What are Free Online College Courses
Free online college courses are a great resource to help you broaden your pool of knowledge or to help you stay up to date within your industry. Free online courses can be taken from anywhere you can access the internet. Free courses do not typically offer educational credits or certificates of completion but do afford you access to the same learning done at colleges and universities around the globe. If you are hungry to learn, free, no-credit online college courses can offer you a wide range of skills and information.
Many of these courses are designed as a part of a degree program, so these courses are typically designed to take a semester, or 15-17 weeks. If the course is designed for an accelerated pace, it could take as few as 6-8 weeks. The time it takes you to complete your course ultimately depends on how many hours per week you can invest in the course.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Many prestigious schools and universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Oxford (as well as many others) offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Anyone with internet access and a device can receive high-quality education from instructors at some of the best universities and schools around the world. Your ability to advance your education or career, reach for a new career goal, or just check out a class for fun.
Where to Find Free Online Courses
When you enroll in these courses, you may have the option to sign up for “Full Course, No Certificate” or “Audit.” Some courses may give you the option to receive a certificate or credential upon successful completion of the course, but this requires you pay a fee, typically around a hundred dollars. Sites like FutureLearn give you a limited time when you can access free courses before requiring you to pay for an upgrade to the course or subscribe to unlimited monthly access. Udemy offers a collection of courses directed towards professionals to try for those new to online learning.
Free Online Courses to Check Out
The sampling of courses shared below are created for college-level students, with some courses having suggested prerequisites, that doesn’t mean you can’t enroll for a free course! Ultimately, you are investing your time into taking free online courses, so even though you may not end up with a degree after completing the course, you will end up with the knowledge, and that is something that cannot be taken away from you! This is by no means a complete list, just some suggested courses you might want to consider, for a comprehensive listing of classes, we recommend you visit the host platform.
Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking
Hosted by: edX
Institution: HarvardX
This course introduces you to the theory and practice of rhetoric and the art of persuasive writing and speech. Selected speeches from notable 20th century Americans will help guide you as you explore and analyze the rhetorical structure and style of how to persuade your audience to adopt a specific point of view.
Introduction to Electronics
Hosted by: Coursera
Institution: Georgia Tech
If you’re looking for insights into the basics of electrical engineering, look no further. This course teaches you about the basic components that make up electronics, such as diodes, transistors, and op-amps.
Game Design and Development with Unity 2020 Specialization
Hosted by: Coursera
Institution: Michigan State University
In this course, you will curate the skills needed to design and develop video games with the theoretical, technical, and practical knowledge from one of the ranked top programs in the US. Projects are created using the latest Unity 2020 game engine to create four games: a 2D Shooter, 2D Platformer, 1st-Person Shooter, and 3D Platformer.
FinTech: Shaping the Financial World
Hosted by: MIT Opencourseware
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
If you want to explore how new technologies are disrupting the financial services industry, then check out this course. You will look at technology trends such as AI, deep learning, blockchain technology, and open APIs to understand the key technologies, market structure, regulation, and how FinTech is changing the world we live in.
Computer Science 101
Hosted by: edX
Institution: Stanford Online
Have you ever wondered what computer science is all about? This introduction to computer science course was developed for an audience with zero prior experience. You will learn and demystify the few simple patterns that make computers work. You will have the opportunity to play and try out short bits of computer code, all within your browser. No prior experience with computer science is required.
Supply Chain Logistics
Hosted by: Coursera
Institution: Rutgers
This beginner-level course covers the major building blocks of logistics: transportation, warehousing, and inventory. You will learn to differentiate the advantages and drawbacks for the different modes of transportation, as well as how to set up a warehouse facility. You will ultimately be able to choose the options that allow you to develop logistics networks by minimizing costs and delivering the best customer service.
Introduction to Data Science in Python
Hosted by: Coursera
Institution: University of Michigan
Beginners will learn the basics of python, including the programming environment, and fundamental programming techniques (including lambdas, manipulating csv files, and numpy library). You will be able to describe common Python functionality and the features used for data science, and explain distributions, sampling, and t-tests. You will gain skills in Python programming, numpy, pandas, and data cleansing.
Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health
Hosted by: Coursera
Institution: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Epidemiology, the study of diseases, health conditions, or events among the population and the application of that study to assist in controlling health problems. Epidemiology is often seen as being the cornerstone of public health. You will take the concepts taught in the course and apply them to current health issues to help gain a greater appreciation of health programs and policies that we find in modern society both at the local and global level.