I think it's just a standard use of the prefix "micro-" to denote something with a value of one-millionth of the original thing.

They are basically graduate certificates, which are a normal university thing. You take 3-5 graduate courses, they give you a certificate saying that you did this, you give them money. Not a full blown masters, thus the micromasters branding, but it can open the door to changing a career or entering a specialization.

Its even less than that. This micro masters is sold as an entry point for a full-fledged masters program. The order of operations is something like:

1. Complete the micromasters courses at your speed.

2. Get a passing grade in a proctored exam.

3. Get accepted to a masters program with 1/2 of your credits taken care of.

4. Finish the masters degree on-campus.

Has anyone actually transferred from a Micro-Master to a real masters at Harvard/MIT?

Pretty crucial question!

I dunno, giving people who might not be able to afford a masters otherwise or aren’t able to move away for two years an opportunity to get half a masters degree from home seems like a pretty big deal to me.

i don't know if that's "less" or "more" than a graduate certificate. Certificates don't usually give you half the credits toward a masters program at the same university, do they?

I can see this being great "marketing" for the university too though -- once you got the "micromasters", the only way to get half your credits toward a degree is to go to the same university that gave you the micromasters (if you can get accepted, they took your money for the micromasters without promising that) -- they've kind of locked you in.

That fair. I suppose its about the same as a graduate certificate until you take the extra steps to get a degree.

Micromasters is a trademarked credential. Each of the different online learning platforms has their own, normally leaning on/leeching off established and recognised credentials as in this case the Masters. They could have made it an entire category, open to use by others and instead chose to TM it.

> i had never heard the phrase "micromasters". Wikipedia suggests it is unique to EdX.

Coursera has something similar called MasterTrack; there's not a generic cross-platform name for it, though if it is successful for multiple platforms and graduate institutions that will probably change over time.