Online learning statistics 2026

How many people learn online?

Hundreds of millions. Coursera and Udemy, which became one company on May 11, 2026, serve more than 300 million registered learners (Coursera).

How many people pay for online courses?

1.66 million pay Coursera and Udemy a subscription, up 44% in a year (Coursera).

Paying subscribers on Coursera and Udemy grew 44% in a year (million subscribers)

1Q2 2026

1.66M

2Q1 2026

1.53M

3Q4 2025

1.35M

4Q3 2025

1.30M

5Q2 2025

1.15M

6Q1 2025

1.08M

Coursera, Q2 2026 shareholder letter · combined, the same way for both

That's still well under 1% of registered learners. Most people learn free and pay only when they want a certificate or a career step.

What are people learning online?

AI, faster than anything else. Learners are signing up for generative AI courses more than 45 times a minute this year, up from 25 a minute in 2025 (Coursera).

Coursera and Udemy now offer nearly 10,000 generative AI courses, including new ones from Anthropic. See how fast AI is spreading in my AI statistics.

How many college students take classes online?

More than half. 54.7% of the 19.7 million students at US degree-granting colleges took at least one online class in fall 2024, and 26.5% studied only online (US Department of Education).

US college students who took an online class, fall 2024 (%)

1For-profit colleges

81.9%

2Public colleges

55.2%

3All colleges

54.7%

4Nonprofit colleges

46.2%

US Department of Education, Digest of Education Statistics 2025 · 19.7 million students, table 311.15

At for-profit colleges, 64.4% of students studied only online. Across all colleges, that's 5.2 million people who never set foot in a classroom.

How many online courses are there?

More than 335,000 on Coursera and Udemy alone, from more than 100,000 instructors and 400 universities and companies (Coursera).

If you teach, that's a lot of competition, and a clear sign of demand. My free online course revenue calculator works out what your course would earn on each platform.

How big is the online learning business?

Coursera earned $298.6 million in the quarter to June 30, 2026, up 60% with Udemy added, and its enterprise revenue, from companies, colleges and governments, more than doubled, up 118% (Coursera).

It's betting on AI next: Coursera invested $100 million in LearnVector, a new AI-native learning company founded by Andrew Ng.

How to use these numbers

Before you build or buy a course:

• Teach AI skills, or add them: it's what learners want most
• Offer a free way in: most learners start free and pay later
• Price in the platform's cut, or sell on your own site
• Keep lessons short and clear for people learning online
• Check what your course would earn on each platform before you build it

Then pick the platform your learners already use, and make the first lesson free.

Key takeaways

Here's what the online learning statistics say:

• Online learning is huge – Coursera and Udemy serve more than 300 million learners.
• Paying learners are growing – 1.66 million subscribers, up 44% in a year.
• AI is the top subject – more than 45 AI course sign-ups a minute this year, up from 25.
• College is going online – 54.7% of US college students took an online class.
• The market is consolidating – Coursera and Udemy are now one company.

For more, see my AI statistics and creator economy statistics, and price your course with my free online course revenue calculator.