These online degrees are designed in high-demand fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data science, and other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.
They also offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in fields like commerce and arts.
Upskilling edtech firms like Physicswala and Simplilearn have either launched a pilot in this segment or are planning to do so in the coming financial year, while existing players are strengthening their offerings.
Physics Pvt. Ltd.’s PW Skills, which initially offered a four-year residential program in Computer Science at PW Institute of Innovation (PW IOI), has now started offering the program in partnership with colleges like IIT Sirmaur and Patna and other universities like Lovely Professional Is done. University, Jain University and Manipal University.
While the company’s official website shows that these courses are open for admission, Physicswala declined to comment on the subject.
SimpliLearn, on the other hand, has formed a team to build new relationships with universities in India and abroad to offer long-term online degrees.
The company, which only offers certification programs and short-term courses, plans to start offering online degrees in 2025, focusing on the Indian market.
“In our country, there are not enough universities to cater to our entire population. In most countries, including the US, there are hundreds of online universities that have no physical campus. In the long term, it makes sense, and we see That’s the direction the market is going in,” said Krishna Kumar, founder and chief executive of Simplilearn. peppermint,
They are not alone.
Vikas Highway
Founded in 2015, UpGrad led some of India’s first co-branded blended programs in 2020 through partnerships with OP Jindal Global University and Jamia Hamdard. This came right after FFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gives permission to India’s top 100 universities Offering fully online degree programs to ensure continuity of education during the lockdown.
According to Mayank Kumar, co-founder of upskilling unicorn UpGrad, such co-branded degrees now account for about half of the company’s student enrolment. He said the degree product line is growing faster than the certification business with which the company started.
“We enroll about 150,000 students annually, of which 60,000 to 70,000 are online degree enrollees, and this segment is growing rapidly – about 30-50% year-on-year, even,” Kumar said. “Even on this scale.” peppermint,
slowdown in upskilling
Globally, demand for upskilling is counter-cyclical, with more workers taking up it during economic downturns. However, in India this pattern has been reversed.
There is a slowdown in skills development in India amid weak hiring trends, limited high-paying job opportunities and a broader industry approach of cutting marketing spend to prioritize profitability.
According to Bank of Baroda’s August report, employment growth in the corporate sector slowed to 1.5% in 2023-24 from 5.7% in 2022-23.
Only 90,840 new jobs were created in the fiscal year, a sharp decline from 333,000 in the previous fiscal year, the report said.
In an interview last week, Mohan Lakhamraju, founder of Great Learning, had said that peppermint The company expects similar demand from vocational education courses in India in 2024-25.
Lakhmaraju Great Learning, which offers online degrees in collaboration with Deakin University and Northwestern School of Professional Studies, is doubling down on its partnership with other prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Duke University and IIT Bombay to further explore programs and degrees. doing.
He said the biggest challenge in offering degrees in collaboration with prestigious colleges is that they can be expensive.
Fees for co-branded degrees offered by Physicswala, UpGrad and Eruditus vary significantly depending on the type of course, duration and partner institutions. According to their websites, Physicswala charges between 40,000 more Scholar fees can go up to Rs 1.5 lakh While the upgrade fee can reach up to Rs 9 lakh 25 lakhs.
Physicswala’s M.Sc. 24 months of live classes and campus immersion offered in Data Science with Chandigarh University 90,000. Meanwhile, Upgrade’s Doctor of Business Administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco is a 36-month program 25,00,000. All these companies offer flexible payment options to learners like equated monthly installments.
“The affordability level in India is not that high, which is a big hurdle. However, if you can offer the program at an affordable price there is tremendous interest. I spend most of my time figuring out how to bring the price down,” Lakhmaraju said.
Great Learning is also attempting to integrate online degrees with overseas programs at international universities to make such courses more attractive to learners.
“Of course, we have to make sure it works for universities as well,” he said.
EdTech meets academia
Universities in India are often cash-strapped, looking for additional revenue sources, and slow to adopt new technologies, while edtech platforms focus on industry-aligned skills. Meanwhile, students look for job-relevant skills but still demand formal degrees, said Suchindra Kumar, partner and sector expert for education at PwC. peppermint,
He said online degrees create a symbiotic relationship, with universities partnering with edtech platforms to offer industry-aligned content alongside formal degrees, thereby increasing revenues for both.
According to Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner and head of education and skill development practice at KPMG in India, partnerships with existing universities give these e-learning providers a definitive position in the formal education sector.
He added, “I also expect there to be tie-ups, and in some cases, acquisitions, among these e-learning providers. They will also need to ensure that students are able to get a larger opportunity and pursue their higher education beyond the immediate online courses.” To continue education.” ,
Job guarantee is left behind
The sluggish job market has influenced the growing demand for upskilling programs that guarantee jobs, triggered by the early attraction of higher-paying roles in 2021.
UpGrad’s Kumar believes that companies focused exclusively on job placement will eventually need to expand into degree offerings, as it is difficult to fully sift through job opportunities without direct control over employment.
In June, peppermint SimpliLearn, which previously offered a job guarantee program, discontinued the initiative after enrolling 900 learners but could only place 271 due to the weak job market, the report said.
In April, India Quotient-backed pay-after-placement startup Masai School saw cash positivity after adding IIT courses. News reports say the company aims to increase the share of revenue from this sector to almost half over the next few years.
