Barnes & Noble University Claims 200,000 Students

Posted on March 23, 2001

Barnes & Noble.com announced that more than 200,000 students have taken classes at the Barnes & Noble University since its online campus opened last summer on the website. The university, created in partnership with Powered, Inc., opened enrollment this week for its April semester, which will offer more than 50 free courses in a variety of subjects, from ``Home Decorating Basics'' to ``Introduction to Programming'' to ``Organizing from the Inside Out.''

Classes for the new semester begin on April 9. Each course is taught by an instructor who is an expert in the subject matter, and many of the instructors are also authors. The company is working directly with authors to develop courses based upon their books and plans to provide them with digital publishing opportunities.

``We envision Barnes & Noble University as a great channel for authors to develop their own brands as well as to extend the reach and scope of their intellectual property,'' said Steve Riggio, vice chairman of Barnes & Noble.com.

Len Gilbert, Barnes & Noble.com's vice president in charge of the university, reported that in the first nine months in operation more than 200,000 students have taken courses. She also reported that about 40 percent of students have already enrolled in more than one course; nearly 10 percent have enrolled in four or more courses. The largest class in a single month -- ``Organizing from the Inside Out'' -- attracted more than 6,000 students.

The courses have also increased book sales for the retailer. During enrollment periods, many titles recommended for courses have reached the company's bestseller list, including Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreements Without Giving In, Organizing from the Inside Out and Adobe Photoshop 6.0 Classroom in a Book. In addition, about half of the students who buy course materials also buy non-course books on the site. Many also buy recommended books in Barnes & Noble stores.

Business and technical courses have been among the most popular, the top courses attracting more than 10,000 students each in the first six months. Among the most popular of these are ``Adobe Photoshop Basics,'' ``Building Your First Web Page'' and ``Introduction to XML.'' The most popular general interest courses include ``Yoga for Novices,'' ``Mapping the Civil War'' and ``The Night Sky: An Introduction to Astronomy.''