Free Online University Courses

1. Coursera

Description: Coursera partners with universities and organizations globally to offer a wide range of free courses. You can access lectures, assignments, and discussion forums. If you want a certificate, there may be a fee.

Top Universities: Stanford, Yale, Princeton, University of London

Subjects: Business, Computer Science, Humanities, Health, Data Science

Website: coursera.org

2. edX

Description: edX provides free courses from renowned institutions worldwide. Similar to Coursera, the content is free, but certificates may require payment.

Top Universities: MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, University of Tokyo

Subjects: Engineering, Computer Science, Philosophy, Law, Economics

Website: edx.org

3. OpenLearn (The Open University)

Description: The Open University’s OpenLearn platform offers free educational resources, including university-level courses, articles, and videos.

Top Universities: The Open University (UK)

Subjects: Arts, History, Science, Technology, Education

Website: open.edu/openlearn

4. Khan Academy

Description: Khan Academy offers free courses primarily focused on pre-university subjects like math, science, and history, but they also provide introductory college-level content.

Subjects: Math, Science, Economics, History, Computer Programming

Website: khanacademy.org

5. MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)

Description: MIT OCW provides free lecture notes, exams, and videos from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s vast range of courses.

Top University: MIT

Subjects: Engineering, Computer Science, Business, Physics, Biology

Website: ocw.mit.edu

6. Harvard Online Learning

Description: Harvard offers many of its courses online for free or with a paid certificate option.

Top University: Harvard University

Subjects: Computer Science, Health, Data Science, Business, Humanities

Website: online-learning.harvard.edu

7. Stanford Online

Description: Stanford provides free access to a number of courses across various subjects through its own platform.

Top University: Stanford University

Subjects: Education, Engineering, Humanities, Medicine, Law

Website: online.stanford.edu

8. FutureLearn

Description: FutureLearn offers free access to courses from universities and other institutions around the world, with an option to pay for certificates.

Top Universities: University of Edinburgh, University of Sydney, King’s College London

Subjects: Literature, History, IT, Business, Psychology

Website: futurelearn.com

9. Alison

Description: Alison provides free online courses in a variety of fields, including diploma-level courses.

Subjects: IT, Health, Business, Languages, Science

Website: alison.com

10. Udemy (Free Courses Section)

Description: While Udemy is primarily a paid course platform, it offers a number of free courses as well. These are often shorter and may lack the structure of university courses but cover a wide range of subjects.

Subjects: Development, Design, Marketing, Personal Development

Website: udemy.com

11. Saylor Academy

Description: Saylor Academy offers free courses at the college level, complete with exams and certificates, all at no cost. Courses are self-paced and open to anyone.

Subjects: Business, Computer Science, Economics, History, Philosophy

Website: saylor.org

12. Class Central

Description: Class Central is a search engine and aggregator for online courses, where you can find free courses from various providers like Coursera, edX, and FutureLearn. It includes user reviews and rankings.

Subjects: A wide variety from different platforms (Business, Science, IT, Humanities, etc.)

Website: classcentral.com

13. Stanford OpenEdx

Description: A platform dedicated to providing Stanford courses for free through the edX platform. Focuses on higher education and professional development.

Top University: Stanford University

Subjects: Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Medical, Education, Law

Website: online.stanford.edu

14. Oxford University Podcasts

Description: The University of Oxford offers free educational podcasts and lectures from different disciplines, providing access to a wealth of knowledge.

Top University: Oxford University

Subjects: Philosophy, Literature, Politics, History, Science

Website: podcasts.ox.ac.uk

15. Open Yale Courses

Description: Yale University provides free access to a selection of its introductory courses. These include recorded video lectures, syllabi, reading lists, and assignments.

Top University: Yale University

Subjects: Political Science, Economics, History, Literature, Psychology

Website: oyc.yale.edu

16. Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative (OLI)

Description: OLI offers free courses in multiple disciplines that are self-guided and interactive, intended for independent learners.

Top University: Carnegie Mellon University

Subjects: STEM, Psychology, Business, Language

Website: oli.cmu.edu

17. UCLA Extension

Description: UCLA Extension offers a few free courses and many low-cost options in various fields, allowing learners to access quality education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Top University: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Subjects: Arts, Business, Data Science, Writing, Law

Website: uclaextension.edu

18. UC Berkeley Webcasts

Description: UC Berkeley’s free webcasts provide access to audio and video recordings of some of the university's courses, lectures, and events.

Top University: University of California, Berkeley

Subjects: Astronomy, Computer Science, Psychology, Philosophy, Biology

Website: webcast.berkeley.edu

19. University of London Open Learning

Description: The University of London offers a variety of free courses that span multiple disciplines, many of which are part of global initiatives like Coursera.

Top University: University of London

Subjects: Law, Finance, Computer Science, Business

Website: london.ac.uk/courses

20. Columbia University Online Courses (via Coursera and edX)

Description: Columbia offers several free courses via Coursera and edX, covering a range of subjects from technical disciplines to humanities.

Top University: Columbia University

Subjects: Economics, Data Science, History, Medicine, Computer Science

Website: columbia.edu

21. University of the People

Description: UoPeople is a fully accredited, tuition-free university offering associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees in several fields. While the courses are free, small fees are charged for assessments.

Subjects: Business, Health, Education, Computer Science

Website: uopeople.edu

22. FutureLearn Academic Partners

Description: FutureLearn is partnered with many academic institutions and offers free access to a wide variety of courses, particularly in humanities, business, and social sciences.

Top Universities: University of Bath, Coventry University, University of Auckland

Subjects: Languages, History, Teaching, Medicine, Arts

Website: futurelearn.com

23. Udacity (Free Courses Section)

Description: Udacity, although known for its paid “nanodegrees,” offers some free tech-focused courses, primarily in programming, data science, and digital marketing.

Subjects: Artificial Intelligence, Programming, Data Analysis, Business

Website: udacity.com

24. Codecademy (Free Tier)

Description: Codecademy offers free courses in various coding languages and disciplines. Although it has a paid pro version, the free tier provides valuable learning opportunities.

Subjects: Web Development, Data Science, Programming Languages

Website: codecademy.com