In June 2016, President Obama announced a Call to Action that gave impetus to private-public partnerships to address the global refugee crisis, including Coursera for Refugees [1]. As a result, a multi-stakeholder collaboration between Coursera, the U.S. Department of State, and nonprofit organizations around the world have enabled thousands of refugees to access a unique catalogue of MOOCs to help them gain crucial skills necessary to succeed in the global economy. This initiative, known as Coursera for Refugees, is a testament to the broad social impact and economic potential of MOOCs and public-private partnerships to address the global refugee crisis.
Coursera, the largest open online education provider, envisions a world where anyone, anywhere can transform their life by accessing the world’s best learning experience. As of March 2017, Coursera offers over 2,000 courses, 160+ Specializations, and 2 degrees from top universities around the world. As such, over 24 million people have taken courses on a mobile device or computer from 149 university partners. With Coursera’s global reach and high-quality educational content, we launched Coursera for Refugees to offer tangible, private-public solutions to help address the socio-cultural impacts of the global refugee crisis.
Coursera for Refugees is an initiative launched in June 2016 addresses the refugee crisis by granting refugees with free access to over 1,000 online university courses that provide educational and career-skills training. In this policy paper, we discuss how Coursera approached this challenge and offer recommendations and applied actions for policy makers and government stakeholders. 2
There are currently 65.3 million refugees globally who have been displaced because
of social conflict and violence—the highest number on record since the UN Refugee
Agency began collecting statistics [
Increasingly, refugees need career and life skills training to adapt to unforeseen
circumstances and new environments. Coursera for Refugees addresses the
unprecedented urgency to create conditions for refugees to achieve the right to education and
succeed in an interconnected global economy. Per the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations, “Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be free… technical and professional education shall be made
generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of
merit.” [
In June 2016, the White House launched a Call to Action to the U.S. private sector
to increase its efforts in response to the global refugee crisis [
"Coursera for Refugees is designed to provide as many [refugees] as possible with greater access to education in career relevant skills, as they navigate new homes and difficult times in their lives," said Rebecca Taber, Coursera's head of Government Partnerships, in a statement.
Coursera for Refugees includes a catalogue of recommended courses selected
specifically for refugees, which not only focus on career-relevant skills, but also life
skills like language, communication, and socialization, that help them adjust even
outside the employment arena. This comprehensive course list is designed to not only
help refugees improve their career prospects, but to also adjust and integrate in their
host communities. Courses are offered by school including Stanford University,
University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, and IE Business School.
“The humanitarian crisis surrounding refugees now is at a critical point,” said Evan
Ryan, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, in a
statement [
The program also partners with any nonprofit organization that works directly with
refugees. These nonprofits can apply to Coursera for one year of financial aid to pay
for courses for refugees. Nonprofit organizations are able to access an individual
online portal allowing them to track the progress of refugees taking the courses, and
also to interface with other nonprofits to share best practices [
As of January 2017, Coursera for Refugees has 2,331 enrollments and 11,696 total
learning hours. Coursera’s ambition is to provide valuable credentials and
careerrelevant skills to 10,000 refugees by the end of 2017. Research points to the
corresponding positive outcomes: the vast majority of learners who complete MOOCs
report both career advancement (72%) and educational advancement (61%) [
On September 20, 2016, the Obama Administration convened a high-level
roundtable with a cross-sector of private leaders to recognize commitments in
response to the Call for Action, including Coursera for Refugees [
A social-political issue as urgent as the refugee crisis requires more than state action; it demands high-level private-public partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration. As such, we recommend that policymakers model the following procedures: 1. Private-public partnerships: Coursera has distinct experience among leading technology companies in partnering with governments and nonprofits on workforce development initiatives. Specifically, Coursera recently launched “Coursera for Governments & Nonprofits,” a unique effort to close current and emerging skills gaps in the global workforce. Beyond Coursera for Refugees, Coursera has joined with initial government and nonprofit partners in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Singapore and the United States. These efforts exemplify how privatepublic partnerships can create scalable solutions to begin to address the global refugee crisis.
Cross-sector private partnerships: Policy initiatives driven by driven by
cross-sector partnerships, including a call to action at the national level to
draw on the unique skills, resources, and entrepreneurial spirit of the private
sector. We must tap into the unique capabilities of multiple companies in
order to achieve a common goal; it takes a village, and diversity of
contributions are necessary. We believe that private-private partnerships can also
make an important impact on closing the global skills gap, particularly for
refugees. Cross-sector partnerships such as Coursera and Google [
Ultimately, policy initiatives should empower online learning providers to expand access to MOOCs so all learners can transform their lives. The early success of Coursera for Refugees is a testament to the significant resources we can mobilize when the public and private sectors work together. 8. https://blog.coursera.org/learning-without-limits-creating-inclusive-coursecommunitiescoursera/ 9. https://blog.coursera.org/coursera-launches-14-new-spanish-language/ 10. https://blog.coursera.org/first-million-russian-words-of-course-content/ 11. https://blog.coursera.org/one-year-and-500000-learners-later-guokrs-mooc/ 12. https://blog.coursera.org/parlez-vous-francais-3-picks-from-our-french/