FPT University partners with Coursera to double enrollment every two years
- Location:
Vietnam
- Industry:
Higher Education
- Size:
75,000 students
- Topics:
In-demand Skills, Curriculum Integration
Overview
FPT’s mission is to educate and prepare students to strengthen the Vietnamese economy and compete in global markets. To advance a philosophy of classroom instruction combined with self-learning across all levels - FPT Polytechnic, FPT Undergraduate, FPT Masters, and Faculty - the university needed an online learning platform with an international perspective that could easily integrate with its curriculum and support a goal of doubling the student population every two years.
FPT University aligned with Coursera to provide all FPT students and faculty access to classes and certifications from industry leaders and world-class universities, including Yale, Duke, and Northwestern, among others. Coursera easily integrated with the FPT curriculum and the depth and breadth of Coursera classes was highly appealing to faculty who appreciate the ability to curate their own content. Coursera also supports FPT’s goal of digital transformation to include both online and in-person learning for all students.
Challenge
FPT University embraces two priorities: to become a global university and to double its student population every two years. To achieve these goals, FPT needed an online learning partner with an international focus that could keep pace with a growing student body — now at 75,000+ students— and serve those students across master’s and undergraduate programs, as well as FPT Polytechnic. At the same time, the university wanted to keep faculty current within their disciplines.
“With so many different types of learners, the ideal platform has to include diverse, continuously updated learning content that builds skills for the next generations of leaders,” says Le Truong Tung, FPT University President.
Le Truong Tung
FPT University President
"Each specialization and certificate is the equivalent of immersing our students in a semester of material developed by international experts while helping them build their English proficiency. We’re doubling our Coursera licenses every two years to keep pace with our expanding student population, and Coursera utilization has reached 95%."
Solution
Coursera for Campus
FPT relies solely on Coursera for online learning, with the platform integrated into more than 20% of FPT’s curriculum. Each student earns nine credits per year on the Coursera platform, which results in approximately 20% of the global academic credits earned. Undergrads are encouraged to build core technology skills through 40+ specializations, including Problem Solving Skills for University Success, Critical Thinking Skills for University Success and Communication Skills for University Success. Every student has their own Coursera license and is required to complete at least one Coursera specialization per semester, choosing from content and certifications developed by world-class universities and industry leaders, including Google, Meta, IBM and Intuit.
When students complete their Coursera courses, they take an appraisal exam proctored by FPT, earning credit once they’ve passed. In a true win-win, students leave the university with an FPT degree and certificates from Coursera partners that help them stand out in a competitive job market and impress potential employers.
Faculty also turn to Coursera to sharpen their skills and even develop their own content, with 300 faculty members now using private authoring capabilities. Currently, there are nearly 60,000 Coursera licenses available to the FPT University community - including all students and faculty — and the university is on track to offer 78K licenses for the 2022/2023 academic year. To date, there have been nearly 5 million Coursera lesson completions and the university is on track to double learning hours from 1M in 2022 to 2M in 2023.
According to Ngo Thi Thuy An, Head of Soft Skills Department at FPT Can Tho University: “With Cousera, we can create a proactive, self-directed learning environment that gives our students easy access to international experts in higher education and industry.”
Business impact
Coursera supports FPT’s mission to advance its reputation as a global university and scales with their goal to double the student population every two years, as evidenced by the doubling of their student population from 2020 to 2021 and a 44% increase in their student body from 2021 to 2022. The university now drives approximately 10% of the FPT Group’s revenues and is the fastest growing unit within the organization.
“Coursera gives us a powerful resource to continually evolve as an organization and as educators. We show students that we never stop learning,” says Dr. Tung. “Today, 73 percent of our students are enrolled in at least four courses, gaining essential technical abilities, clear critical thinking, and communication skills that put them on a path to becoming global leaders in business and technology.”
Moving forward
With learner excitement and strong course completions, FPT University is in the early stages of bringing SkillSets to their campuses. The university will also need additional Coursera licenses to keep up with the rapid growth of its student body.
OUTCOMES
44%
increase in student population within a year
10%
FPT University now drives 10% of FPT Group’s revenues
+ On track to double student population by 2024
+ Upskilling and private authoring opportunities for faculty
Coursera is now an integral part of our approach to education. We’re eager to keep building our partnership by developing custom content and programming. In 2023, we’ve added a new goal to exceed two million learning hours with Coursera.
