EdX Goes International as Six New Schools Join Partnership

UPDATED: February 21, 2013, at 1:02 a.m.

EdX, the nonprofit online learning venture started by Harvard and MIT last May, announced Wednesday that it is doubling in size and expanding internationally with the addition of six new schools to its consortium.

EdX’s institutional members now include Australian National University, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, McGill University and the University of Toronto in Canada, and Rice University in Texas.

While edX users have come from all over the world since the platform’s launch last spring, the new partnerships in North America, Europe, and Australia will mark the first time online courses are developed offshore.

“Each of these schools was carefully selected for the distinct expertise they bring to our growing family of edX institutions,” said Anant Agarwal, president of edX, in a press release. “We remain committed to growing edX to meet the needs of the world while maintaining a superior learning experience for all.”

Beginning in late 2013, ANUx, DelftX, EPFLx, McGillX, RiceX, and TorontoX will offer courses in topics ranging from science and the humanities to public policy.

Classes announced so far include ANUx’s “Engaging India” and “Astrophysics,” the latter taught by Nobel Laureate Brian P. Schmidt. Additionally, “Introduction to Aerospace Engineering,” “Solar Energy,” and “Water Treatment Engineering,” will be offered later this year, all through DelftX. Finally, students of TorontoX will be able to take “Terrestrial Energy System,” “Behavioral Economics,” “The Logic of Business: Building Blocks for Organizational Design,” and “Bioinformatic Methods.”

These universities join founders Harvard and MIT, as well as the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Texas System, Wellesley College, and Georgetown University in the X University Consortium.

—Staff writer Amna H. Hashmi can be reached at amnahashmi@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @amna_hashmi.

—Staff writer Cynthia W. Shih can be reached at cshih@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @CShih7.