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Description of the Business | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
Description of the Business |
Description of the Business | 1. Description of the Business 2U, Inc. (the "Company") was incorporated as 2Tor Inc. in the State of Delaware in April 2008 and changed its name to 2U, Inc. on October 11, 2012. Under long-term agreements, the Company provides an integrated solution comprised of cloud-based software-as-a-service ("SaaS"), fused with technology-enabled services (together, the "Platform"), that allows leading colleges and universities to deliver high quality online degree programs, extending the universities' reach and distinguishing their brands. The Company's SaaS technology consists of (i) a comprehensive learning environment ("Online Campus"), which acts as the hub for all student and faculty academic and social interaction, and (ii) operations applications, which provide the content management, admissions application processing, customer relationship management and other functionality necessary to effectively operate the Company's clients' programs. The Company also provides a suite of technology-enabled services that support the complete lifecycle of a higher education program, including attracting students, advising prospective students through the admissions application process, providing technical, success coaching and other support, facilitating accessibility to individuals with disabilities, and facilitating in-program field placements. On April 2, 2014, the Company closed the initial public offering of its common stock ("IPO") in which the Company issued and sold 8,626,377 shares of its common stock, including the partial exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option, at an issuance price of $13.00 per share. The Company received net proceeds of $100.3 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $7.8 million and other offering expenses of approximately $4.0 million. Upon the closing of the IPO, all shares of the then-outstanding redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converted into an aggregate of 23,501,208 shares of common stock, based on the shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock outstanding as of April 2, 2014. In addition, the outstanding Series D warrants automatically converted into warrants to purchase common stock, and the preferred stock warrant liability of $0.8 million as of April 2, 2014 was reclassified to additional paid-in capital. On September 30, 2015, the Company sold 3,625,000 shares of its common stock to the public, including 525,000 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters' over-allotment option, at an issuance price of $34.00 per share. The Company received net proceeds of $117.1 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $5.5 million and other offering expenses of approximately $0.6 million.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51801978&loc=d3e6003-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51801978&loc=SL51803626-108592 + Details
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