Cohort Based Learning Statistics (2025)

If you're looking for statistics on cohort based courses you've come to the right place.

In this article we look at:

• What is cohort based learning?
• Statistics illustrating the drawbacks of self paced courses
• Completion rate statistics for cohort based courses
• Statistics supporting the educational value of cohort based learning
• Companies disrupting the cohort based education space
• Concluding remarks

Let's get started!

What is cohort based learning?

Cohort Based Courses are typically:

• Time bound – starting and finishing on specified dates so a relatively small, fixed cohort of students progress through them together
• Adopt a collaborative learning style, so there is a genuine sense of community with hands-on, feedback-based learning at the core
• Employ live teaching in real time to allow for two way exchange between participants and tutor
• More expensive
• Fluid, rather than static like recorded videos
• Changes the role of the teacher to facilitator

Top cohort based course statistics

1. Whereas self-paced courses have completion rates as low as 3%, Cohort based courses often see completion rates of over 90%
2. Less than 50% of those taking MOOCs look at more than one lecture (Reich and Ruiperez-Valiente) 
3. When you learn something passively, there’s a 72% chance you’ll forget it. But when you use it, answer questions about it, and interact with others there’s a 69% chance you’ll remember it
4. There is a strong positive correlation between students’ sense of community and their learning success in online courses
5. A major study into the success of attempts to optimize MOOCs found they made no noticeable difference to completion rates. Even those using sophisticated AI algorithms (Kizilcec, Reich, Yeomans and Tingley)
6. Completion rates for the cohort based altMBA are 96%
7. Students in Esme Learning’s cohort based learning courses are showing completion rates of 98-100%
8. Nomadic Learning, achieves over 90% completion rate regularly in their cohort-based programs

The statistics paint a clear picture: completion rates for cohort based courses are exponentially higher than those of self paced courses. 

Cohort based learning fosters social interaction, collaboration and a sense of belonging to a community. Leading to increased student satisfaction, greater engagement and quality learning outcomes. 

There are several companies disrupting the space, including Forte Labs, Reforge, Maven, Section4, AltMBA,  Esme Learning Solutions, Circle, Disco, Nascademy, OnDeck and Virtually

Statistics illustrating the problem with self paced courses

• MIT researchers found that between 2013 and 2018, completion rates for MOOCs steadily declined, to an average of 3% (Reich and Ruiperez-Valiente) 
• Even at top class institutions such as Harvard, MIT and Stanford, completion rates for traditional online courses are, at best, only around 20% (Kizilec, Reich, Yeomans & Tingley)
• Less than 50% of those taking MOOCs look at more than one lecture (Reich and Ruiperez-Valiente) 
• A major study into the success of attempts to optimize MOOCs found they made no noticeable difference to completion rates. Even those using sophisticated AI algorithms (Kizilcec, Reich, Yeomans and Tingley)
• Udemy sees only an 8% completion rate from their best instructors (Client Engagement Academy) 

Completion rate statistics for cohort based courses

• Whereas self-paced courses have completion rates as low as 3%, Cohort based courses often see completion rates of over 90% (Ish Baid) 
• Customised online courses aimed at smaller groups which provide direct interaction and collaboration with professors and peers are seeing completion rates above 85% (Training Journal) 
• Students in Esme Learning’s cohort based learning courses are showing completion rates of 98-100% (Times Higher Education)
• Completion rates at Section 4 are 70%+ (TechCrunch) 
• Nomadic Learning, achieves over 90% completion rate regularly in their cohort-based programs (Josh Bersin) 
• Completion rates for the cohort based altMBA (a four week class teaching soft skills traditionally taught in a 2 year MBA) are 96% (Harvard Business Review)
• When Harvard transitioned its case-method courses online to incorporate peer collaboration, its completion rate rose to 85%, while most MOOCs at the time were experiencing single-digit completion rates (Ivy Exec)

