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title: 2025-2026 Open Learning Impact Report
---
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# MIT Open Learning
# 2025-2026 Impact Report
Dear Friend of MIT Open Learning,
It’s been a remarkable year for MIT Open Learning. Together, we’ve continued to demonstrate the power of making knowledge and meaningful educational opportunities accessible to anyone with the curiosity and determination to learn. These achievements are possible because of the dedication of our faculty and staff, the engagement of people around the world, and the generosity of learners and supporters like you.
As a member of MIT’s lifelong learning community, you are an essential part of this work. Through your support and engagement, you help carry MIT's approach to teaching and learning to people around the world, advancing our vision of reaching one billion learners and empowering them to solve problems, pursue opportunities, and create impact in their own communities. Whether it is a [teenager in Australia](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#teenager-in-australia)turning to Open Learning to transform her curiosity into an award-winning virtual reality prototype, or a [director at the Central Bank of Armenia](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#director-at-the-central-bank-of-armenia) applying lessons from MIT programs to build a culture of evidence-based policymaking, we are proud to be a trusted partner in their learning journeys.
This year, we celebrated several significant milestones:
**Expanding access to AI education** and empowering learners worldwide with the skills to thrive in an AI-driven future.
Through Universal Artificial Intelligence (Universal AI), part of MIT Learn’s Universal Learning portfolio, we are [making AI education accessible to learners everywhere](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#growing-ai-confidence). Designed for a global, non-technical audience, the self-paced program guides learners from basic understanding to practical fluency in artificial intelligence, combining MIT’s expertise in artificial intelligence with decades of experience in digital learning. To broaden access, the program begins with a [free introductory course ⪩](https://learn.mit.edu/courses/p/program-v1:UAI+B2C.1), and serves as a model for future offerings in fields such as climate and energy, biology, semiconductors, healthcare, physics, and chemistry.
We continue to develop new AI-powered learning capabilities that are helping us scale the reach and impact of this work. We’re making the MIT content more accessible, engaging, and relevant for diverse audiences around the world with automated translation, personalized learning formats, and AI-generated summaries. These innovations enable learners to access high-quality education in the format that best meets their needs. We are also leveraging these advances to support innovation on campus, including piloting AskTIM AI capabilities in more than 20 MIT residential courses.
**Marking 25 years of open sharing with the world**. [For a quarter of a century](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#twenty-five-years-of-open-sharing), MIT OpenCourseWare has made MIT educational resources freely available to anyone, anywhere, keeping the Institute’s doors open to the world.
More than 500 million people have used OpenCourseWare to advance their education, prepare for new careers, deepen their expertise, support their teaching, satisfy their curiosity, and pursue new opportunities. Building on this legacy, MIT Open Learning is making these resources even more accessible to global learners through its MIT Learn platform, which brings together a growing collection of more than 12,700 online learning experiences. We are also enhancing these resources through AI-powered tools, creating new pathways for personalized learning.
**Recognizing 10 years of providing affordable, accelerated, and convenient pathways to a master’s degree**. We also marked the [tenth anniversary of the MITx MicroMasters program](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#mitx-micromasters), an initiative that has expanded affordable and flexible pathways to advanced education for learners worldwide. This milestone reflects the impact of a global community of learners, faculty, instructors, researchers, staff, and supporters who have helped shape a new model for lifelong learning.
**Launching a strategic collaboration with Wikipedia**. MIT Open Learning and Wikipedia have joined forces around a shared goal: making trustworthy knowledge more accessible to people everywhere. Through this collaboration, MIT contributes credible sources, educational content, and high-quality multimedia resources that strengthen Wikipedia articles and expand access to reliable information at a global scale. You can find out more in the recent [Open Conversation](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#wikipedia) that featured the collaboration leaders.
Beyond these accomplishments, our colleagues in [**MIT DELTA** (Disciplinary Experts in Learning Technology and Applications)](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#delta) continue to extend MIT's educational reach through innovative digital learning experiences. From podcasts and short-form videos to interactive games and the new Open Seminar series, these efforts bring science, engineering, and the humanities to learners in engaging and accessible ways.
These achievements are only the beginning. We continue to explore new ways to expand access to learning, support learner success, and share MIT's knowledge with the world.
Your participation and support help make education more accessible, equitable, and impactful for people everywhere. We are grateful for all that you do, and we look forward to sharing our progress with you in the months ahead.
