This is a short list of the main benefits of using Wikipedia assignments in classes, according to university directors, professors, and students who have experience doing so in the past:
Institutions
Teachers
Students
Greater student motivation leads to better student outcomes
Pioneering in using Wikipedia as an innovative teaching tool.
Getting media coverage for the school, department, instructor / positive public attention for affiliation with the popular, relevant, altruistic, and highly-respected Wikipedia brand
Participating in an innovative teaching model increases the institution's attractiveness for students
Students gain research, analysis, and writing skills which employers find highly attractive
Your students might write the articles that students from other universities read and use
Enjoying students who become enthusiastic about writing for global audiences
Affiliated with Wikipedia, the world's 5th most often accessed web resource, and Wikipedia's high profile partners
Opportunity for recognition as a “Wikipedia Teaching Fellow”
Opportunity to correct how students use Wikipedia inappropriately
Working vicariously through students to improve public knowledge about your field of study; becoming a public intellectual oneself and educating students to become a community of public intellectuals
Experimenting with an innovative teaching model, including the opportunity to publish research papers on their experiences on student learning
Improving student's media literacy by placing Wikipedia in the context of other media
Teaching students skills that they might need in their future professional life (i.e., the use of wikis, online communication skills)
Opportunity to write for large, global audiences instead of only the professor or instructor
Receiving feedback from a "real" (and global) audience
Improving research, critical thinking, and writing skills
Improving media literacy skills
Improving critical assessment skills by reasoning critically about the sources of information: becoming more capable at distinguishing good sources from bad sources, at critically evaluating information, etc.
Acquiring first-hand familiarity with web markup; improving tech fluency in general, including how to communicate effectively in online communities
Creating and “publishing” something you can be proud of - something you can show your friends, family, potential employers, etc.
Engaging in a community of practice – interacting with global scholars interested in similar topics