EXCLUSIVE: The secret behind why Coursera courses are becoming a hit with Indians

Nearly two years after Coursera released a survey reporting widespread career and educational impact of online courses for Indians, it has now come out with '2017 Learner Outcomes Survey' which shows its online learners are reporting even greater benefits than before.

89% of Indian learners among working professionals and job seekers (“career builders”), reported career benefits compared to 84% globally, 84% in the US and 86% in the UK. In India, 46% of career builders reported to have got better in their jobs, and 39% reported to have improved their candidacy for a new job.

We asked Coursera's Chief Business Officer, Nikhil Sinha, as to what has led to such an overwhelming response in the Indian market. This is what he had to say: "Indian professional class is one of the most aspirational classes anywhere in the world. Education has always been most important to us to improve our socio-economic condition. We are seeing that a graduate degree is no more a guarantee of continued progess in one's career, and that life-long learning and continuous engagement with top educational content is essential to on an ongoing basis if you want to survive in this competitive world."

"This recognition is what we are starting to see among professionals as well as companies. Companies in India are also making investments in learning, development and training. There is now an understanding that continual development of individials and learners is absolutely essential for career development, and this is what has led to a spurt in digital learning," he added.

But, the encouraging response also comes at a time when Coursera started charging a fee for its courses. When it started five years back it offered free courses. How then was this company able to multiply the number of its numbers To this, Sinha clarified," We still have free content. Coursera, along with its university partners, only charges for the ability for learners to take assessment and to get a certificate. Despite plugging in these prices, these numbers indicate we have seen no reduction in the number of people signing up for our courses. The growth in India is infact faster than anywhere else in the world."

He said,"Coursera sees 60,000 new learners every month from India. This makes for 10% of our global growth. India is also the second largest revenue market for Coursera after the US."

While the company reports to be adding more users to its pool, the learner survey cites 98% of existing Indian learners seeking educational outcomes are reporting benefits higher than the global average (93%). Also, Indians were much more likely than learners in other markets to report benefits such as gaining knowledge, deciding on an area of study, or earning credits.

Moreover, even as the most valuable benefits of online learning are not always tangible, 83% of Indians who completed online Coursera courses reported “gaining confidence” compared to 72% of people globally. Responding on how this education portal is reflecting such tangible benefits, Sinha said - "Coursera has been able to engage people and show tangible impact owing to three qualities - its top quality education (from some of the best schools like Harvard, Yale, Oxford etc) in a wide range of subjects that allow people to get mastery in any area that they want, and in a learning experience that is unmatched."

Indians, he further said, have been given the opportunity to access courses from universities that most would never have the opportunity to learn from in any other way. The knowledge and confidence that they gain from this experience can, therefore, have a major impact on their lives leading to greater earning potential or to finding more fulfillment in their careers.

In the coming future, Coursera plans to continue demonstrating the 2017 impact. Sinha concluded, saying-"We think about adding value to our learners. We will continue to build more content, and as we evolve, we will try to personalize some of this experience and be able to match learners with right content."

The Coursera Learner Outcomes Survey is based on 13,917 survey responses globally and 756 in India from learners who completed a course on Coursera from March 2015 through June 2016 (responses collected March 2016 to Dec 2016).