking to upgrade their knowledge and skills.
A key component of its business model is collaborating with more than 350 companies to design personalized programs, aligned with the evolving needs of the job market. These partnerships also allow Coursera to match top-performing students with potential employers, illustrating the platform’s commitment to linking education and workforce requirements.
Their vision is to give everyone the opportunity to access life-transforming learning experiences.
The company is now a global online learning platform that 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.
Full review and breakdown of Coursera platform here.
Degrees, Certificates, & Free Online Courses
- More than 5,000 courses
- Professional Certificates
- Degrees from the Top Universities
Top Coursera Statistics 2024
- Coursera has partnered with over 200 universities and companies.
- The platform offers thousands of online courses, ranging from skill-based courses to complete degree programs.
- Coursera has experienced significant user base growth, with millions of learners worldwide.
- Coursera for Business is used by over 2,000 companies globally to transform their workforce.
- Coursera’s courses cover various subjects, with strengths in business, technology, and data science.
- Learners from diverse backgrounds, age groups, and geographic locations utilize Coursera.
- Coursera continuously evaluates and improves the user experience.
- Coursera is positioned as a market leader in online learning, attracting learners, businesses, and prestigious institutions worldwide.
Coursera Company Statistics 2024
Coursera Sales and Growth
Coursera has experienced significant growth since its inception in 2012. Their primary revenue streams consist of consumer revenue and enterprise revenue. As an e-learning platform, they offer a variety of services such as individual courses, degree programs, and partnerships with universities and other institutions. Their course offerings encompass numerous subjects like engineering, project management, and research.
Coursera Market Share and Positioning
Coursera holds a strong market position in the online learning industry, partnering with over 200 universities and higher ed institutions. They have consistently been recognized for their course quality, innovative offerings, and user-friendly learning platform. Coursera’s standing has been further solidified through strategic partnerships with organizations and the development of Coursera for Business and Coursera for Government.
Coursera and the Pandemic Statistics
The pandemic played a significant role in Coursera’s growth, as many individuals and institutions turned to online learning for a safer, more accessible education experience. This surge in demand for e-learning services contributed to an increase in their user base and overall revenue.
Coursera Operational Metrics
Coursera’s operational metrics highlight their impressive reach and scale:
Over 82 million learners worldwide
6,000+ courses available
30+ degree programs offered
2,000+ enterprise customers, including businesses and governments
Coursera Employee Metrics
Headquartered in Mountain View, Coursera employs a diverse team of professionals dedicated to furthering its mission of providing accessible, world-class education opportunities. As an organization, they emphasize the need for expertise in areas such as engineering, project management, and course development.
Coursera Customer Metrics
Coursera serves a diverse customer base, including individuals, businesses, and government organizations. Enterprise customers benefit from tailored learning solutions, while individual learners can access courses and degree programs. Their partnerships with universities and institutions bolster their offerings and ensure a wide range of high-quality educational content.
Learning Programs and Courses
Coursera is a popular online learning platform that offers an extensive range of courses, covering various subjects, such as data science, computer science, and business. The majority of these courses are developed in partnership with top universities and organizations, ensuring high-quality content for students worldwide.
One of the key aspects that differentiates Coursera from other online learning platforms is its focus on offering specialization certificates and degrees in collaboration with renowned institutions. These programs enable students to gain in-depth knowledge and skills in their chosen field, setting them up for successful careers in the future.
In addition to standalone courses, Coursera offers various types of educational programs:
- Specialization Certificate Programs: These are a series of related courses designed to help students master a specific subject area. Upon completion, students receive a specialization certificate that showcases their expertise.
- Professional Certificates: These programs are focused on skill development for specific job roles or industries. Similar to specializations, they consist of a series of courses, and upon completion, students receive a professional certificate.
- Degree Courses: Coursera partners with prestigious universities to offer master’s degrees in fields like business, public health, computer science, and data science. These degree programs follow a rigorous curriculum and provide students with the opportunity to earn a full-fledged degree remotely.
- Online Courses: Coursera’s online courses are accessible to learners all around the world, often free of charge. These courses cover a wide range of subjects, from introductory to advanced levels. Students have the option to pay a fee and receive a course completion certificate as well.
Some popular courses on Coursera include:
- Machine Learning by Stanford University
- Python for Everybody by the University of Michigan
- Google IT Support Professional Certificate by Google
Coursera’s headquarters are located in California and the platform has made a significant impact on online education by offering accessible, high-quality courses to millions of students across the globe.
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.
Coursera, a leading online education platform, has experienced significant financial growth in recent years. In 2019, the company reported a revenue of $184 million, up from $140 million in 2018. As of 2021, Coursera’s IPO was a success, with the company raising over $500 million and being valued at $5.9 billion.
Despite the substantial increase in revenue, Coursera has faced challenges in maintaining profitability. The company reported a net loss of $66.8 million in 2020, primarily driven by increased investments in technology, marketing, and content development. However, the platform’s gross profit margin remained positive, standing at 53% in 2020.
