NUS is joining other schools worldwide to offer free online courses to the public, with the first two to be rolled out in January next year. It is partnering United States-based online education company Coursera to do this, and the plan is to offer two to three new courses each year on the firm's website. NUS is among 29 universities from 13 countries which have inked new agreements to offer courses using Coursera's platform, bringing the company's total number of university partnerships to 62. Other schools include Rutgers University, the University of Tokyo and Leiden University. NUS is also planning to offer existing modules that are popular among its students online, using Coursera's platform. Pilot programmes will start in August. NTU and SMU are also exploring the possibility of offering free online courses in the future.