Free Online College Courses
We know what you must be thinking, "There's no such thing as free." But there is. There are hundreds of free courses that anyone can take without ever filling out an admissions application or without paying a dollar; and many of them are from reputable universities like MIT, Tufts, and Yale.
Science
- General Biology: An introductory course to basic biology.
- Fundamentals of Physics: Basics of physics taught by Professor Ramamurti Shankar.
- Climate Change: The basic science behind climate change, including global warming.
- The Sun: Information about the most important star in our universe.
- Electricity and Magnetism: A course on electromagnetism in every day objects, and more.
Math
- Calculus I: An introduction to integral and differential calculus.
- Linear Algebra: Everything from matrix theory to linear equations in algebra.
- Math Everywhere: Learning to recognize math in every day life, and how to deal with it.
- Differential Equations: Presentation of basic linear differential equations.
- Prices: An overview of the different ways to compare prices.
Computer Science
- Circuits and Electronics: Fundamentals of lumped circuit abstraction by Professor Agarwal.
- Microelectronic Devices: Devices, circuits, and systems as taught by Professor del Alamo from MIT.
- Computers and Systems: An overview of the computers we encounter in a daily basis.
- Information on the Web: Learning how to use the Internet as an educational resource, including disntinguishing reliable from unreliable sources.
- Network Security: The basics of different methods of network security.
Language Arts
- Modern Poetry: Introduction to modern poetry, including Ezra Pound, William Butler Yeates, and Robert Frost.
- Introduction to Writing Academic Prose: How to write academic papers to improve your grades.
- English Grammar in Context: Figure out the complexities of English and English grammar in it's native context.
- Intermediate Writing: Research Writing in Persuasive Prose: Helps to develop critical writing skills for persuasive papers.
- Studying the Arts and Humanities: Improve your studying and learning skills with this class covering subjects in the Arts & Humanities.
Additional Resources
- Stanford on iTunes: Download classes and listen to them on your iPod, or play them through iTunes.
- UC Berkeley Webcast: Get both current and archived courses from one of the best public schools in the country.
- MIT OpenCourseWare: A large selection of technology courses from one of the best schools for it.
- NYU: Links to some New York University math courses.
- John Hopkins: Get some of this college's most popular classes.
- Open University: A site from the UK providing access to materials and programs through the Open University.
- Free Online Courses: A collection of courses from Open Culture.
- Tufts University: OpenCourseWare by Tufts.
- Yale University: Free classes from Yale.
- Berklee School of Music: Amazing selection of classes and resources for aspiring musicians, complete with instructional videos.
- Notre Dame: More OCW by a famous university.
- Gresham College: Public lectures in London, as well as podcasts and video.
- Utah State University: Another OCW resource.
- Utah Valley State College: Online classes and educational resources, also free.
- Carnegie Mellon: Emphasis on open learning to create an intuitive instruction that greatly accerlates learning.
- University of Washington: Selection of courses from their educational outreach program.
- Delft University of Technology: Free engineering courses.
- Kutztown University of Pennsylvania: OCW for accounting; registration required, but the courses are free.
- University of Alaska: Good classes on the principles of accounting.
- U.S. Small Business Administration: Great resource of tools and classes from the government.
- University of Nottingham: Another member of the OCW group, with lots of useful classes.
Free online college courses are a great way to start your education without any pressure or putting down a lot of money! So take advantage of these options available to you.