Online Course Marketplace for Colleges Raises $7 Million

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Acadeum, developer of the popular Academic Sharing Platformtm, which now supports a network of more than 200 colleges and universities to share online courses, today announced a $7 million Series A investment led by the Lumina Foundation and along with Rethink Education, LearnStart and Socratic Ventures.  

"Lack of access to in-demand courses all too often presents a barrier to completion for students," said Brad Kelsheimer, vice president and chief financial officer with Lumina Foundation. "Through its course-sharing marketplace, Acadeum addresses this challenge by supporting colleges and universities in unlocking their collective course capacity to help students get the courses they need when they need them."

Founded in 2016, Acadeum supports the formation of course-sharing consortia for institutions of higher education, including the Council of Independent Colleges, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, and Digitex. The consortial model allows faculty to review and select courses from other participating institutions that, unlike transfer courses, fully count toward graduation requirements, GPA, and financial aid. To date, Acadeum's platform has powered more than 150 separate consortia, resulting in 5,000 students completing courses. Institutions have used the consortial model to advance a variety of solutions to improve retention and graduation rates, while collectively generating over $10 million in additional revenue.

"Our work is rooted in a belief that deep collaboration is at the core of lasting innovation in higher education, as it has been in many other sectors," said Josh Pierce, CEO and co-founder of Acadeum. "It reflects the transformative impact of interoperability and open networks to expand access and options for students while simultaneously enabling institutions to specialize and refine sustainable financial models."

By facilitating consortia between and among institutions, Acadeum's Academic Sharing Platformtm, allows colleges and universities to seamlessly exchange academic resources, student and enrollment data, and financial payments. Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, now uses the platform to offer online courses from other institutions to better meet the needs of Eureka students at risk of dropping out. Through this model, Eureka has increased first-year retention by 6.4% while adding more than $400,000 of revenue in the 2019-2020 academic year.

This investment will allow Acadeum to grow and strengthen the communities of course-sharing institutions while expanding the use of best practices through the consortial model. 

About Acadeum
Acadeum is a network of colleges and universities committed to sharing high-quality online courses to improve student success. Together, we're unlocking the collective potential of institutions to ensure that all learners have access to the courses they need when and where they need them. More than 200 colleges and universities are powered by Acadeum's cross-enrollment platform to access these course-sharing networks and improve student retention and completion while increasing institutional revenue.

To learn more about Acadeum, please visit: www.acadeum.com

SOURCE Acadeum