The market for online course is growing steadily, and the quality varies wildly. As such, it's tricky to commit to any given service, or even single course, not knowing who exactly is the "expert" behind the scenes, let alone whether the courses is sufficient to train you in the pertinent subject or skill. This is especially true when it comes to complicated professional skills, or earning certificates, credentials, or training required fields that require knowledge and competence. It is in this regard that Coursera stands out from the pack, and easily earns our top spot for online courses.
When it comes to earning degrees or taking higher learning courses a la carte, you can't do better than Coursera. They work with over 200 accredited Universities from across the world, many of which are some of the best institutions in Academia. Yale, Princeton, or Stanford ring a bell? Knowing that the courses are conducted by top tier institutions manifests a sense of validation, expertise, and peace of mind that you simply won't find with other networks.
There's an excellent variety programs at Coursera, and a massive selection. At the time of writing this, over 4,000 course available, divided into numerous categories like Computer Science, Personal Development, Math and Science, Social Sciences, Health, Humanities, and more. You can take individual courses, pursue a specialization (of which they offer hundreds,) embark on a professional certificate or MasterTrack certificate, or earn a full degree; even a Master's Degree. And this is no flimsy "online" degree. These are legitimate certified degrees, and the credits are fully transferable to accredited institutions. It goes without saying that, depending on the program you choose to pursue, the cost, difficulty, and time to completion will vary wildly. For instance, the spectrum of pricing stretches from $0, to $50, all the way into the 5 figures.
The courses also vary wildly in structure. Most of the classes are extremely interactive. Video lecture and training are commonplace. And like any brick and mortar course, they classes assign readings, assignments, quizzes, and exams. Believe it or not, there are also thousand of free courses available on Coursera. That's not a typo. Not so much as a credit card is required to access these courses in full. This alone is extremely invaluable, and makes Coursera an excellent resource for those on a budget, or who simply love learning for learning's sake.
The breadth, depth, and variety of options on Coursera, as well as the ability to work with hundreds of accredited, even Ivy League schools, make it a standout network in the online courses market. As far as we're concerned, none of its competitor come close to offering equivalent variety or quality, to say nothing of the reassurance of putting time, effort, and money into courses validated by cream of the crop institutions in higher educated. There's simply no other network for online courses that we can recommend over Coursera. Check them out. Given that thousands of courses are 100% free, you really have nothing to lose.
