Would you like to add Yale University to your resume? A new era of learning has arrived. The way we educate ourselves has been changing rapidly. We went from physical books and learning in school banks to online education. Even the oldest and greatest Universities have joined this movement. For example Yale, Stanford, or the Imperial College of London. The pandemic has accelerated this process substantially. Coursera is the industry leader in online education. It has more than 60 million users. But what about the price? Are Coursera courses free? In this article you will learn:
- What is Coursera?
- Are Coursera courses free?
- What are the most popular courses?
What is Coursera?
Coursera is an online course provider with over 60 million users. It was founded in 2012 by two professors at Stanford University. Coursera focuses on teaching people high-demand skills to enrichen their business lives. Whether that is for career purposes or building your own business.
For who is Coursera?
There are multiple reasons why Coursera might be interesting to you. To name a few:
- You want to earn more money and are therefore in need of high-demand skills
- Enrichen your resume with prestigious Universities like Yale or Stanford
- You want to learn skills from industry leaders like IBM or Google
- The price of a traditional MBA is too high
- You want your education to be 100% online
Coursera is open-sourced
Open-sourced means that Coursera is a platform. Individuals, businesses, or universities who are approved can upload their courses, certificate programs, or university degrees on Coursera. This system makes it possible for you to learn from top instructors in subjects like marketing, python, or self-improvement. Rather than learning from a traditional teacher, you can now learn about Google analytics directly from Google.
The different types of education offered by Coursera
There are 3 different forms of education you can follow:
- Get a full degree online: Master of Business (iMBA), Master of Science, etc.
- Certificate programs: Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, Social Media Marketing, etc.
- Guided projects: Facebook marketing, how to build a WordPress website, etc.
The degrees are organized by well-known Universities like the University of Illinois, HEC Paris, or Macquarie University. You will get a complete education which will give you a solid basis to work from. But maybe even more importantly, your resume will be worth more because of the well-known names of the Universities. Their prestige will shine on you.
Certificate programs are mostly set up by established companies like SAS, IBM, or Google. Certificate programs are more practical than degrees. You will learn high-demand skills which you can immediately implement in your daily work. You will learn directly from industry leaders wherefore you will be on top of the game.
Guided projects will help you to get tasks done where you have been struggling with. We all have those tasks from which we know they are important, but they are also a pain in the butt. Either because they are difficult or when you need external motivation to complete the task. With guided projects, you will work on specific projects and an instructor will guide you to success.
Does it work?
Now the whole concept of learning new skills and earn money sounds great. But the question is: does it work? Coursera launched in 2019 a survey to find out what the effect of their online education is on the lives of their customers.
I know what you think… Yes, obviously Coursera would post a result like this. Fair enough, but let’s break it down. When you educate yourself, you will become better at the subject you’ve invested in. So wouldn’t it be logical that you experience a change in your career? After all, you are now worth more than you were before.
Tip: don’t wait for the boss to give you the career advancement you desire. Be proactive and take it into your own hands. Politely ask for a 30-minute talk in which you will present your new skills. You can talk all day about your skills but why not show them? Let your boss or manager experience why you are worth more than you were before.Â
Are Coursera courses free?
So now you know what Coursera is and what it can do for you. Now the big question is: are Coursera courses free?
Yes and no. Some of the courses are free and available to everyone. For other courses, certificates, and especially degrees you will have to pay. Now there is also a difference between whether you are an individual, business, or a student.
For the individual, there is a list of free courses from which you can choose. More on the list of free courses on the topic: free courses (below). Businesses have to pay a plan to make use of all the courses. There is a free trial period which you can use to get a taste. For some courses, you will need more time than the trial gives you. Â You are very lucky when you are a student. Students get free access to unlimited guided projects and get 1 free course of choice per year.
Free courses at Coursera
If you have your cash reserved for other purposes, don’t worry. There are plenty of free courses which will help you learn valuable skills. I will tell you step by step how to start following a free course:
- Register an account with Coursera. You can easily do this by using your Google account. It will take less than a minute.
- Go to the search bar in the top corner and search for: free courses
- Select the course you want to follow. Coursera will ask for some courses whether you want to pay. Just simply select the second option and you can start your course without paying.
Coursera pricing
Let’s talk about the paid courses. I have followed a few paid courses on psychology and it was very rewarding for me. You can feel the differentiation in quality between paid and unpaid. The paid courses felt a little bit more complete to me. Now there is also the psychological effect of paying for a course. You invest money in a course, therefore, you have more urgency to do something with it. Think about it. Would you start sooner with a free course than with a course you paid for?
