Coursera is one of the most popular online learning platforms it offers thousands of courses and different learning programs from Guided Projects, Professional Certificates to Degrees. It partners with world-class Universities and Companies to create its courses and learning programs. Coursera offers a variety of payment plans, from completely free to paying for an individual course or via a monthly or annual subscription. Its courses are flexible, affordable, job relevant and recognized by future employers. A free trial is available on Coursera Plus and you can request a refund within 2 weeks of payment on individual courses and Coursera Plus.
Who Is Coursera For?
You may be asking yourself, is Coursera right for me?
That really does depend on what you are looking for, but the fact Coursera offers such a wide range of affordable courses and different learning programs, that there is a high chance you may find it. Coursera partners with top Universities and Companies to create the following course types.
Courses
Coursera offers over 2,600+ courses for free with the option to upgrade by paying for the certificate. They are taught by top instructors from world-class Universities and Companies.
Guided Projects
Learn job-relevant skills in under 2 hours. A short interactive course that is taught by subject-matter experts and a choice of 3,200+ to pick from.
Specializations
A series of related courses ideal for someone wanting to master a career skill. You could decide to take only the one course related to that career skill or the series of courses which would cover all aspects of that skill. There are 790+ specializations to choose from.
Professional Certificate
Training programs which are preparing you for a job or a particular industry. Some professional certificates are recognized by an organization or school. There are 90+ Professional Certificates to choose from. All of which come with a 7-day free trial and can be completed in less than 6 months.
MasterTrack Certificate
Online modules of a Master’s degree program that can be used as credit to go towards a degree. There are 25+ Professional Certificates to choose from.
Degrees
Coursera has partnered with top Universities like Princeton and Yale to provide learners with affordable Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees. There are 35+ Professional Certificates to choose from.
How Much Are Coursera Courses Really?
Coursera offers a pretty diverse range of pricing due to the fact it has so many different learning programs. Its Courses and Guided Projects start as low as $9.99 and its online degrees go up to $50,000. As well as offering one-time payments, you have the option of monthly or annual subscription plans with Coursera Plus.
Free Courses
Coursera offers close to 2,600+ courses for free (see image below) on a wide selection of subjects from Social Science to Math and Logic. Its helpful filter system means you can get pretty specific about what you are looking for, choosing between Language, Level, Duration, Subject, Skills, Partner and Learning Product. Coursera does a great job of making its free courses easy to find, along with the filter means you can find your chosen course in no time. With all of Coursera’s free courses, you have the option to Purchase the Course, meaning you will earn a certificate when you successfully complete the course (see image above).
Guided Projects
Its Guided Projects start at $9.99 and are designed to quickly learn a job skill or industry tool. The purchase of the Guided Project includes all learning materials, free download of what you create, split screen video step by step and instant access to necessary packages. Coursera currently offers 650+ Guided Projects to choose from.
Specializations
Its Specializations focus on mastering a specific skill. Its starting price is $39 per month and can take between 1-3 months to complete. A day 7-day free trial is available for all Specializations and will give you full access.
Professional Certificates
Its Professional Certificates are for getting you job-ready and earn a career credential. Its starting price is $39 per month and can take between 1-6 months to complete. Like Specializations, a 7-day free trial is available and Financial aid is available.
MasterTrack Certificates
The MasterTrack Certificates start at $2,000 and can take between 4-7 months. Its focus is to earn a university-issued certificate and credit towards a degree.
Degrees
Coursera’s bachelor or master degrees start at $9,000 and take between 2-4 years to complete. Its degrees are from leading universities like Penn and University of London. You will need to apply and complete an application form.
Coursera Plus
Coursera Plus is a subscription plan, giving you unlimited access to 7,000+ courses, Projects, Specializations and Professional Certificates. There is no limit to courses you can enroll in or course certificates you can earn. The only thing that it doesn’t include is degrees and MasterTrack Certificate programs.
You can choose to pay for the Coursera Plus either Monthly or Annually:
- Coursera Plus Monthly – $59/ month (includes a 7-day free trial)
- Coursera Plus Annual – $399/ year (includes a 14-day money-back guarantee)
If you compare it to the cost of a single learning program ($49-$79) and have the intention of taking multiple courses, then Coursera Plus will definitely save you money. Plus the monthly and annual plan include a free trial and a money-back guarantee if you change your mind.
Coursera Business & Teams
Coursera offers two different plans for organizations: Coursera for business and Coursera for teams. The main difference is Coursera for business is for larger organizations and has a custom pricing. Whereas Coursera for Teams is for a smaller workforce organizations and costs $399 a user each year with a 14-day refund guarantee.
Each of these plans focus on integrating learning into the team’s workflow, so you can set your own deadlines and certifications awarded on each course completion. Coursera has worked with top companies like Loreal, Danone and P&G.
Financial Assistance
If you can’t afford to pay for a course or certificate, you can apply for Financial Aid or a Scholarship. You can find the link to apply next to the homepage of the course. You will need to fill out an application that includes information about your educational background, career goals and financial circumstances. Most courses offer Financial Aid or Scholarships.
How To Open A Coursera Account?
The registration process for Coursera is really straightforward. Just in case you are unsure I have broken down the registration process which looks like this:
- Open a browser and visit www.coursera.org
- Click Join for Free in the top-right corner
- Add your Full Name, Email and Create a Password (or use Google or Facebook)
- You will be sent a confirmation email
Once you are signed up, you can click on Explore and begin browsing the different courses on offer.
How To Request A Refund With Coursera?
After paying for either an individual course or a Coursera Plus subscription, you can request a refund within 2 weeks of your payment.
