In this latest collaboration, U-M joins some 40 other universities currently participating in iTunes U. One of the early institutions to sign on was Stanford, which reports 1.8 million downloads of its content since Spring 2005.

 The University's work with iTunes is not new. In 2005, first-year dental student Jared Van Ittersum wanted to know why all of the lectures he attended couldn't be available electronically so that he and his classmates could review the material. The School of Dentistry and iTunes collaborated on a project to record lectures of faculty and give access to students enrolled in a particular course, but not make the content available for the general public