Overall the pricing is very acceptable and you will pay less in comparison to traditional education or education by ‘gurus’ (insert sarcastic voice). Below you will find a table with the minimum prices per category.
Financial aid: for the paid courses there is a financial aid plan in place. A course can set you on your way to a new career path. However, don’t spend every last penny in an afford to rescue yourself. Read the financial aid plan carefully before applying it!
Coursera’s most popular courses
The popularity of Coursera is based on the high-demand skills you can learn via their platform. When you look at the most popular courses you will understand what I mean. Most courses have something to do with: AI, designing, self-improvement, or digital marketing.
At this moment, 10-19-2020, these 3 courses are the most popular:
Finding purpose and meaning in life: living for what matters most
The course is given by Vic Strecher of the University of Michigan. This course combines science, philosophy, and practice to start living your life purposefully. The essence of the course is about how a strong purpose in life is essential for a human being. If we don’t satisfy this need we will live an unhappy life.Â
Programming for everybody (getting started with Python)
Programming for everybody is also from the University of Michigan and it’s being taught by Charles Russell Severance. The purpose of this course is to teach everyone the basics of programming computers using Python. It will cover the basics and give you instructions on how to build your first program. There are no pre-requisites.
Machine learning course by Andrew Ng
Now, this is a course I am interested in myself. And the good news… It’s free!! Machine learning is given by one of the founders of Coursera: Andrew Ng. Machine learning is very upcoming. Just think about the self-driving cars, language recognition, and search engines of this world. In this course, you will learn the most effective techniques in machine learning, and gain practical experience by getting them to work for yourself.
[Resources] Why you will not succeed without books
The power of courses lays within the efficiency in which they try to put as much education in as little time as possible. You learn the most important aspects of a subject within a small time range. However, the main problem with courses and online education, in general, is the fact that it is not complete.
You should see courses and online programs as a basis from which you can build. I learned about marketing through my education at the university and the different online courses I followed. But it was only when I started to complete myself with books when I started to see real progress. Don’t confuse reading with reading boring books from school. There is no better feeling than enriching yourself with knowledge which will help you fulfill your dreams.
Learning tactic 101:
- Educate yourself through online courses in the subject you are interested in
- Start implementing your knowledge in your daily work or own business
- Buy books to go into depth about your subject. The courses were the basis, now it is time to expand your knowledge
- Re-adjust your implementation where needed. And start using your in-depth knowledge to strengthen your work
Note: why do we start implementing before reading books? Because implementing will show you the shortcomings of your work. You learn the most from failures and practicing is the only way to do this. It will give you insight into how it works in real life. It makes it easier to acknowledge and implement in-depth knowledge from books. Use this mind hack to your advantage
3 books everyone should read
These 3 books have been selected on the impact they can have on your life when you do the work! It covers: how to deal with fear, personal finance, and creating wealth, and how to rewire your mindset. I have read all of them and they changed my perspective on the world. They are game-changers!
This book has famous fans in both Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft) and Jack Dorsey (CEO Twitter & Square). 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is about how you face fears in this ever-changing time. “It’s to know which things to worry about.” We might be living in the 21st century but most of us, including me from time to time, have no clue how to deal with this strange age. This book gives you great insights and practical guidelines to deal with everyday problems and fears.
Napoleon Hill made this classic in 1937. It is still the greatest motivational book ever to be written. The times and markets change but the thirteen-step program of Napoleon will always work. It’s the backbone of your personal plan towards success and wealth. The formula Napoleon is a timeless and proven concept which will keep working for every individual willing to put in the work.
Our most powerful weapon in the world is our mindset. Daniel Kahneman has made an absolute masterpiece about thinking methodically and rapidly. He will show you when you need to make faster or slower decisions. He has developed the Fast System and Slow System to help you when you should think fast or slow. These systems contribute to your overall success as a human being. Whether it is in business or in your personal life. It’s essential to know when to think fast and when to think slow. A must-read without a doubt.
In need of internet marketing resources?
If you want more books to enrichen yourself as an entrepreneur or marketeer, check out our resource page below. On this page, you will find the best internet marketing tools for 2020. Furthermore, the page shows great book suggestions about self-improvement, marketing, and business.
Do you want to know how to brand yourself or your business?
We recently made an ultimate guide on online branding. It will cover all the basics like what is branding? But also how you implement branding yourself. We combined the psychological aspects of branding with the latest and most powerful internet marketing tools available. If you are interested, check the link: