Cambridge, MA - March 6, 2014 –EdX, the not-for-profit online learning initiative composed of the 32 charter members of the xConsortium, today announced a new expanded membership structure that will enable additional universities and colleges, foundations and other global organizations to join the edX community.

The xConsortium includes founding members Harvard and MIT and some of the world’s most prestigious universities such as Australian National University, UC Berkeley, Boston University, Delft University of Technology, University of Texas, Tsinghua University and the University of Queensland. The 32 charter members will continue to provide edX with strategic counsel, while driving its three-part mission: to open up access to the world’s best education globally, improve on-campus education, and conduct research to enhance teaching and learning. New edX members announced today include:

Colleges and Universities 

• Colgate University
• Hamilton College
• Open CourseWare Consortium
• Osaka University
• Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
• Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Other institutions

• International Monetary Fund
• Inter-American Development Bank
• Learning by Giving Foundation (Buffett family philanthropy)
• The Linux Foundation
• The Smithsonian Institution
• Televisión Educativa
• Secretaría de Educación Pública Mexico

“Improving the quality of global education and student success remains at the core of the edX mission, and we are continuing to grow and expand as we build the next generation of online learning,” said Anant Agarwal, president of edX. “We are energized by the increasing interest from leaders in academia, non-profits, NGOs, countries and industry to join the edX community, with many also using our open source technology.

Through our new membership structure, we are opening up edx.org to a wider pool of quality course providers, while offering both our global learners and our open-source adopters additional diversity and richness in our course offerings.” “EdX shares our values in increasing access to course material that can help learners achieve their personal goals and advance important technologies like Linux,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. “EdX, like Linux Foundation, is not-for-profit and uses open source to innovate. Our partnership is a natural one, and we look forward to working together to bring important knowledge to the masses.”

Adds Tedd Dodds, CIO of xConsortium member Cornell University, “When we joined edX in 2013, we were continuing the Cornell tradition of serving a broad community of students. Expanding edX membership to global leaders such as the Smithsonian helps all edX partners, including Cornell, to extend our reach to an even more diverse set of learners. We welcome these new members to the edX platform.” All courses developed by these new members, such as “Giving With Purpose: How to get the most out of your charitable giving,” offered by Learning by Giving Foundation, will be vetted by edX to ensure relevance and quality.

Since its inception, edX has embraced a number of innovative collaborations with organizations including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Stanford University, The College Board, World Economic Forum and others. Institutions and countries that have adopted edX’s open source platform include France, China, Japan and the Queen Rania Foundation. EdX offers more than 150 courses in many areas of study, including the arts and humanities, public health, law, math, and computer science. More than 400 faculty and staff teach on the edX platform and over 100,000 certificates have been earned by edX students.

EdX is committed to offering its students a broad selection of courses from a diverse group of institutions. Additional new members will be announced soon. Please feel free to contact us if interested in becoming a member. =