Udacity’s free and nanodegree services are available worldwide, but with Monday’s announcement, the company will begin offering the service in rupees and expanding its staff in the country. Nanodegrees are credentials recognized by many companies, such as Google and Salesforce.
Courses will cost $9,800 rupees a month, which is about $50 less than the price in the United States of $200 per month.
“Udacity’s mission is to democratize education, and India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies,” said Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun in an interview with TechCrunch.
Google and Tata Trust will each offer 500 full Android nanodegree scholarships to students in India. Google will also host a job fair in India for standout Nanodegree graduates and potential employers next year. Udacity said it is seeking to increase partnerships with more companies based in India.
Thrun said Udacity plans to use the same “recipe” it has to achieve growth that it used in the United States.
“One of the big questions is can we get the same growth in India?” Thrun told TechCrunch. “We’re very optimistic we can.”
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