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upGrad Bullish On Bolstering Its International Universities Network

upGrad Bullish On Bolstering Its International Universities Network

upGrad Bullish On Bolstering Its International Universities Network

*This is a partnership with BloombergQuint BrandStudio

The edtech major plans to expand its line-up of global universities threefold in 2021

upGrad strengthened its worldwide network of top universities by inking partnerships with the University of Essex (Online), Duke Corporate Education, and Michigan State University within a span of three months, as part of its vision of powering career success of every member of the global workforce as their trusted LifeLongLearning partner. India’s largest higher edtech firm added that it aims to close 10 such partnerships by the end of the current fiscal.

upGrad Bullish On Bolstering Its International Universities Network

This move from upGrad will help Indian learners accomplish their dream of pursuing higher education from top international universities which otherwise had to be cancelled or reconsidered due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. According to a survey by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British agency that brings out the World University Rankings every year, 61% of Indian students decided to defer their course of study by a year, 8% choose to study in a different country and another 7% cancelled their plans altogether.

Talking about partnerships, Phalgun Kompalli, co-founder, upGrad said, “2020 has been the year when we grew over 100% in terms of both, national and international university partnerships. We introduced Global MBAs and made them one of the highest revenue-making verticals. Now with the recent tie-ups, we have grown three times our program portfolio to cross 100+ programs. The figures are set to double in 2021. With an ideal blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning taught by the university professors and industry experts; our international programs are designed to foster deep subject learning and drive strong outcomes in terms of career transitions as well as drive strong research outcomes in our Master’s programs, both in terms of Ph.D. admissions & research publishing.

The partnerships have added over 75 online programs in upGrad’s existing portfolio like Design Thinking Certification Programme with Duke CE, PG Courses in Cybersecurity, Criminology, Psychology, with the University of Essex (online) and Global Master Certificate in Integrated Supply Chain Management, Global Master Certificate in Business Analytics, and Global Professional Certificate in Effective Leadership & Management with Michigan State University, to name a few.

With the growing demand for transnational education in India, individuals are continuously scouting for viable options that bring them both, quality learning solutions and steadfast career support, without having to worry about the physical/offline constraints. upGrad's program structure will offer several industry-driven projects that shall, in turn, prepare professionals/individuals for the new-age workforce ecosystem.

Arjun Mohan, CEO, upGrad, said “Even before we strategically embarked on global expansion, our international programs were pulling learners from 50+ countries across the world. We are focused on expanding and going strong on the partnerships with top international universities and will see a great line-up this year. These partnerships drop all geographic barriers, give millions of young Indians a chance to pursue education from their dream institutes online, get global learners to our platform, thus slowly and steadily enabling India to become the teaching capital of the world.”

upGrad recently released its Q3 results, clocking its highest-ever revenue in a single quarter, and is targeting an Rs 2,500 crore revenue run-rate for FY22. With the new and future international partnerships upGrad is confident of strengthening its position as the LifeLongLearning partner of choice for the professionals seeking the best national as well as global education, with career growth.

About upGrad

upGrad is India’s largest online higher education company. Founded in early 2015, upGrad has impacted over 1 million individuals globally. It provides online programs in the areas of data science, technology, management, and law to college students, working professionals, and enterprises. The brand ranked as India's No.1 startup, as per the LinkedIn Top Startups 2020 list. This is the third time in a row that upGrad has been featured in the top startup list by LinkedIn. It has received the title of 'Best Education Brand' by Economic Times in 2020 for the second time, post winning the same title in 2018. upGrad, also made it to the prestigious GSV Global EdTech 50 List 2020.