 | |
| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Michael J. Saylor |
| Type | Operating private foundation (IRS exemption status): 501(c)(3) |
| Focus | Free education |
| Location | |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | Saylor Foundation, Saylor Academy |
The Saylor University, formerly known as the Saylor Foundation and Saylor Academy, is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC. It was established in 1999 by its sole trustee, Michael J. Saylor. Since 2008, the focus of the foundation has been its Free Education Initiative which has led to the creation of 241 courses representing 10 of the highest enrollment majors in the US.1
The Saylor Academy assembles courses from openly available texts and resources. The foundation also funds the creation of new materials when needed, which are then openly licensed for use by other organizations and individuals. In March 2018 Edovo partnered with Saylor Academy.2
Courses
On its website, the foundation offers 317 free, college-level courses, which are selected as typical courses in high enrollment majors at traditional U.S. colleges.3 Content is accessible without needing to register or log into the website; however an account is required to gain access to final exams and a free certificate of completion.1
The foundation works with consultants to design the courses, typically university and college faculty members or subject experts. The consultants develop a blueprint for the course, then research open educational resources (OER) to supply the course with lectures, texts, and other resources. If suitable texts and documents are not found, the foundation works with faculty to compile new materials which it releases to the OER community under a Creative Commons license.4 Each course is accompanied by an assessment.1
Credentialing
The Saylor University offers some courses with college credit recommendations from the National College Credit Recommendation Service, a program of the University of the State of New York,5 and through the ACE National Guide, a program of the American Council on Education.6 According to the Saylor Academy, they have experimented with digital badges through the Open Badge Infrastructure.3
Saylor University courses can be transferred for credit towards undergraduate degrees. Saylor University, on March 17th, 2026, was approved by the Florida Department of Education's Commission for Independent Education to operate as Saylor University and over the previous year had received approval to run four master's degree programs in the area of business.7
References
References
- Thibault, Joseph. "241 OER Courses with Assessments in Moodle: How Saylor.org has created one of the largest Free and Open Course Initiatives on the web". Moodlenews.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
- "Edovo, a tablet-based solution, brings eLearning to prisons". eLearningInside News. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
- "Online course start-ups offer virtually free college". The Washington Post. 2012-12-21. Retrieved 2012-12-25.
- "Saylor Foundation to Launch Multi-Million Dollar Open Textbook Challenge! | College Open Textbooks Blog". Collegeopentextbooks.org. 2011-08-09. Archived from the original on 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
- "Saylor Academy | NCCRS". www.nationalccrs.org. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- "Saylor Academy". www.acenet.edu. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- University, Saylor. "Saylor Academy Becomes Saylor University, Advancing the Vision of a Free Global University". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2026-05-29.