Sincerely,
Dimitris
Dimitris Bertsimas
Vice Provost for Open Learning
## **The transformative power of open learning and sharing with the world.**
Twenty-five years ago, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) launched a bold vision: to share MIT's educational resources freely with the world. Today, that vision continues to transform lives, expand opportunities, and strengthen communities across the globe.
By making high-quality educational content open and accessible, OCW empowers learners, educators, and institutions to use, adapt, and share knowledge in ways that meet local needs and inspire new possibilities. What began as an experiment in openness has become a global movement whose impact continues to grow with every learner reached and every resource shared.
We invite you to discover how OCW has helped unlock potential and broaden access to education for millions around the world.
[Read the impact report ⪩](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/25-years-of-mit-opencourseware?hsLang=en)
> ### At its core, OpenCourseWare is a bold digital manifestation of MIT’s fundamental mission: to advance knowledge and educate students in service to the nation and the world. By its very existence, it asserts that the “MIT experience” shouldn't be defined by the walls of our classrooms, but by the reach of our ideas.Today, this “risky experiment” has evolved into a global cornerstone of educational equity. OpenCourseWare has cemented MIT’s leadership in open knowledge and access to education. We have proven that when you share excellence, you don't diminish its value—you multiply its impact.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth
The symposium, From Bold Idea to Global Legacy: 25 Years of MIT OpenCourseWare, was held in April 2026. [Watch all recorded sessions on MIT OpenCourseWare's YouTube channel.](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP62NmnKzljcNJDduJNUeHrZ8&si=XR3SUl6oe6jsp_k7)
> ### I’ve benefited from people going far beyond what they needed to do to help me. I see OpenCourseWare as a part of that. The free courses gave me a solid foundation of knowledge and problem-solving abilities. Without these, it wouldn’t be possible to do what I’m doing now.
Freesia Gaul Learner, Australia
## Teen builds an award-winning virtual reality prototype thanks to free MIT courses
Nineteen-year-old Freesia Gaul built a VR prototype thanks to MIT OpenCourseWare classes that provided “a solid foundation of knowledge and problem-solving abilities.”
*Stefanie Koperniak |* [*MIT News*](https://news.mit.edu/2025/teen-builds-vr-prototype-thanks-to-mit-opencourseware-1217)
When Freesia Gaul discovered MIT Open Learning’s OpenCourseWare at just 14 years old, it opened up a world of learning far beyond what her classrooms could offer. Her parents had started a skiing company, and the seasonal work meant that Gaul had to change schools every six months. Growing up in small towns in Australia and Canada, she relied on the internet to fuel her curiosity.
“I went to 13 different schools, which was hard because you’re in a different educational system every single time,” says Gaul. “That’s one of the reasons I gravitated toward online learning and teaching myself. Knowledge is something that exists beyond a curriculum.”
The small towns she lived in often didn’t have a lot of resources, she says, so a computer served as a main tool for learning. She enjoyed engaging with Wikipedia, ultimately researching topics and writing and editing content for pages. In 2018, she discovered[MIT OpenCourseWare](https://ocw.mit.edu/), part of [MIT Open Learning](https://openlearning.mit.edu/), and took her first course. OpenCouseWare offers free, online, open educational resources from more than 2,500 MIT undergraduate and graduate courses.
“I really got started with the OpenCourseWare introductory electrical engineering classes, because I couldn’t find anything else quite like it online,” says Gaul, who was initially drawn to courses on circuits and electronics, such as[6.002](https://learn.mit.edu/search?resource=4717) (Circuits and Electronics) and[6.01SC](https://learn.mit.edu/search?resource=5157) (Introduction to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). “It really helped me in terms of understanding how electrical engineering worked in a practical sense, and I just started modding things.”
In true MIT “mens et manus” (“mind and hand”) fashion, Gaul spent much of her childhood building and inventing, especially when she was able to access a 3D printer. She says that a highlight was when she built a life-sized, working version of a Mario Kart, constructed out of materials she had printed.
Gaul calls herself a “serial learner,” and has taken many OpenCourseWare courses. In addition to classes on circuits and electronics, she also took courses in linear algebra, calculus, and quantum physics — in which she took a particular interest.
When she was 15, she participated in[Qubit by Qubit](https://www.qubitbyqubit.org/). Hosted by The Coding School, in collaboration with universities (including MIT) and tech companies, this two-semester course introduces high schoolers to quantum computing and quantum physics.
During that time she started a blog called On Zero, representing the “zero state” of a qubit. “The ‘zero state’ in a quantum computer is the representation of creativity from nothing, infinite possibilities,” says Gaul. For the blog, she found different topics and researched them in depth. She would think of a topic or question, such as “What is color?” and then explore it in great detail. What she learned eventually led her to start asking questions such as “What is a hamiltonian?” and [teaching](https://sydneyquantum.org/news/quantum-goes-outback/) quantum physics alongside PhDs.
Building on these interests, Gaul chose to study quantum engineering at the University of New South Wales. She notes that on her first day of university, she participated in[iQuHack](https://iquhack.mit.edu/), the MIT Quantum Hackathon. Her team worked to find a new way to approximate the value of a hyperbolic function using quantum logic, and received an honorable mention for “exceptional creativity.”
Gaul’s passion for making things continued during her college days, especially in terms of innovating to solve a problem. When she found herself on a train, wanting to code a personal website on a computer with a dying battery, she wondered if there might be a way to make a glove that can act as a type of Bluetooth keyboard — essentially creating a way to type in the air. In her spare time, she started working on such a device, ultimately finding a less expensive way to build a lightweight, haptic, gesture-tracking glove with applications for virtual reality (VR) and robotics.
Gaul says she has always had an interest in VR, using it to create her own worlds, reconstruct an old childhood house, and play Dungeons and Dragons with friends. She discovered a way to put into a glove some small linear resonant actuators, which can be found in a smartphone or gaming controller, and map to any object in VR so that the user can feel it.
An early prototype that Gaul put together in her dorm room received a lot of attention on YouTube. She went on to win the People’s Choice award for it at the SxSW Sydney 2025 Tech and Innovation Festival. This design also sparked her co-founding of the tech startup [On Zero](https://on0.com/), named after her childhood blog dedicated to the love of creation from nothing.
Gaul sees the device, in general, as a way of “paying it forward,” making improved human-computer interaction available to many — from young students to professional technologists. She hopes to enable creative freedom in as many as she can. “The mind is just such a fun thing. I want to empower others to have the freedom to follow their curiosity, even if it’s pointless on paper.
“I’ve benefited from people going far beyond what they needed to do to help me,” says Gaul. “I see OpenCourseWare as a part of that. The free courses gave me a solid foundation of knowledge and problem-solving abilities. Without these, it wouldn’t be possible to do what I’m doing now.”
[Back to top](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#top)
Photo: Freesia Gaul
## The reach of open sharing
For 25 years, MIT has touched the lives of millions of learners, sharing course materials from MIT classrooms – all free and openly licensed. We appreciate everyone who has learned from and will learn with MIT in the years to come.
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## **Growing AI confidence, capability, and technological innovation**
MIT Open Learning launched [Universal AI ⪩](https://learn.mit.edu/programs/program-v1:UAI+B2C), a new online learning program that helps learners progress from a basic understanding of artificial intelligence to practical fluency through flexible, self-paced modules and real-world applications. Universal AI joins an expanded portfolio of free courses, podcasts, videos, and interactive learning experiences on MIT Learn, the AI-enabled platform for all MIT online educational offerings. By making a vast range of MIT knowledge more accessible, Open Learning is helping individuals and communities build the skills needed to drive innovation, strengthen economies, and address critical global challenges.
We also piloted AI-powered learning tools in more than 20 MIT classes, providing students with personalized, on-demand academic support that strengthened understanding, confidence, and persistence in challenging subjects. Faculty reported deeper student engagement and improved preparedness, demonstrating how AI can enhance teaching while expanding access to individualized learning support. The insights gained through this work are helping shape more effective and inclusive educational models that can benefit learners far beyond MIT.
> ### The challenges ahead are immense, but so is the opportunity to educate learners across the world to think beyond traditional boundaries. With Universal Learning, MIT’s approach to educating those minds will reach beyond our campus walls — and in doing so, we’re expanding who will solve the world’s greatest challenges that affect us all.
Dimitris Bertsimas Vice Provost for Open Learning at MIT
Photo: Gretchen Ertl
## Perspective: Expanding MIT’s educational mission for the world
A new initiative aims to prepare learners everywhere with boundary-crossing thinking to tackle complex global challenges.
Dimitris Bertsimas | MIT Open Learning
The problems shaping our future don’t fit into neat boxes. Climate change isn’t just an environmental issue; it requires economics, policy, and human behavior expertise. Artificial intelligence isn’t only technical; it raises questions that span ethics, social justice, and the environment. Public health doesn’t stop at the doors of hospitals; it needs expertise in infrastructure, communication, and equity.