Statistics supporting the educational value of cohort based learning

• Studies have found lack of social interaction to be the largest single barrier to student success online (Muilenburg & Berge)
• 85% participants in one study indicated that being part of an online community was helpful in their learning (Vesely et al)
• 100% of instructors in the same study admitted that community learning enhances student performance and enables more students to finish their programs (Vesely et al)
• There is a strong positive correlation between students’ sense of community and their learning success in online courses (Sadara et al) 
• According to a recent study by University of Washington, students engaged in learning driven by active cooperation and interaction improved their exam performance by .5 points. Whereas students taught via lectures are 1.5 times more likely to fail than those who participate in active learning.
• Tools that foster effective online discussion have been found to help colleges achieve a statistically significant increase in student grades (Inside Higher Education) 
• The founding director emeritus of the MIT Teaching & Learning Laboratory, Dr. Lori Breslow, found that edX students who collaborated with a fellow student in completing course material scored nearly 3 points higher (Breslow, Pritchard, DeBoer et al)
• To collaborate in peer learning activities has a positive effect in student engagement and on academic outcomes (Mulder et al)
• The use of technology to communicate and share ideas and project work has been shown to improve higher order thinking skills (Cradler et al)
• 58% of online cohort members who participated in one study agreed that relationships with classmates encouraged them to continue with the programme, and 94% stated that discussions increased their interest in course issues (Alman et al)
• When you learn something passively, there’s a 72% chance you’ll forget it. But when you use it, answer questions about it, and interact with others there’s a 69% chance you’ll remember it (Nomadic Learning)
• Feeling that they belong to a community of learners has a significant impact on the learning experiences of online students (Farrell & Brunton) 
• Live teaching forces the instructor to be more accountable and incentivize instructors to make their material more actionable for students. This, in turn, can lead to higher-quality educational experiences. (Wes Kao)
• Research supports the development of community in online learning as an important factor for maximizing student satisfaction (Magjuka)

Benefits of Cohort Based Courses for course creators

• Traditional course creators earn on average only $8/month per subscriber (Wes Kao)
• YouTuber Ali Abdaal made approximately $140,000 from three MOOCs over four years compared to $1.5 million made in nine months with his cohort-based course (Wes Kao)
• Tiago Forte, founder of Forte Labs, made $5 million in five years from only a total of 3,500 students — a tiny audience on the scale of the internet (Wes Kao)
• David Perell, the creator of Write of Passage, teaches a cohort-based writing course twice a year and makes seven figures in revenue (Wes Kao)
• Giving a cohort of learners a way to provide frequent feedback on the courses they are taking may help you create courses that are 27% more valuable for students

Companies disrupting the space with Cohort Based Learning

Forte Labs

• Forte's goal for 2025 was to reach gross revenue of $3 million
• Between 2017-19 Forte Labs saw 1,500 people take its cohort based Building a Second Brain (BASB) Course
• The September 2020 BASB cohort had 1,000+ participants from over 70 countries.
• At the current rate of growth, the BASB course could reach a level of 12,500 alumni by 2026
• There is a team of almost 50 people involved in launching and delivering the BASB  Programme, one bonus workshop a week and 10 live sessions hosted by Tiago Forte
• Forte Lab’s website was receiving over 1.7K visits per month at the time of writing (Crunchbase)
• The UK (+42%), US (26%) and Italy (10%) are driving the most traffic (Crunchbase)

Reforge

• In February 2021, Reforge announced they’d raised $21M to help them build a school devoted to Cohort Based Courses (Crunchbase)
• In March 2025, it raised a further $60m in a Series B funding Round (Crunchbase)
• It has 14 investors and 2 lead investors (Crunchbase)
• It currently has 25 programs across growth, product, marketing, and engineering, and an alumni base of top operators from almost every leading tech company.
• Their cohort-based models create increase accountability, engagement and peer interaction, and enjoy industry-defining completion rates
• Reforge were receiving over 100K visits per month to their website at the time of writing (Semrush)
• The US (42%), Brazil (18%) and France (7%) are the countries delivering the most traffic

Maven

• Maven is a new platform for cohort-based courses started by the founders of Udemy, altMBA and Socratic
• In November 2020, Maven raised $4.3M in a round led by First Round Capital
• It offers 400+ Cohort based courses taught live by experts

Esme Learning Solutions

• In January 2021, Esme Learning Solutions, a leading cohort based learning provider, announced the close of a $7.5M Series (PRNewswire)
• Esme Learning’s cohort based courses involve a mix of university faculty and 30-50 industry experts per course (Esme)
• Esme students spend an average of 45 to 60 minutes a week in an AI-coached group chat environment, solving one of the biggest challenges of online learning, which is that it can often be a lonely, solitary experience (Forbes) 
• Courses delivered by Esme have been delivering up to a 1,800% improvement on student satisfaction compared to other digital offerings (Tech for Good) 
• More than 90% of Esme Learning students reported that course offerings met or exceeded their expectations and, when compared to MOOCs 
• Esme Learning delivers a 3,000% improvement on students successfully finishing courses over MOOCs 
• Over 90% of students agreed that Esme course content was engaging, and 96% enrolled in a recent Esme Learning course reported satisfaction with group collaboration, which is a major tenet of Esme Learning's solution. 
• Even when compared to other “concierge” learning companies, Esme Learning students see 23% higher grades over learners who simply viewed and read the materials
• A recent study, funded by the National Science Foundation, proved that the Esme Learning Approach delivers 30-35% improvement on metrics such as grades and retention (Esme)
• Esme’s website was receiving over 115K visits per month at the time of writing (SimilarWeb)
• The UK (23%), the US (21%) and South Africa (8%) are the countries delivering the most traffic

Section

• Section, a cohort based learning platform dedicated to business upskilling, raised a $30M Series A in March 2021. Total funding to date is now $37M (Business Wire)
• By 2020 Section had 10,000 alums. 30% of which are outside the US
• In early 2025, it grew its student body to 20,000 students earlier this year, making it the largest live learning platform in online education
• It aims to deliver 50% to 70% of the value of an elite MBA elective at 10% of the cost and 1% of the friction.
• Fifty of the Fortune 100 companies have people who’ve taken Section classes 
• Section classmates come from 50+ countries and 60+ industries (Section4)
• 88% of students have applied what they’ve learned within their organizations within three months of completing their Section course (Tech Crunch)
• Section's website was receiving over 173K visits per month at the time of writing (SimilarWeb)
• The US (40%), Brazil (8%) and Canada (7%) are driving the most traffic (SimilarWeb)

AltMBA

• Cohort based programme, The altMBA, founded in 2015 has transformed the lives of more than 4,500 people
• During an AltMBA workshop session, it’s not unusual for more than 50,000 messages to be exchanged between students and coaches
• Alt MBA Classmates come from 45+ countries and 85+ industries
• The programme is 56 hours of class time over 4 weeks with 13 projects and 3 team discussions a week for feedback and collaboration (AltMBA)

Circle

• Circle, a company facilitating cohort based learning by providing the benefits of community without the headaches raised a $4M seed in early 2021 with a valuation “north of” $40M (TechCrunch) 

Conclusion

An increasing body of evidence supports the fact that lack of social interaction and collaboration in online learning is a significant barrier to success.

As more and more companies disrupt the online learning space with cohort based learning solutions, more businesses will begin to recognize that cohort based courses deepen engagement, promote completion and lead to quality outcomes.

Related articles: Latest eLearning statistics, Homeschooling Statistics, Coursera Statistics, edX Statistics, Udemy Statistics, SkillShare Statistics, MasterClass Statistics, What is Blended Learning?, What is Hybrid Learning?, What is eLearning?, Benefits of eLearning, Disadvantages of eLearning

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