2U One-Ups MOOCs, Coursera, Now Offers Online Undergrad Courses From Top Schools For Credit

Four years after it launching its first graduate program with USC, 2U today has announced its foray into undergraduate education through a new program called Semester Online. The company will be powering a virtual classroom environment and interactive platform for a consortium of 10 top universities, including some it’s already been working with (Duke and UNC) — along with newcomers like Northwestern, Emory and Brandeis — to name a few.
Beginning in the fall of 2013, the program will be open to any student enrolled in an undergraduate program anywhere in the world, with courses set to debut next fall (along with a handful of new institutions). Semester Online’s courses will feature the same faculty and curricula as their brick-and-mortar counterparts. When we spoke to 2U co-founder Jeremy Johnson earlier this year, the startup (known then as 2tor) was on its way to closing a $26 million series D round, which would bring its total funding to just under $100 million and make it one of the most-funded startups in education (and the country). Naturally, I was curious why a company that partners with graduate schools to build, administer, and market online degree programs needed so much capital, especially when all reports were that the business was growing at a healthy clip on its own. More...