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

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2

iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Monday February 17, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker. In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Apple Maps 2024

Apple Maps Might Start Showing Ads

Sunday February 16, 2025 7:22 am PST by
Apple is "exploring" the idea of showing search ads in the Apple Maps app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Back in 2022, Gurman said software engineering was "already underway" to display ads in the Apple Maps app, but Apple did not move forward with the idea at the time. Today, he said Apple is "giving this notion more thought" again. This time around, he said Apple has yet to...
Tim Cook Apple Park

10+ Announcements Apple Could Have Rolled Into a February Event

Saturday February 15, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have enough upcoming product announcements to justify a full event this month, yet all signs indicate these reveals will be handled through a series of press releases instead. There are a multitude of rumors from reliable sources about specific announcements in the coming weeks, so here's everything that Apple could have feasibly included in a hypothetical February event: ...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
m2 pro mac mini

Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

Saturday February 15, 2025 9:58 am PST by
A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note. Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal. That's no longer...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

Apple's Next iPhone SE Launching on Wednesday - Here's What We Know

Friday February 14, 2025 4:04 pm PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an Apple announcement that's coming on Wednesday, February 19, and it's looking like that mystery announcement will be the next-generation iPhone SE. We've been hearing about the iPhone SE 4 for quite some time now, and we essentially know everything to expect. If you want a sneak peek at what's coming, read on. Naming Apple first introduced the iPhone SE in...

Top Rated Comments

lincolntran Avatar
156 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
156 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
156 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
156 months ago
I looked for stunt driving lessons but no luck...:(
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KdParker Avatar
156 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
156 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)