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Your post contradicts the actual TOS that Coursera now has. https://www.coursera.org/about/terms https://www.coursera.org/about/terms > Notice for Minnesota U
by droithomme 14y ago
Your post contradicts the actual TOS that Coursera now has.
https://www.coursera.org/about/terms https://www.coursera.org/about/terms
> Notice for Minnesota Users
> Coursera has been informed by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education that under Minnesota Statutes (136A.61 to 136A.71), a university cannot offer online courses to Minnesota residents unless the university has received authorization from the State of Minnesota to do so. If you are a resident of Minnesota, you agree that either (1) you will not take courses on Coursera, or (2) for each class that you take, the majority of work you do for the class will be done from outside the State of Minnesota.
You have stated that this "has had NO effect on Coursera's operation in Minnesota" and "I am a Minnesota resident, I am enrolled in multiple Coursera courses". Your continued enrollment is clearly in violation of the new TOS unless you are taking the classes from outside your state of residence.
- grannyg00se 14y agoSo is Coursera a university? I don't know the exact conditions for an institution to be considered a university but this seems like a bit of a stretch.
- droithomme 14y agoThe state of Minnesota believes this law applies to Coursera. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education sent a letter to Coursera stating so, so it is reasonable for Coursera to conclude that Minnesota believes this applies to Coursera. Tricia Grimes of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education has publicly stated that letters were sent to "all postsecondary institutions known to be offering courses in Minnesota". She said (http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/minnesota-gives-coursera-the-boot-citing-a-decades-old-law/40542 http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/minnesota-gives-cours...), "This has been a longtime requirement in Minnesota (at least 20 years) and applies to online and brick-and-mortar postsecondary institutions that offer instruction to Minnesota residents as part of our overall responsibility to provide consumer protection for students."
- cglace 14y agoDo consumers need protection from something that is free?
- nitrogen 14y agoMaybe someday lawmakers will regard the Internet the same way its native residents do: as a separate place. The right way to look at this problem from a native netizen's perspective: Coursera offers classes "online", and Minnesota residents travel to "online" (not Minnesota) while taking the class.
- pc86 14y agoNo. First of all, just because someone spends 18 hours a day on a computer does not mean they're a "native netizen." That's not a real thing. Secondly, you're still in [State/Country of residence] when you're online. Just because someone is checking Twitter in a bathroom in Minnesota does not mean they're no longer subject to laws and regulations in Minnesota.
- briancooley 14y agoMaybe not, but Stanford, Princeton, Berkeley, and the other institutions offering courses via Coursera grant degrees. From the update: State law prohibits degree-granting institutions from offering instruction in Minnesota without obtaining permission from the office and paying a registration fee. (The fee can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, plus a $1,200 annual renewal.) So this amounts to a relatively small money grab for all practical purposes.