Online learning platforms like Coursera are revolutionizing education by making quality courses easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Coursera alone has over 100 million learners, with thousands of free online courses covering topics from technology to business to personal development.
These free courses allow you to gain new skills, advance your career, and expand your knowledge from the comfort of your home. While the array of course options on Coursera can seem overwhelming, this article provides a curated list of the 26+ best free Coursera courses across diverse subjects.
Whether you’re looking to boost your resume, pursue a new hobby, or simply quench your intellectual curiosity, Coursera likely has a free course that matches your interests and needs. By outlining the key details of highly-rated courses, this article aims to help readers identify and enroll in Coursera courses that offer immense value at no cost.
Understanding Coursera and Online Learning
Coursera is a leading global online learning platform that partners with over 275 top universities and companies to offer flexible, affordable online courses and degrees. Whether you want to gain skills for a career change, strengthen your resume, or simply learn something new, Coursera likely has relevant online learning options to meet your needs.
Key benefits of Coursera and online learning include self-paced courses that fit your schedule, lower costs than in-person programs, transferable skill development, and access to subjects and expertise from around the world.
With over 100 million learners globally, Coursera makes quality education accessible by removing major barriers like geography and cost. By understanding how Coursera works and the advantages of online learning, you can determine if it’s the right fit to help you achieve your goals.
26+ Best Free Coursera Courses 2024
Here is the list of 26+ best Coursera Courses for free
| Name of the Course | Students Helped |
| Introduction to Microsoft Excel – Coursera Project Network | 2,161 |
| First Step Korean – Yonsei University | 1.5 million |
| Introductory Human Physiology – Duke University | 473,000 |
| Financial Markets – Yale University | Over 300,000 |
| Build a free website with WordPress – Coursera Project Network | 8,414 |
| Business Analytics with Excel: Elementary to Advanced – Johns Hopkins University | Over 150,000 |
| Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success – Imperial College London | Over 300,000 |
| Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects – Deep Teaching Solutions | Over 3 million |
| Code Yourself! An Introduction to Programming – The University of Edinburgh, Universidad ORT Uruguay | Over 300,000 |
| Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology – University of Alberta | Over 300,000 |
| Bugs 101: Insect-Human Interactions – University of Alberta | Over 40,000 |
| Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop – California Institute of the Arts | Over 100,000 |
| Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills – University of Michigan | Over 300,000 |
| English for Career Development – University of Pennsylvania | Over 150,000 |
| Algorithms, Part I – Princeton University | Over 1 million |
| Seeing Through Photographs – The Museum of Modern Art | 397,000 |
| Management of Fashion and Luxury Companies – Università Bocconi | 258,000 |
| Learn to Program: The Fundamentals – University of Toronto | 426,000 |
| Internet History, Technology, and Security – University of Michigan | 139,492 |
| Introduction to Philosophy – The University of Edinburgh | 644,271 |
| Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies – Princeton University | 756,175 |
| Algorithms, Part II – Princeton University | Over 300,000 |
| Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose – Princeton University | N/A |
| Computer Architecture – Princeton University | Over 200,000 |
| Writing in English at University – Lund University | Over 300,000 |
| COVID-19 Contact Tracing – Johns Hopkins University | Over 1 million |
| The Science of Well-Being | Over 4 million |
1. Introduction to Microsoft Excel – Coursera Project Network
TL;DR
- Duration: 1-2 hours
- Benefits: Learn Excel basics rapidly. Useful for business, analysis, inventory, budgeting, etc.
- Unique Features: Side-by-side video guidance from experts. No installation required.
This 2 hour project teaches how to create Excel spreadsheets, use key shortcuts, functions, and basic formulas. You’ll learn what a spreadsheet is, why Excel is useful, and basics like entering data, changing layouts, terminology and keyboard shortcuts. Ideal for business professionals across all fields.
2. First Step Korean – Yonsei University
TLDR
- Duration: 4 hours
- Benefits: Read/write Korean, communicate basics, understand culture.
- Unique Features: Fun, easy to follow. From top Korean university.
This beginner Korean course has 5 lessons with 4 units covering reading, writing, listening and speaking. The dialogues, pronunciation drills, vocabulary, grammar, quizzes and roleplays will teach greetings, introducing yourself, discussing family and daily life.
