About Us
Transformation through education
Every individual has the potential to create change, whether in their life, their community, or the world. The transformative power of education is what unlocks that potential. Yet, access to high-quality education has been a privilege of the few. Back in 2012, we realized it was a time for a seismic shift in learning. From the tried and true to the leading edge. From “for some” to “for all.” By opening the classroom through online learning, edX empowers millions of learners to unlock their potential and become changemakers.
Our mission
There are three commitments we've made to the world. We've been grounded by these since day one:
- Increase access to high-quality education for everyone, everywhere
- Enhance teaching and learning on campus and online
- Advance teaching and learning through research
3600+
courses
110+ million
enrollments
42 million
users
160+
partners
15 thousand
instructors
1.4 million
verified course certificates issued
Our story
From experiment to global movement
While the internet was enabling innovation at scale across a vast array of industries, higher education was reaching only a tiny fraction of the world’s curious minds. One afternoon in an MIT lab Professor Anant Agarwal and his colleagues from MIT and Harvard sketched out a long shot experiment: a platform that would offer their courses online, open to any person up to the challenge, for free. In February of 2012 Professor Agarwal’s MIT Circuits and Electronics course was launched, and edX.org was born.
2012
Our first experiment
Professor Agarwal’s MIT Circuits and Electronics course launched on edX.org. More than 155,000 learners from 162 countries enrolled.2013
The Open edX platform is released
The edX platform was released as open source software. Today, the Open edX platform powers more than 2,400 learning sites worldwide.2014
RDX is established
edX launched RDX, the Research Data Exchange, to advance learning science. To date more than 120+ peer-reviewed papers have been published.2015
MOOCs to earn college credit
The Global Freshman Academy from Arizona State University pioneered college credit for MOOCs on edX.2016
MicroMasters® programs launch
Piloted by MIT and launched in September 2016, these groundbreaking stackable credentials expanded access to graduate-level education.2017
Master’s degrees on edX
Georgia Tech’s Master of Science in Analytics paved the way for master’s degrees on edX.2020
edX pioneers MicroBachelors® programs
The first-ever credit-backed, stackable online credential launched, giving learners a pathway to earn a full bachelor’s degree.2021
edX and 2U join forces
edX joined together with 2U in an industry-redefining combination. Our combined offerings provide you new opportunities to accelerate your learning journey.
Accelerate our impact
We at edX are inherently forward-looking, and together with our partners, continually creating the future. In honor of our 10-year anniversary, we’re taking a moment to acknowledge where we’ve been, what we’ve achieved and, in so doing, truly celebrate how far we’ve come.
University Leadership Council
Cynthia Barnhart
Provost, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Malte Brettel
Vice-Rector for Industry Relations, RWTH Aachen University
Chris Clemens
Provost and Chief Academic Officer, UNC Chapel Hill
Reggie DesRoches
Provost and President-Elect, Rice University
Wayne Frederick
President, Howard University
Alan M. Garber
Provost, Harvard University
Ellen Granberg
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rochester Institute of Technology
Ben Hermalin
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost-Elect, University of California, Berkeley
Jean Morrison
Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Boston University
Rob F. Mudde
Vice Rector Magnificus, Delft University of Technology
Mamokgethi Phakeng
Vice Chancellor, University of Cape Town
Jennie Shaw
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), The University of Adelaide
Debbie Terry
Vice Chancellor and President, The University of Queensland
Bin Yang
Provost, Tsinghua University
Charles Zukoski
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Southern California
Careers at edX
We are building, partnering, and promoting a software platform that brings together the best universities from all around the world to create courses for everyone, everywhere in the world—but we can’t do it without dedicated and talented people.