2tor brings prestigious university degrees online, raises $26M

Online degree program 2tor announced a new $26 million round of funding Monday. The company partners with universities to offer online courses and degree programs.

Getting a degree online has become in-demand in the last decade, as more people want to get an education at a time that’s convenient for them. While colleges such as University of Phoenix have worked their way into the mainstream for online learning, long-standing universities have also tried to get in on the action. But, for colleges that have traditionally catered to offline learners, getting online requires a lot of work and infrastructure. 2tor entered the market hoping to provide “school-as-a-service” tools for top-tier, prestigious colleges to offer online degrees.

2tor has partnered with University of Southern California (USC), Georgetown University, and University of North Carolina (UNC) to offer online degrees. Only a select few Master’s degrees are offered; social work and education at USC; nursing at Georgetown; and government and business at UNC. Instead of having to relocate across the country, you can earn a Master’s degree from one of the schools pretty much anywhere in the world.

The company helps colleges create online courses, provides an online environment where students can access their courses, invests in schools to make their programs work, and supplies schools with infrastructure that handles student sign-up, course registration, and graduation processing. Instead of typical online classes, where lectures are videotaped or assignments are placed on a message board, 2tor uses webcams to connect students with their professors and other students. 2tor even offers mobile apps so students can stay on top of their classes.

2tor competes primarily with EmbanetCompass, which creates similar partnerships with academic institutions and helps colleges provide online degree programs. EmbanetCompass has partnered with 20 universities, including Northwestern, Howard, Wake Forest, and USC.

The fourth institutional round was led by Tondern Capital, an affiliate of Hillman Ventures, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Highland Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, and City Light Capital. The funding will be used for new academic partnerships.

2tor was founded in 2008 and is based in New York City. The company has raised a total of $96 million in funding.

Online degree keyboard image via Shutterstock