Udacity, one of the leading America based on-line education providers, has debuted in China's crowded on-line education market. The step marks the company's second major international expansion after India.

Sebastian Thrun, Udacity CEO and co-founder, announced his plans of democratizing education by providing courses at a fraction of the rate that students pay in conventional universities. Attending the New York Times Next New World Conference in 2014, he stressed the need for popular education platforms given the fact that half the world's population still has no access to education. 

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Experts believe that despite the cut-throat competition, China's demand for technical skills and expertise is ever increasing.

As a way to attract Chinese students, the education giant has launched 100 of its nano-degree programs in computer sciences, which are normally less than a year long, at a cheaper price than in America. While a nano-degree course typically costs around 1300 Yuan ($200) monthly in the US, Udacity is offering them in China for less than a 1000 Yuan ($150) a month. 

Udacity is expected to face tough competition from Coursera which opened in China last year and other Chinese universities offering online-education like Peking University and Tsinghua University.

To begin with, the platform youdaxue.com will offer existing content to students with Chinese subtitles. Further, group tutoring will be provided in-person in order to provide programs specially tailored to the needs of the local job market.

In an attempt to attract more participants to its programs, Udacity is offering to refund the students half their tuition amounts if they can complete the course within a year. This also serves to ensure better completion rates.

TagsOnline Education Market, China education, china online technology, China Job Market