3. Introductory Human Physiology – Duke University
TLDR
- Duration: 11 weeks
- Benefits: In-depth physiology knowledge. Useful for MCAT or healthcare fields.
- Unique Features: VR experience takes you inside human body.
This comprehensive 11 week course covers key concepts in human physiology and homeostasis through the body’s organ systems. Excellent for healthcare professionals or MCAT exam preparation.
4. Financial Markets – Yale University
TLDR
- Duration: 17 weeks
- Benefits: Gain broad knowledge of financial markets. Useful for business and investing.
- Unique Features: Updated content including student salons and interviews.
This comprehensive course from Yale University provides an overview of financial markets, including ideas, methods, and institutions that allow society to manage risk and encourage enterprise. There is an emphasis on financially-savvy leadership skills.
The course describes current practices and analyzes future prospects. It also introduces risk management and behavioral finance to understand how securities, insurance, and banking operate in the real world.
5. Build a free website with WordPress – Coursera Project Network
TLDR
- Duration: 1-2 hours
- Benefits: Quickly build a free website. Useful for personal sites or small businesses.
- Unique Features: Step-by-step video guidance. No coding required.
This 1-2 hour project will teach you how to make a basic website with WordPress. You’ll learn to choose a domain name, select a theme, add pages and posts, insert images and videos, and use plugins. No coding required.
6. Business Analytics with Excel: Elementary to Advanced – Johns Hopkins University
TLDR
- Duration: 5 courses, 30 weeks total
- Benefits: Master business analytics skills using Excel.
- Unique Features: Final capstone project putting knowledge into practice.
This comprehensive specialization has 5 courses teaching data analysis tools and techniques using Excel spreadsheets. Covers statistics, hypothesis testing, forecasting, regression models, dashboard creation, data visualization, and more.
7. Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success – Imperial College London
TLDR
- Duration: 8 weeks
- Benefits: Boost creativity. Generate innovative ideas and solutions.
- Unique Features: Practical focus with fun activities to apply techniques
This practical course equips you with creative thinking techniques to tackle problems and seize opportunities. You’ll understand the importance of creativity and learn tools like brainstorming, Six Thinking Hats, morphological analysis, TRIZ and SCAMPER.
8. Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects – Deep Teaching Solutions
TLDR
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Benefits: Learn more effectively. Useful for any tough topic.
- Unique Features: Based on proven learning techniques from neuroscience.
This popular course reveals how experts in diverse fields learn. You’ll discover how your brain encapsulates information, why procrastination happens, and best practices for mastering difficult material based on cognitive research.
9. Code Yourself! An Introduction to Programming – The University of Edinburgh, Universidad ORT Uruguay
TLDR
- Duration: 5 weeks
- Benefits: Learn coding basics. Useful for software development.
- Unique Features: Uses Scratch visual language. Develops computational thinking.
This introductory course teaches how to code in Scratch while explaining key computing concepts. No experience required. You’ll gain programming knowledge and start thinking like a software engineer.
10. Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology – University of Alberta
TLDR
- Duration: 12 weeks
- Benefits: Dinosaur knowledge. Engaging content.
- Unique Features: Taught on location at fossil sites.
This comprehensive 12-week course teaches about the anatomy, behavior, evolution, and extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. Delivered from museums and fossil sites, it covers major dinosaur groups through video lectures, readings, interactive activities, and quizzes. Useful for anyone fascinated by dinosaurs.
11. Bugs 101: Insect-Human Interactions – University of Alberta
TLDR
- Duration: 12 weeks
- Benefits: Understand importance of insects.
- Unique Features: Features many Canadian insect experts.
This 12-week course explores insects and their relationships with humans. Learn about insect biodiversity, biology, beneficial roles like pollination, and harmful impacts like disease transmission. The course uses videos, readings, and quizzes to overview insects in agricultural, forest, and urban ecosystems.
12. Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop – California Institute of the Arts
TLDR
- Duration: 6 weeks
- Benefits: Improve poetry writing skills.
- Unique Features: Peer workshop format.
This 6 week workshop helps poets improve their craft using poetic devices and by workshopping draft poems. You’ll study modern poets, analyze techniques, respond to prompts and refine your own poems with feedback. Useful for aspiring poets.
13. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills – University of Michigan
TLDR
- Duration: 7 weeks
- Benefits: Practical negotiation skills useful for work and personal life.
- Unique Features: Negotiation simulation to apply learned tactics.
This popular 7 week course teaches the four steps to successful negotiation: preparing your strategy, using key tactics, creating a contract, and evaluating outcomes. Through videos, readings, and a final negotiation simulation, you’ll gain essential skills for negotiations in business and daily life.
14. English for Career Development – University of Pennsylvania
TLDR
- Duration: 5 weeks
- Benefits: Better English skills for global job search and career.
- Unique Features: Compare U.S. and home country job search process.
This 5 week course helps non-native English speakers advance their careers globally. By comparing the U.S. and your home country’s job search process, you’ll improve business English skills for resumes, cover letters, networking, interviewing and more.
15. Algorithms, Part I – Princeton University
TLDR
- Duration: 6 weeks
- Benefits: Essential algorithms knowledge for programmers.
- Unique Features: Scientific analysis of Java implementations.
This intermediate algorithms course covers essential data structures, sorting, and searching algorithms. Analyze performance of Java implementations through computational experiments. Part 1 of a 2 part series.
16. Seeing Through Photographs – The Museum of Modern Art
TLDR
- Duration: 17 weeks
- Benefits: Appreciate photography as an art form. Gain visual literacy.
- Unique Features: Curated selection of iconic photographs.
This popular course from MoMA helps develop skills to better examine and understand photographs. Over 17 weeks, gain insight into artists’ processes and how context influences images through 100 photos from MoMA’s collection. Useful for photography enthusiasts or anyone seeking visual literacy.
17. Management of Fashion and Luxury Companies – Università Bocconi
TLDR
- Duration: 6 weeks
- Benefits: Insight into a complex, fast-paced industry.
- Unique Features: Taught by industry experts.
18. Learn to Program: The Fundamentals – University of Toronto
This 6 week course teaches the dynamics of fashion and luxury markets using a case study approach. Understand these complex industries across topics like business models, brand management, merchandising, channel management and emerging markets. Useful for future managers.
TLDR
- Duration: 8 weeks
- Benefits: Learn Python programming as a beginner.
- Unique Features: Build 3 projects applying concepts.
This beginner course introduces building blocks of coding like variables, loops, and functions to write programs in Python. No experience needed. Develop computational thinking and programming basics for software development.
19. Internet History, Technology, and Security – University of Michigan
TLDR
- Duration: 10 weeks
- Benefits: Understand the internet’s history and function. Gain technological literacy.
- Unique Features: Taught by an internet pioneer.
This comprehensive course opens up the internet to show how it was created, who created it, and how it works. Over 10 weeks, learn about key innovations and meet pioneers who developed foundational internet and web technologies. Gain insight into important issues facing society through the lens of network technology. Useful for becoming an informed digital citizen.
20. Introduction to Philosophy – The University of Edinburgh
TLDR
- Duration: 5 weeks
- Benefits: Introduction to key issues and questions in philosophy.
- Unique Features: Each module taught by a different expert.
This popular introductory course surveys major topics in contemporary philosophy across 14 modules. Learn about characteristic aims and methods of philosophy versus other subjects. Modules cover epistemology, philosophy of science/mind, political/moral philosophy and metaphysics. Valuable for gaining an overview of the field.
21. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies – Princeton University
TLDR
- Duration: 11 weeks
- Benefits: Broad understanding of cryptocurrency for engineers.
- Unique Features: Software coding assignments.
This comprehensive course on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies covers technical foundations, mechanics, security, anonymity, regulations and the future landscape of decentralized digital currency. Engineering-focused content ideal for software developers looking to build secure applications with cryptocurrency integration.
22. Algorithms, Part II – Princeton University
TLDR
- Duration: 6 weeks
- Benefits: Essential algorithms knowledge for programmers.
- Unique Features: Scientific analysis of Java algorithm implementations.
This advanced algorithms course covers graph processing algorithms and string processing algorithms. Analyze performance of Java implementations through computational experiments. Part 2 of a 2 part series teaching essential data structures and algorithms.
23. Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose – Princeton University
TLDR
- Duration: 10 weeks
- Benefits: Learn Java programming as a beginner.
- Unique Features: Interdisciplinary approach from science profs.
This beginner course introduces programming concepts like variables, loops, functions and object-oriented programming in Java. Develop computational thinking and programming basics for software development.
