Dive Brief:
- MOOCs are usually free or cheap for students, but building a MOOC is tricky and expensive for colleges.
- A MOOC with professional video and interactive features can cost around $250,000, with the bill usually footed by the school, the platform that hosts it, and sometimes third parties.
- Udacity expects future courses to cost about $400,000 to produce; EdX charges about $250,000 to produce one.
Dive Insight:
Some MOOC backers are in it hoping to make a profit — such as the venture capitalists who paid into Udacity and Coursera — while some such as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are willing to put money toward the idea as philanthropy. Either way, the article is a reminder that for as many things that are not known about MOOCs, one thing is: There is real money at stake.