To request a refund follow these easy steps:
- Open your My Purchases page
- Find the course or Coursera Plus subscription that you want to refund
- Below the Refund deadline column, click Get Refund
If you have purchased another type of learning program, like a Specialization, sadly these aren’t refundable. The only other option is that if you have a subscription payment on another learning program, you can cancel it to end future payments.
Most Popular Coursera Courses
I thought it would be interesting to highlight the most popular courses based on each learning programs. The most popular courses are based on previous students ratings and opinions.
Courses
Machine Learning – A free course to learn the science of getting computers to act without being programmed. It has had more than 4,000,000 students enrolled on the course and a 4.9 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. The course instructor is Andrew Ng the Co-founder of Coursera. You have the option to upgrade and purchase the course, where you will earn the certificate for $49.
The Science of Well-Being – A free course designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. It has had more than 3,500,000 students enrolled on the course and a 4.9 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. The course instructor, Laurie Santos, is a Professor of Psychology at Yale University. You have the option to upgrade and purchase the course, where you will earn the certificate for $79.
Guided Projects
Getting Started with Power BI Desktop – A 2-hour long project-based course, where you will learn the basics of using Power BI Desktop software. It’s offered by Coursera project network for beginners, with over 30,000 already enrolled and a 4.7 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. It costs $9.99 to take this guided project.
Spreadsheets for Beginners using Google Sheets – A 2-hour long project-based course is an introduction to spreadsheets. It’s offered by Coursera project network for beginners, with close to 40,000 already enrolled and a 4.7 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. It costs $9.99 to take this guided project.
Specializations
Python for Everybody Specialization – A Specialization to learn to program and analyze data with Python. It has had more than 1,000,000 students enrolled in this specialization and a 4.8 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. The course instructor is Charles Russell Severance and partnered with University of Michigan. It will take approximately 8 months to complete, and costs $49 a month, with a 7-day free trial available.
Business English Communication Skills Specialization – A Specialization to build English skills for Business to improve your ability to speak, write and understand English in professional settings. It has had more than 90,000 students enrolled in this specialization and a 4.8 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. The course instructor is Richard Moore and partnered with University of Washington. It will take approximately 6 months to complete, and costs $49 a month, with a 7-day free trial available.
Professional Certificates
Facebook Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate – A Professional Certificate to launch your career in social media marketing to build job-ready skills and credentials. It has had more than 50,000 students enrolled in this professional certificate and a 4.9 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. The course instructor is Anke Audenaert and partnered with Facebook. It will take approximately 7 months to complete, and costs $49 a month, with a 7-day free trial available.
IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate – A Professional Certificate to unlock your potential in data analytics and build job-ready skills as a data analyst. It has had close to 30,000 students enrolled in this professional certificate and a 4.7 (out of 5) rating from student feedback. The course instructor is Rav Ahuja and partnered with IBM. It will take approximately 11 months to complete, and costs $39 a month, with a 7-day free trial available.
MasterTrack Certificates
Machine Learning for Analytics – In this 4-course program, you’ll develop skills in statistics and machine learning to advance your career as a data science professional. The certificate is partnered with The University of Chicago and will take you 5 months to complete. You can either do a 1 off payment for $3,900 or 4 payments for $1,000 monthly.
Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research – In this 6-course program, you’ll build skills you’ll need as a social worker to empower individuals, families and communities. The certificate is partnered with The University of Michigan and will take you 4-6 months to complete. You can either do a 1 off payment for $1,900 or 4 payments for $500 monthly.
Online Degrees
BSc Computer Science – Earn a Bachelors Degree with University of London to give you a strong foundation in Computer Science and specialized knowledge of topics such as Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Web Development. The Bachelors degree should take you 3-6 years and will cost you between £11,229 – £16,790 ($15,230 – $22,872). You will need to apply for the Bachelors Degree.
Master of Science in Management – Earn a Master’s Degree with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Management to build a strong foundation of fundamental business skills. The Master’s degree should take 1 year and will cost you $11,052. You will need to apply for the Master’s Degree.
If you want to further your academic knowledge by studying a degree or Masters, or develop your career opportunities by studying on a specialization program, then Coursera is definitely the right elearning platform for you. It has such a wide range of learning programs from Data Science to Health that are taught by top instructors and experts from prestigious Universities and Businesses.
On the other hand, if you are wanting to learn a new skill or hobby and not wanting to gain an accredited certification then platforms like Udemy and Skillshare are probably a better fit.
You will love Coursera for its:
- Accredited Certificates
- Top Instructors and Experts
- Networking Opportunities
- High-quality courses
- Variety of learning program
Please keep in mind that I am a 23 Development veteran who has senior-level positions for several large corporations including Apple, Kaiser and Bio-Rad. The course starts off well enough, but the minute you get into Python, abandon all hope. They barely touch the basics and then throw you into complex coding testing, with zero – and I mean ZERO – assistance for questions, or even worse – issues, and there are plenty of those as well. Having been around engineering culture for over two decades now, you can almost see the “Well *I* know this – so you should too” attitude of that part of the course. Which is wrong all over the place to boot.
No support if you get stuck. No help at all. They don’t even have instructors reviewing your work. It’s all peer grading. You’re better buying books on the subject. Save your money and use a library card.
While Coursera’s business model is helpful for making online education affordable, the company relies too heavily on peer help. There is no TA, moderator or QA to ensure user experiences. When you are graded wrong by your peers, all that you could do is to resubmit your coursework for another round of peer review. Grading issue happens quite frequently. It makes it feel like a punishment. What’s most ridiculous is that a course I’m taking requires an Adobe product. However the Adobe product key that Coursera offers doesn’t allow for full function of the Adobe product. So I’m not able to finish the coursework.