Course Hero
Course Hero, Inc. is an American online learning platform founded in 2006 by Andrew Grauer and Gregor Carrigan that connects students with course-specific study resources, including uploaded documents, practice problems, textbook solutions, and tutoring services, primarily through a freemium subscription model requiring users to either pay for access or upload original materials to unlock content.[1][2][3] Headquartered in Redwood City, California, and operating as part of Learneo, Inc., Course Hero supports millions of learners and over 200,000 faculty members across the United States, Canada, and Australia by facilitating resource sharing among students and educators, with additional tools like AI-powered paraphrasing via its QuillBot integration and step-by-step homework explanations.[3][4][5] The platform's business model generates revenue from tiered subscriptions—ranging from $9.95 monthly on annual plans to $39.99 on monthly ones—alongside paid tutoring, enabling broad access to over 60 million course-specific materials while emphasizing a mission to help students graduate confident and prepared.[6][5][7] Despite its growth into a profitable edtech unicorn, Course Hero has encountered substantial controversies centered on academic integrity and intellectual property, with critics and institutions arguing it enables cheating by providing ready-made answers and homework solutions, potentially undermining learning outcomes.[8][9] Universities have pursued legal action against the company, such as Post University's 2023 federal lawsuit alleging direct and contributory copyright infringement through the unauthorized uploading and distribution of protected course materials, highlighting ongoing tensions between the platform's utility and risks of misuse.[10][11][12]