Coursera, a for-profit, online education platform that partners with top universities and organizations worldwide, just made professional education a little more affordable. The company recently announced that it would offer Specialization subscriptions, a new payment model that would allow students to pay for all the content in a particular area of study on a month-to-month or annual basis. Coursera launched the new program October 31, and will continue to roll out its most popular Specializations in the coming months.

According to a blog post by Tom Willerer, Chief Product Officer at Coursera, subscriptions will be priced between $39 to $89 per month for one Specialization with no long-term commitment. Students will have access to all the content in that area of study for as long as their subscription is active. Coursera said this could reduce costs for many learners.

“At Coursera, we believe education is a lifelong pursuit, and we want to empower you to – achieve your goals throughout your life and career. We’re continually working to improve our courses and platform to give you access to relevant content, and to help you learn more efficiently and effectively.

Today, we’re excited to announce Specialization subscriptions – a new payment model that allows you to purchase access to all content in a Specialization on a month-by-month or annual basis, so that you’re paying only for the amount of time you need to learn the material and earn your Certificate,” Willerer said.

This new payment model will benefit learners in the following ways:

• Students will pay for the time spent learning, whether they complete a Specialize in one month or several months, and they can pay in installments rather than up front.
• Students will consistently achieve learning goals. Coursera has tested the new model, and in learners who paid a monthly subscription fee, were two-and-a-half times more likely to complete a Specialization that students who paid full price at the beginning of a course or the entire Specialization.
• Students can adjust their learning schedule to fit their lifestyle. With no startup or cancellation fees, learners can start and stop at their own pace.

Learners can cancel their subscriptions at any time, but if they do so, they will lose access to course materials and archives at the end of the billing cycle in which they cancel. Also, students who only want one course in a particular Specialization need to cancel their recurring monthly payments if they don’t wish to be charged for courses they aren’t planning to take. Students who opt for the subscription option may still be eligible for financial aid.

In a Financial Times article, Willerer, formerly of Netflix, commented on the shift.

“I think because when you’re watching Netflix, you start watching a show and love it and watch the whole thing right away,” Willerer said. “We’re not introducing a new payment model so much as a new psychological model. The power is in their hands and they see the benefit of moving fast because it saves them money.”

Coursera offers nearly 1,900 courses in a variety of specializations including arts and humanities, business, computer science, life sciences, social sciences, physical science and engineering and more. Courses are offered online in partnership with universities like the University of Michigan, Stanford, Princeton and John Hopkins University. Coursera has 147 partners in 29 countries.

Insider Take:

TechCrunch does an interesting analysis of Coursera’s new offering, calling it monetized procrastination. Coursera learners who procrastinate in completing a topic will spend more money for courses than the standard upfront cost. That rationale makes sense. Those students who power through courses can potentially save money.

However, we can see several sticking points for learners who fail to cancel their subscription in a timely fashion. Though they may only want one course, they could get stuck with a much larger bill if they forget to opt out. We are curious to see how this new arrangement will work with their learning partners.

How successful the program will be, and whether or not Willerer’s assertions turn out to be true, will depend on student demand and on Coursera’s execution of their new model. We encourage them to be transparent about all of their offerings, including the free “audit” course option as well as all of the terms of the subscriptions. All terms must be clearly stated, and cancellation should be simple and easy.