Established in 2023, Axim Collaborative is a nonprofit organization co-founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was established as the successor to edX (founded 2012). Its mission is to make learning more accessible, relevant, and effective for all learners, especially those who have faced barriers to postsecondary education.
Key focus areas:
- Digital Learning & Open Source Platforms
- Stewardship of Open edX, an open-source, scalable digital learning platform used globally by universities, enterprises, governments, and non-profits to deliver online and hybrid courses and credential programs.
- Student Success — Pathways & Support
- Working with colleges/universities to design supports (tools, advising, course design) that help students stay on track, persist, and complete credentials.
- Innovation & Institutional Partnerships
- Catalyzing innovation via collaborations: with minority‐serving institutions, community colleges, research universities, non-profits, and technical partners.
- Equity, Inclusion & Access
- Special attention to historically underserved learners (e.g., HBCUs, first-generation students, students balancing work/family). Ensuring technology, policy, pedagogical innovations help close equity gaps
Axim currently sponsors more than 30 active projects with universities, community colleges, HBCUs, nonprofit organizations, and workforce partners. These projects span areas such as:
- improving persistence and completion through new advising and support tools
- developing AI-driven tutoring and student services
- expanding online learning capacity at HBCUs and minority-serving institutions
- scaling gateway STEM course reforms
- advancing skills-based and competency-based learning
- supporting global workforce initiatives through the Open edX platform.
Axim is currently running many projects (30+ are listed under “Projects & Insights” on their website) that span a variety of themes.
Axim is funded primarily through the proceeds of Harvard and MIT’s 2021 sale of edX to 2U, which created a nonprofit endowment of roughly $700–800 million. Projects and partnerships are supported from this fund and related investment income.
Resources
https://www.axim.org/
Impact Report: https://impactreport2025.axim.org/
Axim Collaborative: https://www.axim.org/about
