Khan Academy

Is Khan Academy a nonprofit organization?
Yes, Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity founded in 2008 by Salman Khan. The organization reported FY2025 total revenue of $117.5 million and total expenses of $87.5 million. Its financial information is publicly available through IRS Form 990 filings.

Who founded Khan Academy?
Khan Academy was founded by Salman Khan in 2008. Khan began tutoring his cousin in mathematics in 2004 using online tools, expanded to YouTube, and eventually incorporated the organization as a nonprofit after leaving his career as a hedge fund analyst.

How is Khan Academy funded?
Khan Academy is funded through contributions and grants ($90.4 million in FY2025), program service revenue from district partnerships ($22.2 million), and investment income ($4.2 million). Major donors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ExxonMobil Foundation, Benificus Foundation, Google, and Microsoft. Community giving contributed $8 million in FY2025.

Is Khan Academy really free?
Yes, Khan Academy provides all its educational content and services completely free of charge. The organization does not display advertising, sell user data, or charge for access to its platform. Khanmigo for Teachers is also free for all U.S. K-12 educators and educators in 180+ countries, supported by Microsoft's donation of Azure infrastructure.

What subjects does Khan Academy cover?
Khan Academy offers approximately 800 active courses covering mathematics, science, computing, arts, humanities, economics, financial literacy, and test preparation for standardized tests including the SAT, AP exams, MCAT, and LSAT. Content is available in more than 50 languages.

What is Khanmigo?
Khanmigo is Khan Academy's AI-powered tutor and teaching assistant, launched in March 2023. In SY24-25, Khanmigo reached 2 million users, a 731% year-over-year increase. The tool provides lesson planning, text leveling, IEP assistance, and student tutoring. Khanmigo for Teachers is free for all U.S. K-12 educators and educators in 180+ countries through a partnership with Microsoft. Student access is available through school or district implementations.

How many people use Khan Academy?
Khan Academy has 185 million registered learners across 190 countries as of SY24-25. The platform has 8.5 million monthly active users, with approximately 53% located outside the United States. The U.S. district partnerships program reaches 1.5 million licensed learners across 795 districts.

Who is the CEO of Khan Academy?
Salman Khan serves as CEO of Khan Academy. He founded the organization in 2008 and has led it since its inception, maintaining significant influence over its strategic direction and educational mission.

Khan Academy's origins trace to 2004, when Salman Khan began tutoring his cousin in mathematics using Yahoo! Doodle Images. As other cousins joined, Khan moved his tutorials to YouTube, where his distinctive teaching style, using a digital blackboard with narrated explanations, gained a following.

In 2008, Khan incorporated Khan Academy as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and left his position as a hedge fund analyst to focus full-time on creating educational content. Early funding came from small donations, but the organization gained visibility after a 2010 TED Talk by Khan and a feature on 60 Minutes. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation became a major supporter, providing grants that enabled Khan Academy to expand its content library and platform capabilities.

Throughout the 2010s, Khan Academy expanded beyond video lessons to include interactive practice exercises, progress tracking, and personalized learning dashboards. The organization became the official practice partner for the College Board's Advanced Placement program in 2017 and developed SAT preparation resources in partnership with the College Board. Khan Academy also partnered with NASA, the Museum of Modern Art, and MIT to offer specialized content.

In 2014, Khan founded Khan Lab School in Mountain View, California, a physical school implementing the educational principles developed through the online platform. The school operates independently from Khan Academy.

The organization experienced significant growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue peaking at $79.3 million in 2020 as demand for online education surged. Contributions dipped in 2021 and 2022 before recovering to $84.2 million in 2023 and $90.4 million in FY2025.

In March 2023, Khan Academy launched Khanmigo, an AI-powered tutor and teaching assistant built on OpenAI's GPT models. In May 2024, Microsoft announced a partnership to provide Khanmigo for Teachers free to all U.S. K-12 educators, powered by Azure OpenAI Service. The partnership expanded to 180+ countries by December 2025. Khan Academy also collaborated with Microsoft to explore small language models based on Phi-3 for affordable math tutoring.

In FY2025, Khan Academy switched its fiscal year from calendar year to July-June to align with the school year. The organization reported record revenue of $117.5 million and reached 185 million registered learners. The KhanX international network expanded to include new programs in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam, bringing the total to 8 international programs.

As a nonprofit educational organization, Khan Academy's sustainability model differs from for-profit companies. The organization relies on donations and grants rather than revenue from product sales, creating both opportunities and vulnerabilities. FY2025's record revenue of $117.5 million demonstrates strong donor confidence, but the organization's dependence on philanthropic funding creates long-term sustainability risk if donor priorities shift.

Khan Academy's educational ethics are centered on its mission to provide free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. The organization does not sell user data or display advertising on its platform. Content is developed by subject matter experts and reviewed for accuracy and pedagogical effectiveness. The organization publishes efficacy research demonstrating that students who use Khan Academy for 30 minutes per week of additional math practice show measurable learning gains.

The Khanmigo AI tool raises ethical considerations around AI in education. Khan Academy has stated that no user data is used to train AI models, and the tool is designed to guide students through problems rather than providing direct answers. The organization has implemented safety features including content filtering and monitoring to prevent misuse. The partnership with Microsoft includes collaboration on small language models to enable affordable, scalable math tutoring.

Khan Academy has received recognition for its impact on global education. Salman Khan was named to Time Magazine's AI 100 in 2024. The organization's efficacy research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, demonstrating measurable learning outcomes for students who use the platform at recommended dosage levels.

Khan Academy's district partnerships program has been recognized by educational organizations for its effectiveness in driving student learning outcomes, particularly in historically under-resourced communities. The program reaches a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic students and students impacted poverty compared to U.S. public school benchmarks.

Khan Academy faces less regulatory scrutiny than for-profit educational companies, but the organization operates within the education sector's regulatory framework. Its district partnerships require compliance with student data privacy regulations including FERPA and state-level student privacy laws. The organization has implemented data protection measures and does not sell or share user data with third parties for advertising purposes.

The Khanmigo AI tool has attracted scrutiny regarding the use of AI in education. Critics have raised concerns about AI tools providing inaccurate information, potentially undermining teacher authority, and creating equity issues if access is limited to schools that can afford district partnerships. Khan Academy has responded by emphasizing that Khanmigo is designed to supplement rather than replace teachers, and that free access for teachers is available through the Microsoft partnership.

The organization has faced criticism regarding the effectiveness of online education compared to in-person instruction. Some education researchers argue that self-paced online learning, while valuable, cannot fully replace the social and interactive elements of classroom learning. Khan Academy has acknowledged this limitation and positions its platform as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, formal education.