Universities and colleges traditionally have made room in some of their classes for learners who are not enrolled in the schools.
With demand growing for distance learning, this tradition of universities opening their doors to the community is evolving, too. Now, you can live anywhere and have access to college-level courses, often free of charge.
At the nation’s elite Ivy League schools, you can sign up to audit certain courses for free, online. These are called “massive open online courses,” or MOOCs. U.S. News explains:
“Generally speaking, MOOCs are entirely online and open to anyone with an Internet connection. Unlike a typical online course, MOOCs are usually free, though not always, and draw hundreds or thousands of students.”
Some universities offer MOOCs through their websites. Others use third-party platforms. Many of these classes are free. But each school labels its free classes differently, so read course descriptions carefully to confirm.
Read on to learn about free online classes at Ivy League colleges and universities.
1. Brown University
In partnership with edX, Brown University has created BrownX, the hub for its free online courses.
The current BrownX catalog has a handful of courses, covering topics in engineering, ethics, literature and medicine.
2. Columbia University
Columbia University has offered MOOCs through Coursera since 2013. Today, the school’s Coursera subjects include construction project management, social policy, construction finance and economics of money and banking.
After its success with Coursera, Columbia partnered with edX, too. ColumbiaX offers a broad range of free classes on a wide variety of subjects, including titles such as:
- Indian & Tibetan River of Buddhism
- Essential Math for AI
- Crisis Resource Management
3. Cornell University
Cornell University offers MOOCs through CornellX, which uses the edX platform. Here you’ll find courses with such intriguing titles as:
- Sharks! Global Diversity, Biology and Conservation
- The Computing Technology Inside Your Smartphone
- Wiretaps to Big Data: Privacy and Surveillance in the Age of Interconnection
CornellX courses can be audited free of charge or, in some cases, have an option to earn a verified certificate for a small fee.
4. Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College offers free MOOCs on the popular edX platform.
The collaboration was born, edX says, to “enhance the Dartmouth liberal arts model of teaching and learning.” And so you’ll find a variety of free liberal arts classes, like Introduction to Italian Opera, alongside courses in computer science, like C Programming: Getting Started.
You can audit courses for no tuition charge or earn a verified certificate by paying a small fee.
5. Harvard University
EdX was founded by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard offers its free online courses through the platform.
Eager students anywhere can choose from among Harvard’s extensive collection of free online classes. For instance:
- Have you ever wondered how meteorologists can predict the weather days in advance? Enroll in Backyard Meteorology: The Science of Weather to find out.
- Become a more informed consumer by taking a course explaining how the FDA regulates pharmaceuticals.
- For a real brain tease, sign up for Fundamentals of Neuroscience and learn how sensory perception works.
6. Princeton University
Princeton University’s free online courses are listed at its PrincetonX site.
Current examples of free classes include:
- Making Government Work in Hard Places, which draws on experience from reform leaders around the world
- The Art of Structural Engineering: Bridges
- Constitutional Interpretation
7. University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania’s Online Learning Platform provides numerous online education options, but all of the university’s for-credit courses are tuition-based.
The school’s free, noncredit offerings are given through PennX’s free courses, aimed at a variety of professionals, including software programmers and website builders, business leaders and educators.
Currently listed courses include Introduction to Online and Blended Teaching and Hollywood: History, Industry, Art.
8. Yale University
At Yale University, many courses are free and open to the public through the university’s Open Yale Courses.
These classes include:
- Introduction to Ancient Greek History
- Fundamentals of Physics I and II
- Introduction to Psychology
- Freshman Organic Chemistry I and II
To find more classes, browse free online Yale courses at Coursera. You can dive into topics like Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing. There’s also the Age of Cathedrals course, where you’ll come to appreciate the role Gothic cathedrals played in the High Middle Ages.
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