There are five ways that organizations may become formally involved in OCW Consortium activities:
Institutional Membership Categories
Institutional Member
Accredited higher education institutions may become members of the Consortium by committing to the publication of at least ten original courses in the OpenCourseWare format and under the institution's name (see our Use page for examples). An officer of the institution able to authorize such use of the institution name should complete the online OCW Consortium Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) for member institutions. A particular technology/system is not required for your OCW, though many members have successfully utilized a system called eduCommons, if you feel that it is appropriate for your institution's needs. Institutional Members exercise one full vote for institutional board members.
The annual membership fee for Institutional Members is:
US$500 for members located in developed countries
US$250 for members located in developing countries
For Institutional Members that are also paying members of an Associated Consortium the annual membership fee is:
US$350 for members located in developed countries
US$150 for members located in developing countries
A limited number of fully subsidized memberships are available to institutions with extreme financial need.
Associated Institutional Member
Associated Institutional Members are regionally accredited higher education institutions that have published (or have committed to publish within two years of joining) materials from at least ten courses meeting the requirements of the agreed upon definition of an OpenCourseWare. Associated Institutional members belong to an Associated Consortium (see definition below) which votes proportionally on their behalf.
The annual membership fee for Associated Institutional Members is:
US$50 for members located in developed countries
US$25 for members located in developing countries
Affiliate Membership Categories
Associated Consortium Member
Associated Consortium Members are the governing bodies of self-organized groups of Institutional Members and Associated Institutional Members, such as Universia and the Japan OpenCourseWare Consortium. These entities support the development of OpenCourseWare around common interests (such as community college-level content, common language, or geographic region). To be recognized as an Associated Consortium Member, a consortium must include at least five Institutional and/or Associated Institutional Members. All members holding Associated Institutional Member status must belong to an Associated Consortium member organization. Associated Consortium Members exercise one full vote for affiliate board members.
The annual membership fee for Associated Consortium Members is:
US$500 for members located in developed countries
US$250 for members located in developing countries
Affiliate Member
Affiliate Members are those corporations, institutions, other business and non-profit entities, or other interested parties which support or contribute to the creation, maintenence, publishing or dissemination of OpenCourseWare Courses (for example, through the development of tools or policy) or which encourage the publication of derivative versions of OpenCourseWare Courses through translation or other forms of localization. Primary and secondary education institutions are explicitly welcomed as Affiliate Members. Affiliate membership applicants should use the online membership form (link below), and complete the OCW Consortium Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) for affiliate members.
ffiliate Members are entities with legal standing that contribute substantially to the mission and goals of the OCW Consortium through either 1) publication of original content or 2) in-kind contributions at no cost to other members. Affiliate Members exercise one full vote for affiliate board members.
The annual membership fee for Affiliate Members is:
US$500 for members located in developed countries
US$250 for members located in developing countries
A limited number of fully subsidized memberships are available to institutions with extreme financial need.
Corporate Member
Corporate members are those corporations or other for-profit entities which provide goods or services that are in support of the OpenCourseWare Consortium’s mission. Corporate Members are provided with additional benefits in line with their higher membership fees, as described in the Corporate Member Program documentation. Corporate Members exercise no votes for any board members. In-kind donations may be accepted in exchange for lower annual fees.
The annual membership fees for Corporate Members are:
US$1,000 for basic corporate membership
US$5,000 for enhanced corporate membership
Corporate Sponsorships are available for US$25,000 and US$50,000. Please contact the Consortium for details of sponsorship opportunities.
We would like to invite you to join the OCWC, using our electronic application which will require some profile information in order to list and create a link to your organization on the OCWC web site:
A brief (two to three sentences at most) description of your institution and its mission
A link to your institution 's top-level page
A link to the top-level page of the institution's OCW project (if and when it is published on the Web)
The institution's seal , or equivalent thereof. The seal can be full-color or black-and-white. Should be scalable to 1 inch by 1 inch, if it is a horizontal seal, it should scale to 1.5 inch wide at most. If possible, please upload two versions of the seal:At 300 dpi for print use .JPG or .PSD files are acceptable, and at 150 dpi for Web use .JPG or .GIF files are acceptable.
The name, title, phone number, physical and email addresses for the lead contact person for your institution's OCW project
Finally, please recognize that the OpenCourseWare Consortium's commitment to the free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials may result from time to time in the denial of membership for reasons of course quality or site format. If you have concerns regarding your organization’s eligibility please feel free to consult with us prior to submitting your application.
Thanks again for your interest in joining the OCW Consortium! We look forward to hearing from you!
How To Join 
