This year, edX shocked the world by getting acquired for $800 million in cash by 2U, a for-profit public company. You can read my 4,500-word analysis, which is part data-driven and part opinionated.

In 2021, edX gained 7 million new learners, similar to what it did in 2019, and less than the 10 million it gained in 2020, during the pandemic boost.

EdX isn’t a non-profit anymore, lost its co-CEO, shut down a microcredential (Executive Education), and we saw the first signs of its integration with 2U: it started promoting courses and bootcamps from other 2U acquisitions.

So far, none of its partners have left edX due to the transaction. The acquisition also doesn’t seem to have boosted 2U’s stock price, which is lower than before the acquisition.

For Class Central‘s complete analysis of edX’s 2021, keep reading. For our previous years’ analyses, follow the links:

• Edx’s 2020: Year in Review
• Edx’s 2019: Year in Review
• Edx’s 2018: Year in Review
• Edx’s 2017: Year in Review
• Edx’s 2016: Year in Review

By The Numbers

Courses

EdX now has 3,550 active courses, up from 3,090 last year. Data collected by Class Central shows that they’ve announced around 550 online courses in 2021 (compared to 750 in 2020).

Here are edX’s ten most popular courses by enrollment launched in 2021. The top course has 80K enrollments, while the #10 has around 22K.

• Excel for Everyone: Core Foundations from The University of British Columbia
• Nature-based Solutions for Disaster and Climate Resilience from SDG Academy
• Inglés para todos: nivel básico from Universidad del Rosario 
• CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Scratch from Harvard University
• Financial Accounting from MIT
• Early Childhood Development: Global Strategies for Implementation from Harvard
• Mathematical Methods for Quantitative Finance from MIT
• Mental Health and Nutrition from University of Canterbury
• Remote Work Revolution for Everyone from Harvard
• Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes from Havard

Here’s a list of 100 Top FREE edX Courses of All Time and 100 most popular courses launched in 2021.

Microcredentials

Currently, edX lists 483 microcredentials (up from 385 last year) of 5 different types. The table above shows how each microcredential type has grown over the years.

In 2020, edX launched a new kind of microcredential, MicroBachelors. They also launched a new line of higher-priced online courses under the Executive Education banner. These courses had a fixed schedule, were 4 to 6 weeks long, and were priced between $999 and $3,599. 

In 2021, those courses are no longer available. Instead, edX has started listing courses from 2U-acquired company GetSmarter, under the banner of Executive Education.

Similarly, edX has also added a page to promote Trilogy Bootcamps, another company acquired by 2U.

GetSmarter courses and Trilogy Bootcamps are not included in our microcredentials count.

EdX Online Master’s Degrees

In 2021, edX did announce a Masters in Public Health from Boston University, but it will only start in 2023. It was announced as part of its acquisition by 2U, but there’s no information yet on the edX website (that’s why we didn’t include it in our degree count).

For comparison, in 2020, edX had announced four new online master’s degrees.

Here is a complete list of MOOC-based online degrees. Below is a list of all the degrees currently listed on edX.

2U + edX

Though the acquisition was announced at the end of June, it finally got approved last month.

Now, edX CEO Anant Agarwal has transitioned to ‘Chief Open Education Officer’ at 2U. EdX has also waived all the membership and annual fees for its members. It announced that none of the edX Consortium members had left, while two dozen of 2U’s partners have joined edX. But as far as we can tell, these aren’t offering courses on edX (yet at least).

2U’s edX acquisition hasn’t had a positive impact on the 2U’s stock, which is lower than it was before the acquisition. At the time of writing, the company is valued at $1.61B.

Open edX Remains Open

In essence, 2U acquired all edX assets except Open edX, the open source software that powers the edX platform and those of many institutions. The acquisition left behind a nonprofit entity under MIT and Harvard control, for now called The Center for Reimagining Learning (tCRIL).

Open edX now lives under tCRIL’s purview, and a new shared governance model has been put into place. It involves a committee of 9 people — 3 from edX/2U, 3 from Harvard/MIT, and 3 from the Open edX community — in charge of giving Open edX direction in the years to come.

EdX Co-CEO Adam Medros Leaves the Company

In March 2021, a year and a half after becoming co-CEO of edX with Anant Agarwal, Adam Medros left the company. Adam was also the President of edX.

I’m excited to share the news that I’m joining the team at @embarkvet as COO to help them continue to scale. The past 3+ years at @edXOnline have been an amazing experience and I’m so proud of the growth and transformation of the organization. https://t.co/WhXIsDgI6r

— Adam Medros (@adammedros) March 15, 2021

Adam joined edX as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and President back in October 2017, following a 13-year stint at Tripadvisor (it’s like Class Central, but for travel), where he was Senior Vice President of Global Product and a member of the executive team. In late 2019, he was promoted to co-CEO.