Most free courses don't lead to college credit.
Here's how it works:
1. Watch free video lessons.
2. Take free quizzes.
3. Pass an exam to earn real college credit.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mit.edu)
MIT offers hundreds of free engineering courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Courses cover engineering topics including chemical engineering, biological engineering, electrical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering and nuclear science engineering.
Delft University of Technology (tudelft.nl)
Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands' largest engineering school, makes several engineering courses available free online. Most of the current courses focus on computer engineering, bioengineering and offshore engineering, but new courses are planned for future sessions. Although these are free courses, Delft faculty make sure the content is comprehensive so as to enhance the self-learning experience.
Utah State University (usu.edu)
Utah State University provides a selection of free engineering courses offered through the OpenCourseWare program. Most of these courses deal with civil engineering and environmental engineering, biological and irrigation engineering, electrical engineering and computer engineering. Course materials consist of multimedia elements such as images and text.
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley.edu)
UC Berkeley makes certain engineering courses available in an online format each semester. Offerings include labs and courses in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, bioengineering and general engineering. Most courses may be downloaded as mp3 files or viewed with RealPlayer.
Carnegie Mellon University (cmu.edu)
Carnegie Mellon University currently offers only one free engineering course through its Open Learning Initiative, but the course is an excellent one for anyone interested in mechanical or civil engineering. Modules are very comprehensive and are updated frequently.
Earn Real Credit From Free Courses
While the free courses above don't award credit directly, there are two widely recognized andaffordable options for students to gain real college credit.
Option #1: Pass a CLEP Exam
The College Board's 33 CLEP exams allow you to test out of your general education requirements. Credit is accepted at 2/3 of colleges and universities in the U.S.
Option #2: Prepare a Portfolio
LearningCounts.org helps you prepare a portfolio that proves your knowledge. A faculty expert then recommends how much credit should be awarded. The process is call 'prior learning assessment'.
