CAMBRIDGE, MA, December 15, 2020 — edX, the education movement for restless learners, today announced a significant milestone in their growth in 2020. edX grew from 81 million total global enrollments in 2019, to over 110 million global enrollments in 2020, a record 29 million increase. The number of new registered users grew even faster at 161% year-over-year, to 35 million total individual users. Individual courses offered passed 3,000.

In 2020 edX saw an average of 400,000 learners per day engaged in course content. This year alone, edX reached another milestone of issuing 2.1 million verified course certificates and offered 149 different credit pathways. More than 39 million hours of video were collectively consumed. 

15,000 instructors now teach courses on edX, across more than 160 partner institutions, including Harvard, MIT, UC Berkeley, Boston University, the University of Texas System, Georgetown University, Caltech, the Sorbonne, the University of British Columbia, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and many more. Additionally, edX provides on-demand eLearning solutions built to help companies and their employees grow and thrive professionally. Some of these companies include Google, IBM, AWS and Linux.

“Everything edX and our partners have been building over the past eight years prepared us to support our students and the global education system amidst an increasing pace of change in 2020 and beyond,” said Anant Agarwal, Founder and CEO of edX. “As online education became not just optional, but essential, edX became the movement for the moment. We seized the chance to give our community an exciting, accessible place to grow.”

Co-founded in 2012 by Harvard and MIT, edX’s first course was MIT Professor Agarwal’s Circuits and Electronics offering, which enrolled more than 155,000 students across 162 countries. A movement was born. 

“Since then our team, in collaboration with partners all over the world, has opened edX to the world with Open edX, created the edX research exchange, were the first of our kind to offer college credit, pioneered modular, stackable education with our MicroMasters® programs and MicroBachelors® programs, and began offering affordable full Master's degrees online,” Agarwal continued. “And yet it still feels like we’re just getting started.”

Operational Agility

“The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the digital transformation of education, ” said Dr. Nina Huntemann, Vice President of Learning. “The traditional higher education experience of residential-only learning has been permanently altered. Going forward, online learning must be a core competency and strategy of every university. In this new normal, however, no school has to do everything on its own. edX and our community of world-class educators are together creating a world where education is affordable and accessible for all.”

COVID-19 related courses on edX saw very high enrollment rates in 2020. Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19 saw 300,000 enrollments, for example. From basic primers on how to learn online and be successful working remotely, to a wide variety of healthcare-related brushups and emerging best practices, edX responded to the global pandemic with characteristic agility.

With universities forced to shut down to go virtual in a matter of days or weeks, the task of pivoting to fully remote teaching and learning was an insurmountable task for many on their own.

In response, edX launched Online Campus to provide existing edX partner institutions with free access to courses and programs. Then, edX expanded the initiative to provide faculty, students, and staff at any accredited institution across the globe with free access to teaching and learning resources.

“Initially offered to support our partner community, we quickly expanded access to our catalog of high quality, online courses and programs to educational institutions everywhere,” Huntemann continued. “Since launching in April, edX Online Campus has driven over 400,000 course enrollments across more than 130,000 individual students, serving 465 institutions from 72 countries around the world.”

Corporate Growth

Launched in 2017, edX For Business saw similarly high growth rates in 2020. edX For Business helps companies like Deloitte, BCG, MetLife, Pfizer, Postmates, Tata, and Tech Mahindra with workforce development and upskilling/reskilling programs.

The pandemic brought uncertainty, but it also expedited the need for employees to gain resilient, future-proof skill sets. edX For Business was there to support customers as they navigated the pandemic and crafted a plan to come out stronger than before. 

edX For Business by the numbers:

• More than 1,000 paying customers
• More than 100,000 employees learning on edX
• More than 300,000 total course enrollments

“Developing programs and credentials that help people quickly, flexibly, and affordably gain the knowledge and skills they need to unlock new and bigger opportunities is in edX's DNA, said Agarwal. “Our goal is to offer meaningful solutions for those who need flexible, affordable and relevant education the most.”

A New Identity

Finally, 2020 brought a new visual identity and user experience to edX, reflecting both its maturation as a global offering at scale, and its commitment to helping learners unlock their potential through equitable access to education.

“At edX, we believe deeply in the potential of learners, and we exist to help them meet their goals,” said edX CMO Stephanie Brocoum. “Whether they’re out to feed their curiosity, advance their career, or get a degree, we’ve made changes to our website experience to make it easier to find the courses they need. Our new branding modernizes edX and more effectively conveys the quality and relevance of our offering. ”