Dive Brief:
- While many are still wary of the quality of online education, 2U’s second annual Impact Report shows how its online partnerships with top universities have been a great success.
- Among the key findings of the interactive report: 90% of 1,241 faculty member survey respondents say the online format is as good or better at enabling participants to meet learning objectives.
- The report also busts common myths about online learning, showing that the same top on-campus professors develop and teach the courses in 2U's programs, with a student-teacher ratio around 10 students and high engagement, graduation, and student success following completion, DCInno reports.
Dive Insight:
2U partners with top universities for online master’s programs. It helps students earn MBAs from the University of North Carolina, social work degrees from the University of Southern California, and perhaps eventually, medical science degrees from Yale, though that partnership is pending accreditation approval that could take years. While online education has been stigmatized as inferior, especially when it is offered by for-profit providers, 2U proves that thoughtful partnerships with top universities creating quality programs can do all that online education was always supposed to — provide flexible learning environments for students who need them.