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If you’d like to take college courses for personal enrichment or to strengthen your job skills, you may want to consider taking free college courses online. You’ll have access to the same lectures that paying, degree-seeking students get, but you won’t have to pay the high cost of tuition. You can take free college courses online in your own time without spending a single penny.
It’s also a good idea to take advantage of these free opportunities when you need a refresher course in a subject area in which you’ve already earned credit. Or, if you’re interested in pursuing a college degree but would like to gain some insight about a particular field of study, taking a free course online will help you determine if a career you’ve been thinking of pursuing is the right choice for you.
Advantages of Taking Free College Courses Online These courses are designed for independent learners. Although you cannot get official college credit for these courses, your employer may offer job credit or incentives for taking them. For instance, the knowledge you gain may help you to qualify for a promotion in the workplace or give you a competitive edge in your job search.
Colleges that Offer Free Online Courses
Carnegie Mellon University offers free materials, activities, and assessments for individuals who want to acquire knowledge without earning course credit. Here are some of the courses Carnegie Mellon University offers free of charge:
• Engineering Statics
• Statistics
• Causal and Statistical Reasoning
• Chemistry
• Modern Biology
• Economics
• French
• Logic and Proofs
• Physics
• Empirical Research Methods
• Computational Discrete Mathematics
• Visual Communication Design
As you can see, these courses are not for lightweights. They’re provided free of charge by highly-qualified instructors. Whether you want to learn something new or supplement a course you’re already taking, Carnegie Mellon University provides excellent learning resources for independent learners.
The University of California, Irvine offers courses in the following subject areas:
• Biological Sciences
• Business and Management
• Education
• Engineering
• Health Sciences
• Humanities
• Information & Computer Science
• Law
• Physical Sciences
• Social Ecology
• Social Sciences
Each of the subject areas listed above offer several course offerings. Go to the University of California, Irvine website for more details.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also known as MIT, offers a variety of free course to choose from.
MIT offers course materials from the following departments:
• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Anthropology
• Architecture
• Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation
• Biological Engineering
• Biology
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Comparative Media Studies
• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
• Economics
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Engineering Systems Division
• Experimental Study Group
• Foreign Languages and Literature
• Health Sciences and Technology
• History
• Linguistics and Philosophy
• Literature
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Media Arts and Sciences
• Music and Theater Arts
• Nuclear Science and Engineering
• Physics
• Political Science
• Science, Technology, and Society
• Sloan School of Management
• Special Programs
• Urban Studies and Planning
• Women’s and Gender Studies
• Writing and Humanistic Studies
For specific courses, visit the MIT website and click on the program for more details.
Whether you want to take a sneak peek into these courses or dive head first into them, these free online courses can give you the skills you need to make decisions about your career or strengthen your competitive edge in the workplace.
