Affiliations: 
1
Harvard University 
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
*Correspondence to: john_hansen@mail.harvard.edu 
Abstract: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are often characterized as remedies to 
educational disparities related to social class. Using data from 68 MOOCs offered by Harvard 
and MIT between 2012 and 2014, we find that course participants from the United States tend to 
live in more affluent and better-educated neighborhoods than the average U.S. resident. Among 
those who do register for courses, students with greater socioeconomic resources are more likely 
to earn a certificate. Furthermore, these differences in MOOC access and completion are larger 
for adolescents and young adults, the traditional ages where people find on-ramps into STEM 
coursework and careers. Our findings raise concerns that MOOCs and similar approaches to 
online learning can exacerbate rather than reduce disparities in educational outcomes related to