Several high-profile investors have backed Coursera, including Kleiner Perkins, NEA, G Squared, and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. These investments have played a crucial role in Coursera’s ability to expand its course offerings and reach new markets.
Coursera’s financial performance is also influenced by its compensation structure. As an online education provider, the company shares revenue with its university partners, typically retaining around 20%-40% of course fees. The remaining percentage goes to the course creators and instructors, ensuring they are fairly compensated for their contributions.
In summary, Coursera has experienced notable financial growth, driven by increased user demand and an expanding course library. Despite current net losses, the company’s positive gross profit margin and backing from significant investors point to its potential for long-term financial stability.
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.
Degrees, Certificates, & Free Online Courses
- More than 5,000 courses
- Professional Certificates
- Degrees from the Top Universities
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.
Coursera Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Coursera, as an online education platform, plays a significant role in promoting accessible and affordable education to a global audience. One way the company demonstrates its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is by offering financial aid to learners who cannot afford their courses. This initiative enables individuals from various backgrounds to enhance their skills and knowledge, promoting social mobility and economic development.
In addition to financial assistance, Coursera has developed partnerships with various organizations to promote sustainability and foster positive social impact. These collaborations include working with:
- Universities: Enabling institutions to offer their courses to a broader audience, helping to democratize access to higher education.
- Businesses: Coursera offers customized learning solutions for companies to upskill and reskill their workforce, supporting sustainable human resource development through the Coursera for Business program.
- Governments: Coursera for Government program allows public institutions to build a future-ready workforce, ensuring access to high-quality education and training for civil servants and marginalized populations.
The company’s commitment to CSR extends to its focus on environmental sustainability, as evidenced in the study on the effects of carbon performance on the cost of debt. By promoting environmentally conscious practices, Coursera contributes to reducing the carbon footprint, ultimately fostering a more sustainable and responsible business ecosystem.
In summary, Coursera’s CSR initiatives encompass the provision of financial aid, strategic partnerships, and environmental sustainability efforts, reflecting the company’s dedication to fostering positive social change and promoting accessibility to quality education for all.
Coursera Future Outlook
Coursera, a leading Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider, has gone a long way since its inception. The online learning platform has constantly expanded its offerings, partnering with prestigious universities and top-notch professionals in various fields. With its accelerated growth, Coursera’s future outlook is indeed promising.
In this digital era, Coursera is at the forefront of providing valuable information to those seeking to enhance their skills and knowledge. As the demand for online learning continues to rise, Coursera is well-positioned to cater to learners worldwide.
One of the contributing factors to Coursera’s growth is its flexibility and affordable access to high-quality educational content. It offers numerous courses, specializations, and even degree programs that cater to various learning preferences and needs, such as:
- Short-term courses for skill enhancement
- Certifications for career advancement
- Comprehensive degree programs for long-term professional goals
Coursera’s partnerships with prestigious institutions like Stanford University, MIT, and other universities worldwide have enabled them to provide top-notch content to learners. This significantly boosts their credibility and helps distinguish Coursera from other MOOC providers.
In recent years, Coursera has been included in Forbes’ list of prominent companies, showcasing its impact and influence in the education sector. This recognition further solidifies Coursera’s position as a leading online education provider, and has allowed them to attract significant investments to fuel their expansion plans.
As the workforce continues to evolve and demand for new skill sets increases, Coursera has been actively collaborating with various industries to stay relevant. By equipping learners with in-demand skills, Coursera not only caters to individual needs but also contributes to bridging the global skill gap and shaping future leaders.
In summary, Coursera’s future outlook appears to be bright. The platform’s commitment to providing valuable information, its collaborations with esteemed partners, and its continuous adaption to market needs all point towards a promising trajectory in the online learning landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Coursera?
Coursera is an online education platform that provides a wide range of courses from world-renowned universities and industry partners. They offer various formats of learning, such as videos, quizzes, and projects, providing learners with a comprehensive educational experience. Coursera’s mission is to make high-quality education accessible to everyone, as stated in this study.
How many students use Coursera?
While exact figures might vary, an article from The New York Times suggests that millions of learners worldwide engage with Coursera’s courses and programs. However, it is essential to note that only around 10% pay for courses, with the majority of students enrolling in free courses.
What are the types of courses offered by Coursera?
Coursera provides a diverse range of course topics, including:
- Business
- Computer science
- Data science
- Health
- Arts and humanities
- Social sciences
- Physical Sciences and Engineering
Learners can also choose between different learning pathways, such as:
- Individual courses
- Specializations
- Professional certificates
- Degrees
How do MOOC platforms like Coursera measure learner satisfaction?
According to a study focusing on Coursera’s user satisfaction, researchers utilize various metrics to assess their platform’s effectiveness. These can include analyzing student behavior, learner opinions, and data analytics. This ensures that they continuously improve their offerings, ultimately benefiting the learners.
Are there any unique features to Coursera’s video-viewing experience?
Yes, Coursera offers various tools to enhance the video-viewing experience, as reported in this research. Some of these features include video speed control, subtitles, and interactive transcripts. These options aim to provide a tailored and accessible learning experience for every student.
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.