A world apart from the classic, campus-based lecture theatre model, Coursera is an online education startup that has now reached a million users worldwide.

The brainchild of two Stanford University scientists, the platform offers free access to courses provided by top universities around the world. Recently, it added another twelve to its impressive portfolio; bringing its total number of free courses up to 116 -- many of which being undergraduate and graduate level. 16 schools currently participate.

Language barriers do not seem to be much of an issue, as a supportive volunteer community has been translating many of the learning videos included within the courses -- translating over 1000 files into more than 20 languages so far.

In a blog post on Thursday, the organization announced reaching the one million milestone. It also released some interesting statistics concerning the sign-ups, which have taken place in every country in the world.

After the United States, the platform has the most students in Brazil, India, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The founders appear to be pleased with the reception the platform has earned so far, writing on the Coursera blog:

"Thank you all so much for signing up, taking classes, and encouraging your friends and family to participate. This is an exciting moment in education, in which we seem to be standing at the cusp of a major transformation.

We look forward to the days, months and years ahead as we work together to make the best education, from the best instructors, accessible to millions of students around the world."

Coursera's start-up funding reached $22 million after recently announcing a $8.3 million cash injection provided by the California Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates.

Image credit: Coursera