3 trends that are shaking up higher education companies

Higher Ed Dive

Natalie Schwartz

May 17, 2023

Publicly traded higher education companies wrapped up reporting their quarterly earnings last week, offering a look into the trends affecting them — as well as the larger college and university ecosystem.

Several major developments surfaced, including the ways ChatGPT and artificial intelligence are changing how instructors build courses and students access information. Meanwhile, some ed tech companies are dealing with potential regulatory changes that could seriously harm their business models.

Below, we highlight three trends that higher education companies confronted during the first quarter of 2023.

MOOC platforms embrace AI

Although Chegg’s stock made headlines for crashing after the company said ChatGPT was hurting its ability to attract students to the platform, other ed tech companies are heralding the technology as a future driver of growth.

That includes companies that run MOOC platforms. Executives at Coursera, which counts around 124 million registered users, suggested that the company will benefit from workers seeking out training programs as AI takes over more job functions.

“AI will amplify and accelerate the change being felt by individuals, pushing every one of us in every job to keep learning in order to stay relevant,” CEO Jeff Maggioncalda told analysts last month during a call to discuss the company’s earnings.

Coursera is also using AI to enhance its offerings.

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