College students can't always get into the courses they want, even online ones. That's why many schools share online courses across institutions to give students more flexibility in scheduling the classes they want and that can help them graduate.
Austin-based educational-technology startup College Consortium Inc., which does business as Acadeum, is one of the biggest players in this ecosystem, working with big schools like Texas A&M and smaller systems. Acadeum announced May 24 it closed an $11.9 million series B funding round led by Austin-based Green Street Impact Partners. It was the fund's first investment. Other investors included ECMC Group's Education Impact Fund and Pearson Ventures.
Acadeum's platform enables course sharing across national and regional schools, and the company has partnered with Coursera to expand offerings of professional certificates. Through course sharing, schools can offer courses that they might not otherwise be able to.
For example, last year Complete College America launched a course-sharing initiative in partnership with Acadeum to help two-year schools aiming to start or expand technical programs.
"Today's learners are older, and more likely to be parents or working, than at any point in our nation's history. That new majority of learners are putting pressure on institutions to align course offerings with the realities of their schedules and responsibilities beyond the classroom," Acadeum CEO David Daniels stated. "At a moment when some are questioning the role and relevance of American colleges, we're building tools to leverage the collective strength of our nation's higher education system to unlock new opportunities for both institutions — and students."
Acadeum was co-founded in 2016 by Joshua Pierce, Luis Felipe Rincon, Nathan Green, Osei Bonsu and Robert Manzer. It has now raised a total of $23.9 million, according to Crunchbase.
The startup's software is used by more than 460 higher education institutions.
In one of its most recent moves, Acadeum secured a partnership with Texas Southern University and other historically Black colleges and universities on a course-sharing consortium.
"The University is committed to eliminating barriers that prevent our students from graduating on time," TSU Acting Provost Lillian Poats stated earlier this month. "We believe this innovative effort by some of the leading minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities can be a catalyst for even more multi-institutional collaboration."
