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Analysis

2U Powered Degrees Pricing Chart: 112 Programs from $20K – $200K

How much do Degrees powered by 2U actually cost? Class Central has the answer.

TL;DR

  • 20% of 2U powered degrees would end up costing the learner north of $100,000
  • At $201K, Doctor of Physical Therapy from USC is the most expensive
  • Principal Licensure Preparation Program from University of Dayton is the cheapest at $20k
  • 112 Online Degrees from 30 universities.
  • Universities with most degrees: Syracuse, Pepperdine, and USC.

At the end of July, 2U announced a massive strategy shift centered around edX. Here is how I summarized the strategy shift:

  • Reduce expenses by reducing personnel and by closing offices.
  • Adopt a new marketing framework, using edX’s organic reach and moving away from paid ads.
  • Lower tuition costs, leading to an increase in enrollments.

The goal is to increase profitability by reducing expenses as well as revenues. Based on LinkedIn posts, the company has already undergone two rounds of layoffs, first at the beginning of August and then at the end of the same month.

The “Lower tuition costs” caught my attention. One thing that wasn’t easy to find is how much degrees powered by 2U cost. Last year, in a post titled “Affordable Online Education is Better for Students and Better for Our Business” by the 2U CEO, there was no mention of any actual pricing.

Even in the “Affordability” section of 2U’s 2020 Transparency Report, the costs of degree programs are given in cost per credit. Short Courses and Bootcamps are presented as full price.

So, I decided to find out and document the full cost of degrees powered by 2U. In future, it will help us identify which degrees actually lowered their cost (if any) and to what extent.

Screenshot of 2U Impact Report, Affordability Section
From 2U’s 2020 Transparency Report, Affordability section, page 11

According to 2U, “2U’s partners are solely responsible for setting tuition rates for their programs. 2U does not set prices.” But it’s hard to believe that the company that invests millions of dollars to launch these degrees, and then takes a majority of the share of the revenue, has no influence over the pricing.

2U Powered Online Degrees Pricing Summary

Cost summary of 2U Degrees
Masters Doctorates
Total 99 12
Median Price
$66.5K $106K
Min Price
$34K $56K
Max Price $126K $201K

Class Central’s analysis found 112 programs from 30 universities in total: 99 Masters, 12 Doctorates, and one Principal Licensure Preparation Program (worth $20k). You can find the full list of degrees and their prices in the table below.

Here are the universities with the most online degrees:

  • Syracuse University – 18 degrees
  • Pepperdine University – 10 degrees
  • University of Southern California (USC) – 9 degrees
  • University of Dayton – 8 degrees
  • American University – 7 degrees

Most Expensive 2U Powered Degrees

Overall, 2U has 18 degrees that are over $100,000 in tuition fees, and an additional 6 degrees which are within touching distance of $100k.

The most expensive degrees powered by 2U are as follows:

  1. $201K: Doctor of Physical Therapy from USC
  2. $171K: Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) from St. John Fisher University
  3. $170K: Doctor of Nursing Practice from Georgetown University
  4. $135K: Juris Doctor (J.D.) from University of Dayton
  5. $128K: Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership from USC
  6. $126K: ​​Master of Business Administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  7. $121K: Master of Arts in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness from NYU
  8. $120K: Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University
  9. $117K: Doctor of Education in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University
  10. $116K: Arcadia DPT Online

Methodology

2U publishes a list of partners and their programs here. My colleague, @suparn, programmatically collected all the degrees in their list. EdX’s degrees were not mentioned on this page.

Then, I went one by one, visiting each degree’s landing page, and navigated to their “Tuition and Financial Aid” section. In some cases, tuition fees were mentioned outright, while for others, I had to calculate it.

Example where Tuition fees were not explicitly mentioned

The data collected is purely for analysis and I had to make some assumptions. There will also be additional fees on top of tuition fees and not all universities communicate this amount in the same way.  For readability, I have rounded the numbers.

If you are a prospective student, please take a look directly at the degree website and/or contact the admissions office.

2U Powered Online Doctorates Pricing Chart

Degree Price
Arcadia DPT OnlineArcadia University $116K
Doctor of Education in Learning and Organizational ChangeBaylor University $96K
Doctor of Nursing PracticeGeorgetown University $163K – $175K
Doctorate of Social Work OnlineSimmons University $56K
Post-MSN to Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)Simmons University $56K
Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)St. John Fisher University $171K
Doctor of Education in Leadership for OrganizationsUniversity of Dayton $73K
Juris Doctor (J.D.)University of Dayton $135K
Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and LeadershipUSC $92K – $128K
Doctor of Physical TherapyUSC $201K
Doctorate of Social WorkUSC $86K
Doctor of Education in Leadership and Learning in OrganizationsVanderbilt University $117K

