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Three well-known but very different names in nonprofit education say they鈥檙e coming together Tuesday to launch an improbable enterprise: a new, AI-focused college, designed for a world in which artificial intelligence is reshaping what employers want. It promises a bachelor’s degree in applied AI, delivered almost entirely online in as little as two years 鈥� for less than the price of a used Toyota Corolla. 

Applications are expected to open in 2027 for the Khan TED Institute, a joint project of Khan Academy, TED 鈥� the purveyors of the popular TED Talks 鈥� and the Educational Testing Service.

鈥淚 think there’s always been, frankly, some need for a program like this,鈥� said Khan Academy founder Sal Khan. Many people, he said, can鈥檛 afford a college degree or can鈥檛 take the time out of their work lives to attend four years of classes. 鈥淚t could be that they have pursued a degree, but it’s not giving the signal that would give them the opportunities that they would want.鈥�

Another founder, Amit Sevak, who leads ETS, acknowledged that they are still working out many of the details, but that the new institution could someday enroll 鈥渢ens of thousands鈥� of students, rivaling flagship state universities. Sevak said he鈥檚 鈥�100%鈥� anticipating that its instructors will be humans, most likely a large network of adjuncts.

鈥淲e still believe in the value of a human teacher,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e think that there’s so much socialization and collaboration that takes place [in the classroom]. There’s also the classic need for classroom management and some pedagogical oversight over the assessments.鈥�

Here are five things you need to know about the new enterprise:

1. It鈥檒l offer a bachelor’s degree in applied AI in various fields such as business, marketing, human resources, healthcare and more.聽

The college will offer a full undergraduate bachelor’s degree organized around three pillars: core academic knowledge 鈥� math, statistics, economics, computer science, science, history and writing 鈥� applied AI skills and 鈥渄urable鈥� human skills such as communication, leadership, collaboration, peer tutoring and public speaking. 

Early employer partners include Microsoft, Google and , an AI app development site.

2. It鈥檚 expected to be competency-based, cost less than $10,000 and take as little as half the time of a traditional bachelor鈥檚 degree.

The college鈥檚 founding partners say its total cost will likely be under $10,000, a fraction of the of a four-year degree.

Rather than requiring four years of seat time, Sevak said, the institute is built around a competency-based model, offering students the opportunity to advance when they demonstrate mastery. That means students could potentially complete the degree in two to three years, he said, depending on how quickly they demonstrate required competencies.

That opens it up to many different kinds of students, he said, including motivated high schoolers who want to earn undergraduate credits quickly before graduation, working adults seeking advancement in their jobs and students already enrolled in traditional colleges who want to stack an AI credential on top of their existing undergraduate credits.

Khan said the new college 鈥渋s something I鈥檝e thought about doing in some way, shape or form, for many years, and the changes within the job market, because of AI, only accelerated that.鈥�

He said the idea came out of conversations with TED chairman about a year and a half ago. 鈥淲e started saying, 鈥業t feels like there’s something powerful between Khan Academy and TED. We’re both learning organizations. Khan Academy is known for academic learning from K-through-14. TED is known as [embodying] lifelong learning. And it’s about human connection. And it feels like we both have fairly unique brands in the not-for-profit space and the education space.鈥欌��

Khan later spoke at an ETS trustees dinner and got to know Sevak.

鈥淭hey’ve been looking at the same things,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd they’ve also come up with a framework on durable skills and thinking about ways to assess them. And we realized, 鈥楲ook, the world needs this. And if the three of us come together, this will be very credible and hopefully has a high chance of helping a lot of people.鈥欌��

3. It鈥檚 an 鈥淎I-first鈥� institution, weaving artificial intelligence into how courses are designed, taught and assessed.

Sivak said courses will be shaped by AI and teaching will be supported by AI agents, software systems that can tutor students, answer questions and provide feedback. And students will be prepared for work in 鈥淎I-native鈥� environments.

Instruction will likely be 100% online at the college鈥檚 launch, with an emphasis on asynchronous coursework to accommodate students in different time zones and life circumstances. Over time, Sevak said, they鈥檒l likely explore a hybrid format.

4. Khan Academy will provide the college鈥檚 learning platform and pedagogical infrastructure, despite its founder鈥檚 tempered enthusiasm about AI and learning.

TED, the conference organization best known for its short, , will incorporate its content into the curriculum, giving students access to live talks, Q&A sessions and community-based learning with TED speakers.

And ETS, the testing and measurement organization that produces the GRE and TOEFL tests, will contribute its assessment expertise, said Sevak.

Khan Academy, the popular free tutoring website, which has about and operates its own , will offer its technology to deliver the college鈥檚 coursework, organizers said. Khan, who founded it in 2008, will hold the title of 鈥淭ED Vision Steward鈥� in the new partnership.

The announcement comes just a few days after Khan told Chalkbeat that the learning revolution he predicted in 2023, upon Khanmigo鈥檚 release, .

In September 2022, Khan and Kristen DiCerbo, the organization鈥檚 chief learning officer, were among the first people outside of Open AI to get access to GPT-4, the large language model that at the time powered ChatGPT. Their experiments gave rise to a revolution in Khan鈥檚 thinking: In 2023, he delivered a TED Talk in which he predicted 鈥渢he biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen,鈥� saying we鈥檇 soon be able to give 鈥渆very student on the planet an artificially intelligent but amazing personal tutor.鈥�

In 2024, Khan鈥檚 book, , bore the subtitle 鈥淗ow AI Will Revolutionize Education.鈥� 

But more than three years after Khanmigo鈥檚 launch, Khan admitted, 鈥淔or a lot of students, it was a non-event. They just didn鈥檛 use it much.鈥�

A few students, he said, have used the AI chatbot readily, while others haven鈥檛. AI tutoring, he concluded, doesn鈥檛 necessarily motivate students to learn or fill in knowledge gaps they need to learn more. He鈥檚 still optimistic about AI in education, but also sees its limits. 鈥滻 just view it as part of the solution,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 view it as the end-all and be-all.鈥�

On Monday, Khan told 麻豆精品 that AI is 鈥渏ust going to be part of our arsenal to help make more engaging tools. Maybe we鈥檒l be able to give more rich assessment practice. Instead of having multiple-choice questions, you can start to have 鈥榚xplain your thinking鈥� [questions]. So it starts to open up the aperture.鈥�

5. It鈥檚 very much a work in progress.

Speaking four days before the launch, Sevak admitted that nearly everything about the venture 鈥渋s still evolving,鈥� and that the team is 鈥渨orkshopping the pedagogical design鈥� of the new college.

Sevak said the institute is in talks with regional and national organizations that can offer 鈥渢he highest form of accreditation,” a step that would set it apart from a growing number of online certificates, micro-credentials and boot camps. 

鈥淲e’re really in the early days, and it’s just going to take some time for us to adapt,鈥� he said. 

The college鈥檚 curriculum isn鈥檛 yet finalized and applications are 12 to 18 months away. Likewise, the specific structure of its hybrid and asynchronous models, its faculty roster and the full range of majors are all still in development.

鈥淥ur intention is, over time, to have a whole range of specializations,鈥� said Sevak. But the program鈥檚 core is designed to prepare students 鈥渢o be really AI-centric鈥� for a new reality. 鈥淲e’re seeing [AI] as ripping through the economy,鈥� creating a lot of uncertainty for young people. 

More to the point, said Khan, 鈥淲ork is changing very fast. AI is changing everything.鈥�

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