iTunes U Hits One Billion Downloads of Free Educational Content

itunes_u_iconApple today announced that its iTunes U service has hit one billion downloads, less than six years after its official debut.

“It’s inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before―there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”

Apple notes that over 1,200 colleges and universities and over 1,200 K-12 schools are using iTunes U, offering thousands of public and private courses through the service. Over 60% of iTunes U downloads are coming from outside of the United States.

Apple also touts the sheer size of some of iTunes U's offerings, with several universities offering courses seeing enrollments of over 100,000 and Stanford University and The Open University each having topped 60 million downloads of their content.

iTunes U debuted as a partnership with Stanford University in October 2005 before launching in an expanded form in mid-2007. A year ago, Apple launched its dedicated iTunes U app as part of an education-focused event leveraging the iPad as the learning platform for the future.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 27, 2024 5:05 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in early December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as...
iphone 16 pro models 1

12 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Friday November 29, 2024 5:17 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Rectangle Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Already Rumored to Have These 8 New Features

Wednesday November 27, 2024 12:19 pm PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch for 10 more months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. An imaginative iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models so far: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro ...
General Black Friday Deals 24 Blue Snowmen

The Best 50+ Black Friday Apple Deals Still Available on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and More

Thursday November 28, 2024 1:01 pm PST by
Black Friday 2024 is over, but you can still find great deals on numerous Apple devices this weekend. Right now, this includes big savings on AirPods, Apple Watch, MacBook Air, iPad, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Specifically, in...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 17 Designs Revealed!

Friday November 29, 2024 9:34 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the recently leaked design of the iPhone 17 "Air" and iPhone 17 Pro. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Earlier this week, a report from The Information's Wayne Ma revealed that the iPhone 17 Air will have a thickness of between 5mm and 6mm, which would make it the thinnest iPhone ever. In comparison, iPhone ...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Expected Next Year: Here's What We Know

Thursday November 28, 2024 3:30 am PST by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
new streaming black friday

Cyber Monday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock

Friday November 29, 2024 5:38 am PST by
Black Friday is over, but you can still find great savings on streaming memberships this weekend as we head into Cyber Monday. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a...
Apple AI Command Center Concept Mock 3

Apple Expected to Launch This All-New Device Next Year

Wednesday November 27, 2024 1:05 pm PST by
Apple is expected to kick off 2025 by launching an all-new smart home hub, also referred to as a "command center," as early as March. The hub is expected to feature around a six-inch display that can be attached to a tabletop base with a speaker, or mounted on a wall. The device is said to run a new "homeOS" operating system with a customizable widget-focused home screen, and it is expected...
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp to Drop Support for These iPhones Starting May 2025

Monday December 2, 2024 2:57 am PST by
WhatsApp is set to end support for iOS versions older than iOS 15.1 from May next year, removing the chat platform's compatibility with several iPhone models in the process. From May 5, 2025, WhatsApp will no longer be compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus models. Users with those devices won't be able to access the encrypted chat service after the specified date unless they ...

Top Rated Comments

lincolntran Avatar
154 months ago
iTunes U is a great step toward a better society. Knowledge should be freely shared for everyone.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Keane16 Avatar
154 months ago
Things like iTunes U are what I really love about iOS.

Supremely useful and sync across my iOS devices. I'm watching less and less TV and instead I've managed to take part in some fantastic classes.

One of the reasons I won't be off to Android/WP/Blackberry anytime soon. :)

Massive thanks to all involved in providing this, from the back end infrastructure to the classes themselves.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vmachiel Avatar
154 months ago
Awesome, I use it all the time! Great place to learn stuff outside of your field
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
needfx Avatar
154 months ago
I looked for stunt driving lessons but no luck...:(
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KdParker Avatar
154 months ago
Many of the courses are downright amazing. Quality professors teaching with great visual aids, and the ability to rewind and watch portions of a lecture again. For example, when I find I've drifted off for 5 minutes and have no clue what the professor just said - I can just go back and hear it again.

Every college student should supplement his own college's courses with some of these courses if they have difficulty with certain subjects or just a topic within a subject.

I agree completely. I still am surprised that the content for iTunes U is still free.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
writingdevil Avatar
154 months ago
While that's very impressive I just feel there is a lot more that Apple could do with the iTunesU content and software. Wouldn't it be amazing if they mapped out the all the courses you would need for specific degrees so that becoming self taught is that much easier.[/

Apple's contribution to learning is truly amazing, the quality of course work excellent and availability unfettered. It's always good to seek improvement but what you suggest isn't feasible. You may not be familiar with academic degrees, but it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to boiler plate degree requirements. Every educational institution has a variety of degrees with innumerable options, including areas of major and minor emphasis, content options, elective choices and on and on.
Many universities offer, tuition based, online degrees where a clear path to a degree can be worked out with online help from the university. This is a 'free university' kind of experience for self starters, and a really outstanding one. A billion times outstanding.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)