Two of the biggest players in online education are to join forces in a deal worth $800 million (?580 million), it has been announced.

2U, an online education company that already has more than 80 university partners, said it would pay the sum to acquire ¡°substantially all¡± the assets of edX, the non-profit platform founded by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The deal will create a huge entity in online learning with access to more than 50 million students worldwide and have well over 200 universities and other institutions as partners, according to a joint press statement.

It adds that ¡°fulfilling a commitment to preserve and advance the edX mission¡±, 2U planned to run edX as a ¡°public benefit entity¡± that would balance the interests of shareholders with others.?

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The organisations said 2U had also committed to ¡°continuing to fulfil the edX mission¡±, including by ¡°guaranteeing affordability¡± through the use of free courses and ¡°protecting the intellectual property rights of faculty and universities that contribute massive open online courses¡±.

According to the statement, the proceeds of the deal will also fund a non-profit led by Harvard and MIT that will be ¡°dedicated to reimagining the future of learning for people at all stages of life¡± and ¡°addressing educational inequalities¡±.

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Harvard and MIT presidents Larry Bacow and Rafael Reif said the move would put edX¡¯s original mission ¡°on a whole new scale, connecting many more learners with a wider range of high-quality options for content, credentials and degrees¡±.

¡°With online education rapidly changing, it¡¯s the right moment for this leap of evolution for edX,¡± they said in a joint comment.

¡°At the same time, the non-profit that emerges from this transaction will enable us and our partners to support innovation that enhances learning for all and, we hope, play a catalytic role in closing the learning gap that exists for far too many.¡±?

EdX currently offers over 3,000 online programmes, most of which have a free option, but also the ability to pay to build credits towards degrees.?2U has more than 500 programmes, including short courses, boot camps and professional certificates, as well as degrees.

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Anant Agarwal, founder and chief executive of edX, said that ¡°joining forces with 2U marks a major milestone in our evolution¡±.

¡°2U¡¯s people, technology, and scale will expand edX¡¯s ability to deliver on its mission of providing access to high-quality education to enable all learners to unlock their potential,¡± he said.

The deal creates further consolidation in an already highly competitive arena for online education that also includes major players like Coursera, a for-profit originally founded by two Stanford University professors.

simon.baker@timeshighereducation.com