After nearly four decades of teaching at MIT, I’ve observed that the most important problems my students go on to face rarely announce themselves as belonging to a single discipline. They aren’t labeled “solve with computer science” or “apply business principles here.” Instead, they arrive as they truly are — technical and human, theoretical and practical, scientific and ethical all at once.
MIT has long been known for graduates who thrive in this complexity. They are exceptional thinkers, but more importantly, they are problem solvers trained to cross boundaries, synthesize ideas, and turn knowledge into action. This analytical, creative, and deeply pragmatic mindset is at the heart of what makes an MIT education distinctive. And this approach has never been more necessary.
Yet this transformative education reaches only a fraction of people who could benefit from it. That limitation has never felt right to me, and it’s what we have the opportunity to change.
At [MIT Open Learning](https://openlearning.mit.edu/), the Institute’s home for online and digital learning, we’re launching [Universal Learning](https://openlearning.mit.edu/universal-learning), a new initiative to develop online curricula that prepares learners to take on complex global challenges. Universal Learning offerings combine MIT’s subject matter expertise and Open Learning’s more than 25 years of innovation in online education to deliver a learning experience that cultivates the interdisciplinary thinking that defines an MIT education.
The Universal Learning curricula span both theoretical foundations and practical applications of topic areas like AI, climate, energy, biology, and healthcare. We’ve designed it from the ground up for accessibility to a broad audience, with the material grounded in real-world stories and applications. Learners gain MIT-level expertise delivered in an approachable format. All Universal Learning offerings will be delivered on [MIT Learn](https://learn.mit.edu/), the Institute’s new online learning platform.
This spring, we will launch [Universal AI](https://learn.mit.edu/universal-learning/ai), the first offering in the Universal Learning portfolio. Artificial intelligence is a fitting starting point. It is a quintessential cross-disciplinary challenge, touching nearly every aspect of modern life while raising profound questions about work, ethics, and equity. In Universal AI, learners gain a shared language for understanding AI’s possibilities and limitations, from theoretical foundations to real-world applications across industries.
AI is not only the subject of study, it is also part of how learning happens. Through the AskTIM AI assistant, a [suite of AI tools](https://medium.com/open-learning/ready-to-learn-like-never-before-6a7093c6a87c) developed by MIT engineers and researchers for the MIT Learn platform, we are able to personalize the learning experience at scale in ways previously impossible. For example, within Universal AI, learners can use AskTIM to summarize lectures, reinforce key concepts with flashcards, and guide them through concepts, homework, and quizzes, offering the right nudge toward the next step without giving away the answers.
Later this year, Universal Learning will expand to include curricula in climate, energy, and biology, with other cross-cutting challenges like manufacturing and healthcare to follow.
The challenges ahead are immense, but so is the opportunity to educate learners across the world to think beyond traditional boundaries. With Universal Learning, MIT’s approach to educating those minds will reach beyond our campus walls — and in doing so, we’re expanding who will solve the world’s greatest challenges that affect us all.
[*Dimitris Bertsimas*](https://openlearning.mit.edu/about/our-team/dimitris-bertsimas) *is the Vice Provost for Open Learning at MIT, the Associate Dean of Business Analytics, the Associate Dean of Online Education & Artificial Intelligence, the Boeing Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management, and a Professor of Operations Research at MIT Sloan School of Management.*
[Back to top](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#top)
## New online learning experience aims to create adaptable, AI-fluent professionals
MIT Open Learning’s Universal AI pilot program launches with a wide-ranging group of universities, hospitals, companies, and two-year colleges.
Carolyn Tiernan | MIT Open Learning
The paradox of AI education is hard to ignore: investments are going into skill-specific development, certificates, and credentials, believing they’ll translate directly into jobs. Yet, in a field that evolves so rapidly, the AI tools taught today risk being obsolete tomorrow. The key to preparing AI-ready students and professionals lies in teaching the underlying AI theories, concepts, and problem-solving approaches.
To help meet this moment, [MIT Open Learning](https://openlearning.mit.edu/) is piloting[Universal AI](https://learn.mit.edu/universal-learning/ai), a new online learning experience spanning the foundations and real-world applications of artificial intelligence. Taught by MIT faculty and experts, the offering is designed to be accessible to those without a strong technical background. Specific topics covered include four key types of AI (predictive, prescriptive, multimodal, and generative); core technologies like Python, data analytics, machine learning, deep learning, LLMs, and ethics; plus domain-specific applications of artificial intelligence in action. The experience is structured into short modules designed to be updated quickly and easily as AI technology evolves.
