San Francisco based crypto exchange Coinbase sets up interactive sessions with students on a regular basis. This involves engaging students in various campuses as part of their recruitment process. Coinbase recently partnered with Qriously to get student views on crypto and the blockchain. After extensive student engagements, here are the findings that were gathered.
- 42 percent of the top 50 universities in the world offer a course on the Blockchain
- Students from a wide range of majors are interested in crypto and the blockchain, universities are also adding various blockchain courses across a range of universities
This research involved a Qriously survey of 675 U.S students, a comprehensive review of the blockchain courses offered by the 50 international universities as well as interviews with professor and students. David Yermack, a New York university stern school of Business first rolled out his course in 2014 to 35 students. By spring of this year, the number of enrolled students of the course rose to 230. This forced David to move the class to a large auditorium. This year, Yermack will teach the blockchain course both semesters to meet student interests.
Yermack began the class due to his interest in Bitcoin and how quickly interest around the token was growing. Other reasons for having the class soon emerged such as interest from big institutions and demand for people who understood the blockchain. Yermack now sees the class as a way to help students prepare for future job opportunities that will arise in the growing industry. Other universities around the world are following Yermack’s lead with students flocking in to enroll in blockchain related classes. These students are motivated by hot job prospects on the horizon. Universities are in turn setting up research centers and adding crypto related courses in order to meet rising demand.
According to Coinbase reviews, 50 top universities had cryptocurrency classes across a variety of departments including anthropology and finance. An interesting note was that half of all social science majors expressed interest in taking a crypto class. Coinbase found that 42 percent of the top 50 universities offer at least one class on blockchain or cryptocurrency and 22 percent offer more than one. Some of the universities that have taken to the blockchain include;
- Princeton
Students take information security classes based on cryptocurrencies, the blockchain, and ethics.
- Cornell
It offers the highest number of classes that have to do with cryptocurrencies, cryptography, and the blockchain.
- John Hopkins University
Offers a business course on blockchain where students learn about the block chain’s security features. The potential benefits and weaknesses of its fundamental structure and weaknesses when applied to business organizations.
Other notable institutions of higher learning adding courses on the blockchain include; University of Waterloo, Georgetown University, and the University of Illinois.