2U Powered Online Masters Pricing Chart

Degree Price
Master of Arts in International RelationsAmerican University $76K – $82K
Master of Business AdministrationAmerican University $90K
Master of International Service for Experienced ProfessionalsAmerican University $50K – $63K
Master of Science in AnalyticsAmerican University $62K
Master of Science in International Relations and BusinessAmerican University $67K
Master of Legal StudiesAmerican University $67K
Master of Science in Marketing AnalyticsAmerican University $62K
Master of Public HealthBaylor University $73K
Master of Science in Communication Sciences and DisordersBaylor University $83K
Master of Social WorkBaylor University $66K
Master of Social WorkCase Western Reserve University $95K
Master of Science in Communication DisordersEmerson College $73K
Fordham Master of Science in FinanceFordham University $59K
Master of Science in ManagementFordham University $59K
Master of Science in Strategic Marketing CommunicationsFordham University $64K
Master of Social WorkFordham University $62K
Master of Studies in Law in Corporate ComplianceFordham University $60K
Master of Health AdministrationGeorge Washington University $90K
Master of Public HealthGeorge Washington University $81K
Master of Science in Management of Health Informatics and AnalyticsGeorge Washington University $81K
Master of Science in NursingGeorgetown University $104K
Master’s in Social WorkHoward University $66K
Master of Arts in Counseling and GuidanceNYU $97K
Master of Arts in Counseling for Mental Health and WellnessNYU $121K
Master of Science in Communicative Sciences and DisordersNYU $97K
Master of Arts in CounselingNorthwestern University $45K
Master of Arts in Clinical PsychologyPepperdine University $120K
Master of Arts in PsychologyPepperdine University $85K
Master of Business AdministrationPepperdine University $104K
Master of Dispute ResolutionPepperdine University $75K
Master of Laws in Dispute ResolutionPepperdine University $61K
Master of Legal StudiesPepperdine University $75K
Master of Science in Applied Behavior AnalysisPepperdine University $65K
Master of Science in Business AnalyticsPepperdine University $61K
Master of Science in Human ResourcesPepperdine University $53K
Master of Science in Management and LeadershipPepperdine University $71K
Master of Business AdministrationRice University $113K
Master of Architecture Online (M.Arch.)Rochester Institute of Technology $100K – $135K
Master of Public HealthSimmons University $68K
Master of Science in Behavior AnalysisSimmons University $47K
Master of Science in NursingSimmons University $60K
Master of Social WorkSimmons University $73K
Master of Science in Data ScienceSouthern Methodist University (SMU) $57K
Master of Science in NursingSt. John Fisher University $46K – $53K
Executive Master of Public AdministrationSyracuse University $54K
Master of Business AdministrationSyracuse University $97K
Master of Science in Applied Data ScienceSyracuse University $61K
Master of Science in Business AnalyticsSyracuse University $65K
Master of Science in CommunicationsSyracuse University $65K
Master of Science in Communications ManagementSyracuse University $71K
Master of Science in Computer EngineeringSyracuse University $54K
Master of Science in Computer ScienceSyracuse University $54K
Master of Science in CybersecuritySyracuse University $54K
Master of Science in EntrepreneurshipSyracuse University $54K
Master of Science in Information ManagementSyracuse University $76K
Master of Science in Information Management for ExecutivesSyracuse University $54K
Master of Science in Library and Information ScienceSyracuse University $65K
Master of Science in Library and Information Science: School Media (specialization)Syracuse University $65K
Master of Science in Professional AccountingSyracuse University $50K – $87K
Master of Science in Supply Chain ManagementSyracuse University $54K
Master of Social WorkSyracuse University $67K
Master of Social WorK – Advanced StandingSyracuse University $67K
Dual LL.M in U.S. Law and Transnational Legal PracticeTecnológico de Monterrey $67K
Master in Business AdministrationTecnológico de Monterrey $40K
Master of Global Business AdministrationTufts University $84K
Master of Public HealthTufts University $79K
Master of Science in Health Informatics & AnalyticsTufts University $55K
Master of Business AdministrationUCL $50K
Master of Information and CybersecurityUC Berkeley $73K
Master of Information and Data ScienceUC Berkeley $75K
Master of Business AdministrationUC Davis $105K
Master of Applied Behavior AnalysisUniversity of Dayton $41K – $58K
Master of Business AdministrationUniversity of Dayton $51K – $64K
Master of Business AnalyticsUniversity of Dayton $47K
Master of Science in Education in Educational LeadershipUniversity of Dayton $34K
Master of Science in Education in Educational Leadership with Principal LicensureUniversity of Dayton $54K
Principal Licensure Preparation ProgramUniversity of Dayton $20K
Master of Arts in School CounselingUniversity of Denver $71K
Master of Business AdministrationUniversity of Denver $83K
Master of Library and Information ScienceUniversity of Denver $57K
Master of Science in Data ScienceUniversity of Denver $54K – $67K
Master of Social WorkUniversity of Denver $92K
Master of AccountingUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $52K – $70K
Master of Business AdministrationUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $126K
Master of Public AdministrationUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $54K
Master of Public HealthUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $73K
Master of Arts in TeachingUSC $60K
Master of Arts in Teaching – Teaching English to Speakers of Other LanguagesUSC $51K
Master of Education in School CounselingUSC $105K
Master of Science in Integrated Design, Business and TechnologyUSC $81K
Master of Science in NursingUSC $100K
Master of Social WorkUSC $86K
Master of Engineering in Engineering ManagementVanderbilt University $67K
Master of Science in Computer ScienceVanderbilt University $67K
Dual Master of Laws in U.S. Law and Transnational Legal PracticeWashington University in St. Louis $67K
Master of Laws in TaxationWashington University in St. Louis $65K
Master of Laws in U.S. LawWashington University in St. Louis $65K
Master of Legal StudiesWashington University in St. Louis $65K
Master of Legal Studies in TaxationWashington University in St. Louis $65K
Physician Assistant Online ProgramYale $115K

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Dhawal Shah

Dhawal is the CEO of Class Central, the most popular search engine and review site for online courses and MOOCs. He has completed over a dozen MOOCs and has written over 200 articles about the MOOC space, including contributions to TechCrunch, EdSurge, Quartz, and VentureBeat.

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