“At Open Learning we have an ambitious goal to educate 1 billion learners in 10 years, and I strongly believe that artificial intelligence is a technology that everybody needs a baseline understanding of,” says [Dimitris Bertsimas](https://openlearning.mit.edu/about/our-team/dimitris-bertsimas), vice provost for open learning. “I developed the idea of Universal AI several years ago and tested the concept with two diverse audiences — Greek students of all backgrounds and employees at Hartford HealthCare — with very encouraging results. Building Universal AI into the learning experience it is today, delivered on MIT Learn, is one of the reasons I was excited to join Open Learning as vice provost last year.”
The pilot program of Universal AI launched this week with a wide-ranging group of international universities, hospitals, companies, and two-year colleges. These participants will help shape the final educational offering by providing feedback on the content and learning experience. MIT Sloan is also running a special seminar this semester where students can experience the Universal AI pilot and provide feedback.
“MIT is most known for the thinkers it graduates into the world that go on to solve problems and impact the world in unique ways,” says[Megan Mitchell](https://openlearning.mit.edu/about/our-team/megan-mitchell), senior director of Universal Learning at MIT Open Learning. “With Universal AI we aim to adapt this teaching philosophy for a global audience, educating adaptable, AI-fluent professionals that are prepared to succeed in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. The variety of organizations participating in our pilot will help to validate that our offering meets this need.”
**An AI learning experience universal in breadth and access**
Universal AI is structured into asynchronous, self-paced modules, including foundational modules that teach AI fluency and vertical modules that teach domain-specific applications of AI. There are 10 vertical modules currently in development at Open Learning spanning fields like healthcare, supply chain, business, and sustainability, with more proposed by other MIT faculty. The learning experience is augmented with generative AI tutors that were developed by MIT engineers and researchers, and is delivered on Open Learning’s learning platform, [MIT Learn](https://learn.mit.edu/).
A small cohort of employees in the [Hartford HealthCare](https://hartfordhealthcare.org/) system, ranging from analysts to surgeons, participated in an abbreviated pilot earlier this summer to provide early feedback on the first modules of the Universal AI Foundational Series. They are also participating in the current pilot program.
“Hartford HealthCare is committed to providing colleagues at all levels with leading-edge professional development and training opportunities, particularly in transformative technologies like AI,” says Regina Moriarty, director of operations at Hartford HealthCare. “Universal AI is valuable to our organization because it gives colleagues at all levels a shared language and understanding of the potentials and pitfalls of AI.”
**The first of several Universal Learning offerings**
Universal AI is the first offering in a new collection of curricula from Open Learning called Universal Learning, which is designed to meet a growing need of students and professionals that take a unique and cross-disciplinary approach to problems. Today’s global issues — like climate change, artificial intelligence, and global health — are increasingly multifaceted, and therefore demand innovative, integrated approaches and solutions. Universal Learning offerings will be similarly cross-disciplinary, covering climate, energy, biology, healthcare, manufacturing, in addition to AI. Universal Climate is currently in development, headed by [Christopher Rabe](https://openlearning.mit.edu/about/our-team/chris-rabe), program lead and education program director for the MIT Climate Project. Additionally, development of Universal Biology will kick off in 2026 and be led by [Ron Vale](https://cmp.ucsf.edu/faculty/ron-vale), who is joining Open Learning and the Department of Biology in December.
Open Learning’s vision for scaling Universal Learning to millions of learners will be driven by the AI systems developed for the [MIT Learn](https://news.mit.edu/2025/mit-learn-offers-whole-new-front-door-institute-0721) that enable personalized learning at scale. MIT Learn is the institute’s hub for non-degree learning opportunities, with over 12,700 educational resources available. Learners can use the “AskTIM” chatbot to support selecting the right course for them, evaluating syllabi based on desired learning outcomes, reinforcing key concepts with flashcards and video summaries, and getting help with homework and quizzes. Open Learning is actively working on additional AI systems that will enable holistic assessments, translations, and more.
Open Learning anticipates launching Universal AI to the public in early 2026. Organizations looking to get involved with Universal AI or Universal Learning can [find out more here](https://learn.mit.edu/universal-learning/ai).
[Back to top](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#top)
Photo: Christopher McIntosh
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## **10 years of affordable, accelerated, and convenient pathways to a master’s degree**
MIT created the MITx MicroMasters Program—credentialed, online graduate-level courses—to democratize access to a master’s program for learners worldwide. Driven by MIT faculty, staff, and instructors dedicated to seeing learners succeed, this revolutionary approach saves learners time and money. More than 9,000 learners globally (and counting) have benefited from MicroMasters programs since it launched 10 years ago. These credential holders who pursued advanced degrees are leveraging their skills and knowledge to transform their own personal lives, careers, and communities. We welcome you to read more about the inspirational stories of our learners and educators in the MITx MicroMasters impact report.
[Read the MITx MicroMasters Programs impact report ⪩](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/celebrating-10-years-of-the-mitx-micromasters-programs?hsLang=en)
## Advancing career and academic ambitions with MITx MicroMasters Program in Finance
Financial analyst Satik Movsesyan applies her experiences in the MicroMasters program, led by MIT Open Learning and MIT Sloan, to her life and work in Armenia.
Stefanie Koperniak | MIT Open Learning
For a long time, Satik Movsesyan envisioned a future of working in finance and also pursuing a full-time master’s degree program at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She says the[MITx MicroMasters Program in Finance](https://micromasters.mit.edu/fin/) provides her with the ideal opportunity to directly enhance her career with courses developed and delivered by MIT Sloan faculty.
Movsesyan first began actively pursuing ways to connect with the MIT community as a first-year student in her undergraduate program at the American University of Armenia, where she majored in business with a concentration in accounting and finance. That’s when she discovered the MicroMasters Program in Finance. Led by MIT Open Learning and MIT Sloan, the program offers learners an opportunity to advance in the finance field through a rigorous, comprehensive online curriculum comprising foundational courses, mathematical methods, and advanced modeling. During her senior year, she started taking courses in the program, beginning with [15.516x (Financial Accounting)](https://learn.mit.edu/search?resource=3211).
“I saw completing the MicroMasters program as a way to accelerate my time at MIT offline, as well as to prepare me for the academic rigor,” says Movsesyan. “The program provides a way for me to streamline my studies, while also working toward transforming capital markets here in Armenia — in a way, also helping me to streamline my career.”
Movsesyan initially started as an intern at C-Quadrat Ampega Asset Management Armenia and was promoted to her current role of financial analyst. The firm is one of two pension asset managers in Armenia. Movsesyan credits the MicroMasters program with helping her to make deeper inferences in terms of analytical tasks and empowering her to create more enhanced dynamic models to support the efficient allocation of assets. Her learning has enabled her to build different valuation models for financial instruments. She is currently developing a portfolio management tool for her company.
“Although the courses are grounded deeply in theory, they never lack a perfect applicability component, which makes them very useful,” says Movsesyan. “Having MIT’s MicroMasters on a CV adds credibility as a professional, and your input becomes more valued by the employer.”
Movsesyan says that the program has helped her to develop resilience, as well as critical and analytical thinking. Her long-term goal is to become a portfolio manager and ultimately establish an asset management company, targeted at offering an extensive range of funds based on diverse risk-return preferences of investors, while promoting transparent and sustainable investment practices.
“The knowledge I’ve gained from the variety of courses is a perfect blend which supports me day-to-day in building solutions to existing problems in asset management,” says Movsesyan.
In addition to being a learner in the program, Movsesyan serves as a community teaching assistant (CTA). After taking 15.516x, she became a CTA for that course, working with learners around the world. She says that this role of helping and supporting others requires constantly immersing herself in the course content, which also results in challenging herself and mastering the material.
“I think my story with the MITx MicroMasters Program is proof that no matter where you are — even if you’re in a small, developing country with limited resources — if you truly want to do something, you can achieve what you want,” says Movsesyan. “It’s an example for students around the world who also have transformative ideas and determination to take action. They can be a part of the MIT community.”
[Back to top](https://impact-openlearning.mit.edu/2025-2026-open-learning-impact-report#top)
Photo: Satik Movsesyan
Photo: Gevorg Minasyan
## Applying lessons in data, economics, and policy design to the real world
Gevorg Minasyan MAP ’23 draws on experiences in MIT’s Data, Economics, and Design of Policy MicroMasters and master’s programs to shape policymaking at the Central Bank of Armenia.
Gevorg Minasyan MAP ’23 draws on experiences in MIT’s Data, Economics, and Design of Policy MicroMasters and master’s programs to shape policymaking at the Central Bank of Armenia.
