7 places where you can get a free online education
Whether you're looking to brush up on your calculus or test your brainpower against Ivy League students, you can do it for free online.
ONLINE EDUCATION: Although tuition has been increasing, a plethora of free online options has become available. (Photo: Ina Peters/iStockphoto) 
Khan Academy
The University of Reddit is an offshoot of the popular link-sharing website Reddit and was founded by people dedicated to the idea of setting information and education free. Classes are taken and taught by anyone and cover a variety of topics, including drawing, introduction to filmmaking, beginning computer programming with java, puppy training, how to speak Korean and Arabic, and how to play the (notoriously difficult) video game Dwarf Fortress. Since the University of Reddit is open to anyone who wants to teach a course, quality can be spotty, but it's easy to view each lesson to find the best material. The class formats make it easy to learn at your own pace.
Harvard University is perhaps the best-known top-tier school in the world and was established in 1636, making it the oldest university in the United States. It's also the richest school in the world with an endowment in the tens of billions of dollars. This wealth allows Harvard students with parents making less than $60,000 a year to pay no in tuition, and those making up to $80,000 a year pay just a few thousand dollars. That money has also allowed the university to make its online courses free to the world. Visitors to the Harvard Extension School can take eight online courses in their entirety.Comments
Thanks for these CV templates. They should be very useful for us.
coursera.org
Although I was familiar with a few of these, I appreciate finding new resources. I really like the fact that there are places to learn online. I know people who use Khan Academy for homeschooling their own children which makes it a very valuable, even indispensable resource. There are all kinds of reasons one might want to take advantage of free, online education and I think it's great that so much is being offered.
It was a Stanford professor who conceived and began offering the same course online that he taught at Stanford and within a few months had 160,000 students from around the world for his computer science course. Eventually, other universities like MIT began doing the same.
It is the same course material one can progress in at their own pace and upon completion, at least Stanford offers confirmation the individual has completed the course successfully.
He eventually quit his tenured.... More
What a stupid story. There are no degrees for free. These schools offer classes for free, not degrees, and any decent school has free classes.
It doesn't say you can get a degree silly, you must first read with understanding! It simply says free education. Have an AWESOME day!
Thank you for this information. I'm one of the older people that really wants to continue my learning and this seems to be a great,(and cheap) way to do so.
Free online courses is a great idea. What better way for older people that wanted to go back to school to get back into the swing of things before laying down the tuition. It's also a great way to get more knowlegde on a subject of interest that is outside of your profession. I was raised that every day you learn something new is a great day.
Do any of these count as accredited classes toward a degree?
nowhere does it say that you get credit for this free "education:. so, without credit, why would anyone waste their time taking these classes?
To learn, anonymous...to learn.
Improving yourself in any way is hardly "a waste of time". Besides, many of these courses can be used toward professional development goals that many employers require for employees.
If you think it's a waste of your time, then the value of taking a class at one of these universities is lost on you.
Duh, to learn. wow
For the heck of LEARNING something!!!!
you learn because you love knowledge. It's for you! YOUR mind!
TO learn something - Not everything in this world needs to be expressed as a commodity.
Unfortunately, Anonymous is not alone in his or her opinion. I teach at a university and I see plenty of students who don't care if they learn anything in class, just as long as they get the credit to graduate.
Some people enjoy learning. :l
For the pure pleasure of learning. :) Also, if you're already a student taking a course for credit at another college, these lectures can help you along.
There is indeed! I'm currently taking their CS101 and getting lots out of it. Highly recommended.
Thanks for the shout out! One correction. We offer only 8 online courses free in their entirety, and the ones mentioned above are not part of this initiative. Students must register and pay tuition for our other 600 + on-campus and online courses. Harvard Extension School is the continuing education arm of Harvard University and has been for more than 100 years. Our tuition is reasonable and anyone can sign up to take a course! Learn more at .... More
