6 places to take free and affordable classes online - on everything from programming to photography
Skillshare
Coursera
Coursera has thousands of classes taught by top instructors from some of the world's best universities and educational institutions, including Stanford, Penn, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Columbia, and Yale. You can even earn degrees and certifications through the site.
Topics range from data science to personal development to linguistics to social sciences and more.
Each course is like an interactive textbook with pre-recorded videos, quizzes, and projects. You can connect with thousands of other students to debate ideas, discuss course material, or get help in mastering the concepts. You can earn certificates for your work, and share your achievements with friends, colleagues, and employers.
How to get started: Sign up with an email address. On average, individual courses range from $29-$99 each though there are free courses you can audit.
Popular classes to consider:
Udemy
Udemy has probably the largest selection of online courses, with over 100,000 video courses and new additions published every month. At sale prices of $11.99 per course, it's often one of the most affordable options as well. Currently, there are over 30 million students using the service, and courses available in over 50 languages.
Topics range from business to IT & software to music and more.
How to get started: Sign up with an email address to browse courses.
Popular classes to consider:
CreativeLive
What CreativeLive is: CreativeLive is the go-to site for creators with more than 1,500 classes taught by more than 650 industry-leading experts. Each class falls under one of five categories: photo and video, art and design, music and audio, craft and maker, or money and life. Ultimately, the classes are centered around making creativity a habit, be it for personal or professional use.
How to get started: Sign up with an email address. Classes are as low as $20, and you can buy and own them for forever — just in case you one day need a refresher.
Popular classes to consider:
EdX
EdX is similar to Coursera in that it hosts classes from some of the world's leading universities, nonprofits, and institutions. EdX was founded by Harvard University and MIT, and it's currently the only leading MOOC provider that is both non-profit and open source.
EdX has over 100 institutional partners, including Berkeley, MIT, and Harvard, and offers courses in everything from the arts to architecture, economics, law, and more. You can also enroll in MicroMasters, Masters programs, and get professional certificates.
How to get started: Sign up with an email address. Except for professional education courses, edX is free to enroll and audit. If you want a verified certificate, there is a fee ($50 - $300 typically).
Popular classes to consider:
- Teaching Critical Thinking through Art with the National Gallery of Art
- Thinking & Acting like an Entrepreneur by RWTH Aachen University
- Blockchain Technology by University of California, Berkeley
- Design Thinking Fundamentals by Rochester Institute of Technology
- Analytics Storytelling for Impact by Microsoft
MasterClass
What MasterClass is: MasterClass offers online classes created for students of any skill level, taught by world-renowned instructors in each field, like Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood, and Serena Williams, among others.
Each MasterClass was created by the instructor and includes extensive pre-recorded video content, a class workbook, interactive assignments, and community activities.
How to get started: Find a class you'd like to take. Students who purchase classes individually ($90 each, generally) will have unlimited access to every lesson in their course. Students who enroll in classes with an All-Access Pass ($180) will have unlimited access to every lesson in each class until they cancel.
Popular classes to consider:
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement