I had been using such platforms (coursera, edX) since their inception, and they were delightfully helpful to me. They were free of cost at that time and I really appreciated that as a student.
I feel a more apt pricing strategy would be to provide free/low-cost yearly access to students and a free basic course + paid advanced courses to non-students.
I would be more than happy to pay up to $200-$250 (note: close to half of my monthly salary) to get a yearly access to Coursera courses and not having to pay any additional money to them what so ever.
Now that I think about it, I would like to see that as an option.
I feel a more apt pricing strategy would be to provide free/low-cost yearly access to students and a free basic course + paid advanced courses to non-students.