| “When I was in high school I had close to a 4.0 GPA, and I had planned to go to college. Unfortunately tragedy struck when my father died one year before I would have graduated, and consequently I was not even able to finish high school (I later got a GED). After that happened, life got away from me, and the prospects of my going to college disappeared. Nearly ten years later, in spite of my busy schedule, I was finally able to learn Calculus I thanks to these great lectures and course materials that are online. I feel that a previously closed door has been reopened to me.” – Carl, USA
“I have a mental disorder, and I cannot study in a traditional university setting. MIT OCW made it possible for me to follow university courses despite of my disorder. I am really grateful for this. It gave me back some part of my life that I had not expected to experience anymore.” – Monika, Hungary
“It’s great having online courses available to every person from one of the best universities of the world. MIT has always been very focused towards its goal of providing education to all sections of the society and I hope this reaches bigger heights. I am currently going through Quantum Physics I (8.04) and Introduction to Computer Science (6.00SC). My school doesn't provide any such courses or classes on these topics. I always wanted to be a physicist and computer scientist. And MIT OCW is helping me greatly achieve my goals in life. Again, from my deepest sense of gratitude, I thank all of MIT for their years of teaching excellence.” – Satya, India
Dear John,
MIT OpenCourseWare will always be free and open. This means OCW will forever make it possible for anyone who has access to the Internet to learn just about everything taught at MIT—never for a fee.
We know education has the power to change peoples’ lives for the better, and we are humbled by the many people from around the world who write in to tell us how OCW resources have done just that.
These stories reinforce how vital OCW’s open and free educational resources are to people who are eager to learn and who have few resources at hand.
The Cost of Being Free
Over the past year, OCW has worked assiduously to increase our efficiency while decreasing our publication expenses. We’ve reduced last year’s budget of $3.7M by 25%, to $2.7M. MIT remains our financial mainstay by committing funds to support half of our costs. The rest must be supported by corporate underwriters and donations from people like you.
We are grateful to all 3,626 donors who provided more than $320,000 in gifts to OCW in the last year. There is no greater testament to the value and importance of OCW than their support.
But publishing new course materials and other resources like video lectures and educator interviews, and hosting a vast array of free content from MIT’s curriculum, and sharing it all openly so that it is available for reuse, remixing, and re-distribution, requires substantial funding.
How You Can Help
The vast majority of the 37,000 learners who use our site every day can’t afford to donate. Our mission is to offer access to these people and to others motivated to learn and improve their knowledge and circumstances. If you are able to donate $25, $50, $100, or whatever amount feels right, you can make a huge impact.
Your donation helps OCW support not just the publication but improvements to the usability of our website, so people can more easily find what they need. To help even more people, we need support making our materials mobile friendly so that those who don’t have a computer can take steps to improve their own learning and teaching.
Please be assured your donation will be put to good use. Help us continue to support the millions of people who use our materials every month—visit our site to make your donation now.
Sincerely,
Joe Joseph Pickett
Director of Publishing
MIT OpenCourseWare | 