By Stefanie Koperniak | [MIT News](https://news.mit.edu/2025/3-questions-applying-lessons-data-economics-policy-design-real-world-0724)
*Gevorg Minasyan MAP ’23 first discovered the*[MITx *MicroMasters Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy*](https://micromasters.mit.edu/dedp/) *(DEDP) — jointly led by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and MIT Open Learning — when he was looking to better understand the process of building effective, evidence-based policies while working at the Central Bank of Armenia. After completing the MicroMasters program, Minasyan was inspired to pursue MIT’s*[*Master’s in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy*](https://economics.mit.edu/academic-programs/masters-programs/masters-data-economics-and-design-policy-dedp) *program.*
*Today, Minasyan is the director of the Research and Training Center at the Central Bank of Armenia. He has not only been able to apply what he has learned at MIT to his work, but he has also sought to institutionalize a culture of evidence-based policymaking at the bank and more broadly in Armenia. He spoke with MIT Open Learning about his journey through the DEDP programs, key takeaways, and how what he learned at MIT continues to guide his work.*
**Q: What initially drew you to the DEDP MicroMasters, and what were some highlights of the program?**
**A:** Working at the Central Bank of Armenia, I was constantly asking myself: Can we build a system in which public policy decisions are grounded in rigorous evidence? Too often, I observed public programs that were well-intentioned and seemed to address pressing challenges, but ultimately failed to bring tangible change. Sometimes it was due to flawed design; other times, the goals simply didn’t align with what the public actually needed or expected. These experiences left a deep impression on me and sparked a strong desire to better understand what works, what doesn’t, and why.
That search led me to the DEDP MicroMasters program, which turned out to be a pivotal step in my professional journey. From the very first course, I realized that this was not just another academic program — it was a completely new way of thinking about development policy. The courses combined rigorous training in economics, data analysis, and impact evaluation with a strong emphasis on practical application. We weren’t just learning formulas or running regressions — we were being trained to ask the right questions, to think critically about causality, and to understand the trade-offs of policy choices.
Another aspect that set the MicroMasters apart was its blended structure. I was able to pursue a globally top-tier education while continuing my full-time responsibilities at the Central Bank. This made the learning deeply relevant and immediately applicable. Even as I was studying, I found myself incorporating insights from class into my day-to-day policy work, whether it was refining how we evaluated financial inclusion programs or rethinking the way we analyzed administrative data.
At the same time, the global nature of the program created a vibrant, diverse community. I engaged with students and professionals from dozens of countries, each bringing different perspectives. These interactions enriched the coursework and helped me to realize that despite the differences in context, the challenges of effective policy design — and the power of evidence to improve lives — were remarkably universal. It was a rare combination: intellectually rigorous, practically grounded, globally connected, and personally transformative.
**Q: Can you describe your experiences in the Master’s in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy residential program?**
**A:** The MicroMasters experience inspired me to go further, and I decided to apply for the full-time, residential master’s at MIT. That year was nothing short of transformative. It not only sharpened my technical and analytical skills, but also fundamentally changed the way I think about policymaking.
One of the most influential courses I took during the master’s program was 14.760 (Firms, Markets, Trade, and Growth). The analytical tools it provided mapped directly onto the systemic challenges I saw among Armenian firms. Motivated by this connection, I developed a similar course, which I now teach at the American University of Armenia. Each year, I work with students to investigate the everyday constraints that hinder firm performance, with the ultimate goal of producing data-driven research that could inform business strategy in Armenia.
The residential master’s program taught me that evidence-based decision-making starts with a mindset shift. It’s not just about applying tools, it’s about being open to questioning assumptions, being transparent about uncertainty, and being humble enough to let data challenge intuition. I also came to appreciate that truly effective policy design isn’t about finding one-off solutions, but about creating dynamic feedback loops that allow us to continuously learn from implementation.
This is essential to refining programs in real time, adapting to new information, and avoiding the trap of static, one-size-fits-all approaches. Equally valuable was becoming part of the MIT and J-PAL’s global network. The relationships I built with researchers, practitioners, and fellow students from around the world gave me lasting insights into how institutions can systematically embed analysis in their core operations. This exposure helped me to see the possibilities not just for my own work, but for how public institutions like central banks can lead the way in advancing an evidence-based culture.
**Q: How are you applying what you’ve learned in the DEDP programs to the Central Bank of Armenia?**
**A:** As director of the Research and Training Center at the Central Bank of Armenia, I have taken on a new kind of responsibility: leading the effort to scale evidence-based decision-making not only within the Central Bank, but across a broader ecosystem of public institutions in Armenia. This means building internal capacity, rethinking how research informs policy, and fostering partnerships that promote a culture of data-driven decision-making.
Beyond the classroom, the skills I developed through the DEDP program have been critical to my role in shaping real-world policy in Armenia. A particularly timely example is our national push toward a cashless economy — one of the most prominent and complex reform agendas today. In recent years, the government has rolled out a suite of bold policies aimed at boosting the adoption of non-cash payments, all part of a larger vision to modernize the financial system, reduce the shadow economy, and increase transparency. Key initiatives include a cashback program designed to encourage pensioners to use digital payments and the mandatory installation of non-cash payment terminals across businesses nationwide. In my role on an inter-agency policy team, I rely heavily on the analytical tools from DEDP to evaluate these policies and propose regulatory adjustments to ensure the transition is not only effective, but also inclusive and sustainable.
The Central Bank of Armenia recently collaborated with J-PAL Europe to co-design and host a policy design and evaluation workshop. The workshop brought together policymakers, central bankers, and analysts from various sectors and focused on integrating evidence throughout the policy cycle, from defining the problem to designing interventions and conducting rigorous evaluations. It’s just the beginning, but it already reflects how the ideas, tools, and values I absorbed at MIT are now taking institutional form back home.
Our ultimate goal is to institutionalize the use of policy evaluation as a standard practice — not as an occasional activity, but as a core part of how we govern. We’re working to embed a stronger feedback culture in policymaking, one that prioritizes learning before scaling. More experimentation, piloting, and iteration are essential before committing to large-scale rollouts of public programs. This shift requires patience and persistence, but it is critical if we want policies that are not only well-designed, but also effective, inclusive, and responsive to people’s needs.
Looking ahead, I remain committed to advancing this transformation, by building the systems, skills, and partnerships that can sustain evidence-based policymaking in Armenia for the long term.
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> ### MITx has given me a high quality well-rounded education at a location where that is not easily accessible while grounding me with concepts that can be applied in my professional life. Having completed my MicroMasters from MITx has also provided me with the self-efficacy to tackle challenges I didn't think I could handle before. I love how MIT is fully invested in this, especially in the development of its MicroMasters programs!
Clarence Lam Lifelong learner, Poland
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## **Launching a strategic collaboration with Wikipedia**
MIT Open Learning and Wikipedia’s collaboration is an extraordinary opportunity to expand our joint efforts in open education and open knowledge. By integrating high-quality, verified references, and citations from MIT to the millions of openly shared articles on Wikipedia, we help ensure that knowledge-seekers can find more reliable educational content. The project focuses on filling content gaps and increasing representation, which is especially important in strengthening subject areas like women’s history, architecture, design, fashion, and the history of technology. Ultimately, we aim for publicly available knowledge to reflect a broader range of histories, perspectives, and contributions.
> ### So the great thing about open, about whether it's Wikipedia, whether it's Internet Archive, OCW, OpenStreetMaps, these allies that we have, is we get out of that trap of always having to be a victim of digital feudalism. We get free access to this content. We can do interesting things with it. And I think that's so important in this day and age, to have that as the Commons.
Andrew Lih Wikimedian in Residence
Watch the *Open Conversation* with Andrew Lih, Peter B. Kaufman, and Curt Newton on [Wikipedia & MIT Open Learning: A New Strategic Collaboration.](https://youtu.be/OWxUBRhzMO8?si=cz3MdGdxrKEzn_4l)
WikiBento: Wikimedia Dashboard providing progress on the Wikipedia and MIT OpenCourseWare content linking.
## **MIT DELTA (Disciplinary Experts in Learning Technology and Applications**
The mission of MIT Open Learning’s [Disciplinary Experts in Learning Technology and Applications (DELTA)](https://openlearning.mit.edu/mit-delta) is to extend MIT’s educational reach by delivering high-quality learning experiences that combine disciplinary expertise with innovative digital strategies. Available on MIT Learn, MIT DELTA-led content includes free and accessible podcasts, an open seminar series, and brief educational videos that welcome and engage learners of all capabilities. The team is also working on a short documentary series that brings you into the lives and work of MIT researchers, innovators, and thinkers, and interactive games and learning challenges to keep your mind sharp.
[Listen to this podcast episode](https://learn.mit.edu/video/117292/personalized-medicine-diabetes-and-ai-with-dimitris?playlist=114879)
- Mapping your knowledge with Laura Frawley
- How chemists think about structure
- Winning the AI race without losing control
- The true size of cells
- Personalized Medicine, Diabetes, and AI with Dimitris Bertsimas
- Mapping your knowledge with Laura Frawley
- How chemists think about structure
- Winning the AI race without losing control
- The true size of cells
- Personalized Medicine, Diabetes, and AI with Dimitris Bertsimas
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