A study of 74,000 MOOC reviews – from one of the world’s largest source of student-powered MOOC ratings – suggests online course providers should not be afraid to charge for classes, assign challenging workloads or point students to third-party review platforms. CourseTalk analyzed its entire review catalog and found:

• Paid courses were rated, on average, 1.4 stars higher than free courses (out of 5 stars). CourseTalk users are willing to pay for good courses.
• No direct link exists between hours of study required and course rating. CourseTalk reviewers do not penalize courses for heavy workloads.
• The average course gets 4.18 out of 5 stars, with reviews submitted directly on CourseTalk averaging a half star higher than ones submitted on course provider sites. Students using third-party review platforms like CourseTalk seem especially satisfied with their learning experiences, perhaps because a vast, cross-provider catalog helps them find the right courses for them.

The study covers 7,500 courses from 46 providers. For more findings, see the full analysis, “What Reviews Divulge About Online Education.”