24. Computer Architecture – Princeton University
TLDR
- Duration: 8 weeks
- Benefits: Hardware architecture knowledge. Useful for systems roles.
- Unique Features: Final project designing a RISC processor.
Master the intricacies of modern microprocessor design in this comprehensive course. Dive deep into pipelining, parallelism, memory systems, multiprocessors, and other advanced concepts. Gain the essential foundation needed to excel in systems software roles and push the boundaries of computing technology.
25 Writing in English at University – Lund University
TLDR
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Benefits: Better academic writing skills. Useful for university and career.
- Unique Features: Flexible self-paced format.
This practical 4 week course helps non-native English speakers develop academic writing skills. You’ll learn conventions like process writing and using credible sources. Useful for improving research and writing at university or work.
26. COVID-19 Contact Tracing – Johns Hopkins University
TLDR
- Duration: 6 hours
- Benefits: Learn to effectively trace virus contacts.
- Unique Features: Created by pioneering university.
This vital 6 hour course teaches COVID-19 basics and contact tracing skills like interviewing cases, identifying contacts and overcoming barriers. Help stop the spread. Useful for public health roles.
27. The Science of Well-Being – Yale University
TLDR
- Duration: 10 weeks
- Benefits: Learn scientifically proven ways to increase happiness
- Unique Features: Created by Yale’s most popular professor ever
This wildly popular 10-week course from Yale teaches you how to lead a happier life. Over 4 million learners have enrolled to date. Professor Laurie Santos busts common myths about happiness and reveals scientifically-backed tips to overcome our own biases. You’ll put new habits into practice through weekly challenges designed to boost wellbeing. If you want to feel more fulfilled, this course is for you.
How Coursera ensures quality in its courses?
Here are some of the ways Coursera ensures the quality of its courses.
- Rigorous assessments and grading: Coursera uses assessments like quizzes, peer-reviewed assignments, and final projects to test students’ mastery of course material. Grading criteria varies but most courses require 70-80% to earn a certificate.
- Input from beta testers: Some Coursera courses utilize beta testers who take the course early and provide feedback to the instructor on content, assessments, etc. This helps keep courses up-to-date.
- Support from Coursera experts: University partners developing courses get guidance from Coursera’s online teaching and learning experts to uphold academic standards.
- Industry-recognized credentials: Many Coursera courses prepare learners for certifications from technology leaders like Google, IBM, and Meta that are recognized by employers.
- Ongoing course improvements: Coursera analyzes data like enrollment and completion rates to identify course issues. Partners use these insights to iterate and enhance course quality over time.
FAQs
How much do Coursera courses cost?
While some Coursera courses charge a fee, there are over 3,000 completely free courses across topics like technology, business, and personal development.
What are some of the best free Coursera courses?
This article outlines 26+ best Coursera courses that are completely free. Some top picks span beginner coding, financial markets, dinosaur paleontology, photography, and even a course from Yale on the science of happiness and well-being.
Do I need any prerequisites or experience for these free courses?
The courses in this list are intended for beginners and have no formal prerequisites. While some background knowledge in a field may be helpful context, most are designed assuming no prior experience.
How long do these free Coursera courses take to complete?
Duration varies, but most of these free courses range from 1-2 hours for short projects to 5-10 weeks for more comprehensive classes. The time commitment and format are included for each course recommendation.
Why take free Coursera courses?
Free Coursera courses allow you to explore new interests, gain valuable skills for school or work, supplement your knowledge in a field, and even boost your resume at no cost. They make quality learning accessible.
Conclusion
Choosing from Coursera’s vast catalog of over 5,000 courses can feel overwhelming. This roundup of 26+ of the best Coursera courses covers only a tiny sample of what this platform offers but highlights many top free learning opportunities across diverse topics.
Whether you want to gain hard skills like financial analysis, software development, or foreign languages, or soft skills like creativity and happiness, Coursera likely has a course for you. Most courses come from top universities and companies, ensuring quality content. Features like flexible pacing, downloadable content, and certificates of completion add functionality.
With over 100 million learners worldwide, Coursera aims to make education accessible. Its free courses remove financial barriers, allowing anyone to advance their knowledge and careers. Lifelong learners can continue expanding their horizons, while those needing specific training can build in-demand job skills.
So why not browse Coursera today and unlock your potential? With new free course additions weekly, you’re sure to find subjects matching your interests and goals.
