How can I learn Coursera for free?

Online courses have become a facilitator of knowledge, generating new teaching-learning models, allowing a great improvement in the educational field. Recently they’re proliferating everywhere and are becoming essential for training at all levels, at any age.

In this brief guide, we’re going to answer the question “How can I learn Coursera for free? What does include, what study’s field offers, costs, and if it’s worth it.

How can I learn Coursera for free

If you’re considering taking an online course, you’ve probably read thousands of enthusiastic comments about Coursera and you’re highly motivated about the platform.

Coursera is an education company that offers online courses, which are known as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses).

Coursera offers great free courses for beginners covering topics related to data management, business, health, and computing, etc. If you want to satisfy your curiosity, look for a new career or learn new skills, Coursera has everything you need.

Each course on Coursera is taught by instructors from the world’s best universities and educational institutions. Coursera courses include video lectures, exercises, discussion forums, etc.

So how can you enjoy these courses? To be able to enjoy Coursera is very easy, you can start today! The first thing you must do is create an account.

Steps to create an account in Coursera:

• Step 1: Enter the website www.coursera.org from your web browser.
• Step 2: Click on “Register” (the button is located at the top right of the page).
• Step 3: Complete the Registration Form. Enter your data in the blank spaces, such as Full Name, Email, and Password. After entering these data, which you must memorize to log in later, click “Register”.
• Step 4: Choose the topics of your interest. You can select one or all of the topics for Coursera to offer a personalized learning experience for you. After checking each box for each topic, click “Continue.”

And that’s it,you’ve got an account in Coursera. Now you can access your account and start exploring the courses and specializations listed on the platform that are related to your interests. Although, you can also enjoy other topics in the catalog. but how do you access the free courses?

When you enroll in a course, you’ll see the different payment options for that course. You can also see an option to use Coursera Plus to subscribe to the Coursera catalog.

Many Coursera courses have the option to participate as a listener, allowing you to view most of the course materials for free.

Steps to access Coursera courses for free: 

• Step 1: Log in to your account.
• Step 2: Find a course that interests you.
• Step 3: Press the button “Sign up for free.”
• Step 4: Select the option “Audit course” or “Complete course, without certificate.”

Once done, you’ll have free access to all the course material as a listener, this means that:

• You can view most course materials for free, but you can’t submit certain assignments or receive grades for your work.
• You won’t be able to submit assignments for feedback or grades.
• You’ll not get a Course Certificate.

The option to participate as a listener does not appear? If you don’t see the option to participate as a listener, the course may not offer this option. Instead, you can start a Free Trial or apply for Financial Assistance.

Some courses may offer an option called “Full course, without the certificate.” This option allows you to view all course materials, submit required assessments, and obtain a final grade. However, you’ll not get a Course Certificate if you choose this option.

If there isn’t a free trial or full course option listed, you may be on the homepage of a Specialized Program.

The specializations aren’t free, but the Coursera Platform gives us the possibility to register and access the 7-day free trial option, which means that you can see some of the classes first, and if you like it, you’ll have to pay for the course or full specialization.

What’s Coursera?

Coursera is an online teaching platform, which was founded in 2012 by two professors from Stanford University, to provide free access to quality education from anywhere.

This model of education is an education trend that focuses more on learning than certification.

It‘s also considered as the future of Universities since more and more people prefer to take courses under the e-learning model.

Currently, this platform has more than two thousand courses on different topics, taught in 29 countries and by 147 institutions, so that anyone anywhere in the world can take and learn.

What does free access to Coursera courses include?

As we said, accessing Coursera courses is free (mostly).

You just have to select the option “Audit course” or “Complete course certificate” in the pop-up window when pressing the free registration button.

However, when entering Coursera as a listener, you won’t be able to submit assignments, receive grades, or feedback from teachers for assignments that are presented in the paid option.

As is logical, you won’t be able to obtain the course certificate either, whose rates vary in each case.

What can I study in Coursera?

Coursera offers specialized courses and programs. A course covers a topic. A specialized program is a group of courses on related topics.

The topics that Coursera offers are:

• Arts & Humanities.
• Business.
• Computing.
• Technology.
• Health.
• Mathematics & Logic.
• Physical science & Engineering.
• Language.
• Data science.
• Personal development.
• Social science. 

Can I access Coursera’s specialized programs for free?

No. This is precisely where the confusion occurs. The course page indicates that you can register for free, but it means that you don’t have to pay a registration fee, but you do have to pay for access to the classes of the courses that make up the academic itinerary of the program.

Besides, depending on the characteristics of the program, you can either pay for each course individually (with its corresponding certificate) or subscribe to access those that interest you and, later, cancel your subscription.

How much do Coursera courses cost?

Although there are free courses on Coursera, not all of its catalog offers registration as a listener.

There are two options for purchasing Coursera courses:

Individual courses

Individual Coursera courses can be accessed for free as long as you don’t need an official Coursera certificate upon completion. This option is interesting if you just want to learn the content.

If you want to win the official certificate, you must pay between $ 50.00 and $100.00. Having a certificate today is a great differential when looking for a job.

Specialization course

Specializations work on a monthly subscription, with prices ranging from $ 39.00 to $ 79.00 per month.

The interesting thing is that there is a good advantage of this option. For example, a specialization, which can contain several courses, can take approximately four months if you study six hours a week. However, if you have more time to commit to your studies, you can complete the courses quickly and end up paying less.

After completing the Coursera course, your certificate will be available and you can print it or add it to your LinkedIn profile. 

In the “Individual Course” mode, clicking on the option “Buy Course” will take you to the payment page. Payments can be made through Paypal or credit card. After making the payment, you will receive the certificate at the end of the course.

In Signature mode “Specializations” is different. The payment, unlike the first option “Individual Course,” occurs in the form of a signature. You pay monthly until the end of the course.

To find out if the course is “Specializations” simply click on the course and verify the information. In this mode, you can only participate as a “listener”, but you’ll need to access the individual course link that is reported on the course page “Specializations”.

By clicking “Sign up” you’ll have the option to take the 7-day free trial and then pay for the monthly subscription. 

Is Coursera worth it?

So is Coursera worth learning online?

There’s no doubt that more and more students are training in this new online modality.

Currently, Coursera is the world’s largest online learning platform for higher education. It has 190 of the best universities in the world and educators who have helped train more than 43 million students in a portfolio of more than 3,600 courses related to technology, social sciences, health, among others.

This has led not only the common citizen to seek an opportunity to study, but also companies and governments to bet on virtual education to have a competitive workforce.

Although Coursera isn’t the only online education platform, what is the plus of this to be so chosen?

Universities and education are of high quality. Coursera has the best universities around the world and can teach with a high pedagogical level and very advanced skills.

Its low price and interactive approach to teaching make it a great option for online learning and skill development. If you want our opinion; go ahead and try! What can you lose?

FAQSs: How can I learn Coursera for free?

In this brief guide, we answered the question “How can I learn Coursera for free’’ What does include, what study’s field offers, costs, and if it’s worth it.

So, what are you waiting to learn or improve your knowledge?

If you have any questions or comments please let us know.

References

A Guide on How to Sign up for Coursera Courses for Free — Class Central. (2020, March 9). Retrieved September 30, 2020, from The Report by Class Central website: https://www.classcentral.com/report/coursera-signup-for-free/

Coursera Help Center. (2020). Retrieved September 30, 2020, from Coursera.help website: https://learner.coursera.help/hc/en-us

‌