Apple's iTunes U Apps Top 1B Downloads

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Apple (AAPL) continues to put out more press releases this year, perhaps in an effort to change public opinion. The latest one shows that iTunes U content downloads have topped 1 billion.

The company said more than 1,200 universities and colleges, and 1,200 K-12 schools and districts are now hosting over 2,500 public and thousands of private courses as a result of iTunes U. Such universities as Duke, Yale, Cambridge, MIT and Oxford are leading the way, with more than 100,000 students enrolled in single iTunes U courses.

"It's inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U," said Apple's Eddy Cue in a press release. "With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before; there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn."

Here is the press release in its entirety:

Apple® today announced that iTunes U® content downloads have topped one billion. iTunes U features the world's largest online catalog of free educational content from top schools and prominent libraries, museums and organizations helping educators create courses including lectures, assignments, books, quizzes and more for iOS users around the world.

"It's inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before―there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn."

More than 1,200 universities and colleges, and 1,200 K-12 schools and districts host over 2,500 public and thousands of private courses encompassing the arts, sciences, health and medicine, education, business and more. Leading universities including Duke, Yale, Cambridge, MIT and Oxford continue to extend their reach by enrolling more than 100,000 students in single iTunes U courses, with Stanford University and The Open University each surpassing 60 million content downloads. The Ohio State University's Matthew "Dr. Fus" Stoltzfus' General Chemistry course enrolled over 100,000 iTunes U students in the first year it was offered.