Our learners' journeys
Serving millions of students from around the world, edX empowers lifelong learners to build skills for impactful careers and personal development. Explore stories from edX graduates, and discover the power of accessible online education.
edX learner stories from every corner of the globe
Find real-life stories from edX's learners in the map below and learn how online education helps students worldwide find opportunities for growth.
What learners are saying
“My edX course taught me things I never would have had the opportunity to learn here in Mongolia.”
Battushig Myanganbyar, Mongolia
“edX gives anyone in the world access to the best teachers out there.”
Ashweth Rego, India
“I am hard of hearing, which often makes it difficult and exhausting to follow regular courses. Thanks to the fact that all edX lectures have captions, I can follow the courses without any problems.”
Sandy Van den Borne, Belgium
“edX is a fantastic way to learn, especially for busy, working people.”
Francesca Graziano, Italy
“I believe that poor kids can learn too, but how many of them actually have the opportunity? edX is helping to make education a right to those who want it.”
Ulysse Toussaint, Pennsylvania, USA
“Enrolling in a MicroMasters is a great opportunity for professionals at every level, from entry to senior management, who want to further their learning and knowledge.”
Benoy Tharakan, India
“The edX team also encourages interaction between the students, which adds an even greater dimension to the learning experience, especially considering people from all over the world are taking edX courses.”
Leslie Cardinell, North Carolina, USA
“I'm a fan of edX's new way of learning. Thousands of people can study from anywhere in the world. It's a wonderful idea.”
Sarah Riggot, Guatemala
“My edX course taught me tools I can apply to political reform in my work with NATO.”
Duncan Spinner, Bosnia
Featured learner stories
Ashwith Rego | Bangalore, India
Although Ashwith had already completed a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, he took MITx: Circuits and Electronics to further prepare for his master's degree program.
"These courses are a big help and have given me a very deep understanding of the subjects. I've studied some of these before, but the quality of teaching is far superior in these online courses, and this has really helped me get confident in concepts I couldn't understand before."
"We aren't just taught some formulas. We are given real-world problems to solve, and that has changed the way I think about some subjects. It will definitely help in my career. I've also been lucky to talk to some of the students who are actually experts in their fields, and this networking will be helpful, too."
Sandy Van den Borne | Antwerp, Belgium
Sandy works as a computer scientist and has taken several courses from BerkeleyX. As a mom who's hard of hearing, she enjoys edX's platform for its flexibility and accessibility with subtitles and asynchronous video lectures.
"Being hard of hearing, I even more appreciate these courses as they make it much easier for me to learn new things," she said. "With edX, you can follow the courses whenever you want (usually when the kids are sleeping). So edX has provided me the possibility to study again in a way I could never have imagined."
She's also excited about professional development opportunities outside of work.
"Being a computer scientist, it is very important to stay up to date with new technologies in that field," she said. "Often companies don't want to pay for trainings, but now with edX I have full control of my own training program."
Meet our partners
Verizon Skills Forward program
Verizon and edX have partnered to provide tuition-free online education for participants in the Verizon Skills Forward program. Read about our learners' experiences:
Rifat Kabir Sharna | Columbus, Ohio
Rifat moved to Columbus, Ohio, from Bangladesh in 2023, hoping to break into the tech industry. Through the Verizon Skills Forward program, she enrolled in edX's online courses without having to pay for tuition.
"The program's flexibility allows me to learn at my own pace and balance it with other commitments, which is a huge advantage," she said. "There's also a sense of accomplishment in completing all the modules of each course and receiving a professional certificate, recognizing my endeavor with learning."
On edX, Sharna has earned a certification in leadership and communication from Harvard University, a diversity certification from Rice University, and certification in Python programming.
Tiffany Paovella | Ossining, New York
As a restaurant owner with three teenagers at home, Tiffany Paovella realized she needed a steadier career that would allow her family to spend more time together. But she also needed a flexible option so she could continue to work throughout her studies.
By enrolling in the Verizon Skills Forward program, Tiffany could study part time for her online bachelor's degree without having to pay tuition, while continuing to provide for her family.
"When I started exploring [Skills Forward], it was easy to navigate," she said. "I didn't believe what I was seeing. I saw all the different schools and thought, 'There's no way they're offering real certificates all in one spot.'"
Tiffany earned her online bachelor's degree and has since started her master's in library sciences, gaining tech skills along the way.
"All these skills are useful and play into getting a job in this field," she said. "The more you have, the more beneficial. This is the future and where the demand is."
Learn from 260+ leading institutions
Program testimonials
Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
Become a sustainable business leader with courses from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) on edX. These online and in-person courses cater to international learners who care about the environment and want to create sustainable business solutions that are economically feasible.
Arizona Muse
Meet Arizona Muse, a designer and fashion model based in Paris. Once called the "new face of American fashion" by Anna Wintour, she works as the sustainability consultant for SKIIM: Paris. Arizona took CISL's Business Sustainability Management course to prepare her to be both a fashion model and an activist.
"I started modeling as a teenager, so I didn't go to university, and taking this course from Cambridge — which is undeniably rigorous — was an amazing validation for me on my own learning journey, that I was going in the right direction," Arizona said in an interview with Forbes.
"Sustainability should not be an add-on, but a given every time," she said in an Instagram post. "There should always be transparency about where each garment was made and the people who made it. This way, brands would no longer have to hide the embarrassingly cruel lifecycle of their garments. We could remove the 'sustainable' and just call it 'fashion.'"
Harvard University's CS50
As Harvard's largest course, CS50: Introduction to Computer Science teaches students foundational computer science skills. Participants in these courses can learn these skills to start a career in computer science or widen their cross-industry knowledge base.
Michael Smitty
Meet Michael Smitty, an Air Force veteran from Missouri, who experienced a layoff after 18 years at his company. He felt the need to gain skills as he started searching for new opportunities, and he found CS50 on edX.
"I honestly do not know how I got along all this time without knowing the building blocks of computer science," he said. "The point of CS50 is to imbue you with the fundamentals of computer science and build a foundation where you begin to teach yourselves new languages," Michael said.
MITx MicroMasters in Data Science
Learners can earn transferable credits in the MITx MicroMasters in Data Science program. This program provides the rigor and structure of a master's degree program without requiring a multi-year commitment, helping students gain skills and explore programs before fully investing in a master's degree.
Nael Aqel
Meet Nael Aqel from Jordan. He started his career in electrical engineering and worked in this industry until the COVID-19 pandemic forced many workers to reconsider their professional paths.
"When I was in the engineering field, I had some problems with the style of work itself," Nael said. "So I was searching for something online. Then, I found the data analysis idea. I like it because, in my engineering studies, I was good at math."
Nael was looking for rigor in his education and found that MITx provided the challenge he needed to make it worthwhile.
"I like this system because, in the end, it is the hardness of it, the complication to get it, that will make it more credible," he said. "So, if anyone told me that they finished this, it means that person really finished it."
Master's of public health
An online master's of public health (MPH) program allows students to explore the institutions and systems that affect public health. MPH programs teach skills that can help students change lives through advocacy and outreach, expanding access to healthcare.
Niaomi Moshier
Meet Niaomi Moshier, a student in George Washington University's MPH program on edX. After earning her bachelor's from Howard University, she decided to pursue her master's on edX while working as a public health advocate in New York City, where she grew up.
"I realized I didn't just want to help patients," she says. "I wanted to tackle the infrastructure that was failing them."
With edX, she found an opportunity to serve her community while furthering her studies asynchronously.
"Online learning has given me the freedom to pursue my passions for advocacy and community work while connecting with professionals I otherwise wouldn't have met," she said.
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