According to the popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, 42 percent of the world's top universities offer at least one academically endorsed blockchain course. And eight out of the top 10 universities that offer them are based in the U.S..
At the moment of the study by Coinbase, at the top is the Stanford University which offers 10 blockchain-related courses. This is followed by Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania which offer nine and six blockchain courses, respectively.
These blockchain courses are not limited to computer science only, as they are also offered across a wider range of disciplines, including anthropology and finance.
Coinbase in partnership with Qriously has surveyed sampled 675 U.S. students, and found that students across all majors have an interest in blockchain technology. Of those surveyed, 18 percent reported having some value in cryptocurrency, 26 percent indicated that they’re interested in taking a blockchain-related course in the future, with the most immediate interest coming from social science (47 percent) and computer science (34 percent) majors.
This indicates blockchain that made its entrance into the world’s academic scene, do have students lining up to learn.
The trend can be traced back to 2014 when first NYU School of Business started offering courses on cryptocurrencies by the finance department chair, David Yermack, who enrolled a total of 35 students.
Since then, the interest in cryptocurrency has grown greatly, and this growth is reflected in the enrollment numbers for the same class.
However, some people were rather pessimistic as they remain perplexed as to why there is such a demand for such courses. Then there is the academia that isn't known to move quickly. With the increased demand of blockchain and cryptocurrency-related courses, some may experience the lack of lecturers, materials and practitioners in the field.
But professors say that the maturation of blockchain and cryptocurrency and their adoption by businesses and other groups over the years has made it clear that it’s a field with the potential for wide-ranging impact.
Dawn Song, a computer science professor at UC Berkeley, spoke about the widespread interest in cryptocurrency, saying that:
