In 2025, Harvard CS50 offers 10 free certificate courses on topics such as computer science, Python, and AI.

Online course platforms closely track their learners. And things have gotten worse over the past two years.

Both Coursera and Udemy started 2025 with new CEOs. Greg Hart took over at Coursera in February. Hugo Sarrazin started at Udemy in March. Less than a month into the job, both CEOs were in conversations to sell their companies. On April 8, Hart and Sarrazin met for the first time at ASU+GSV. The rest, as they say, is history. In my 5,000-word analysis of Coursera’s acquisition of Udemy, I called the deal rushed. Two new CEOs, both less than a year into the job, merging two public companies. I w

In 2021, edX was acquired by 2U for $800M, stopped being a nonprofit, and the 2U integration has begun.