Bachelors Without Degree

I recently surf the Internet more often to seek free or inexpensive courses that have the quality equal to what college lecturers deliver to undergraduates. By giving more effort to seek free education on the internet, I could find several resources shared by a qualified educator. Some of them could provide us with digital certificates when completing the course. Thus, without any further ado, here are what I found:

Various Subject Accounting/Finance IT/IS Specific

Coursera CFI Codecademy Oracle

edX BIWS freeCodeCamp Microsoft

Google Udacity IBM

Cisco

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Coursera

widely known Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) known for their credibility since the courses are offered by top universities worldwide. Coursera provides a wide range of subjects in their courses; you could find topics about psychology, economy, technology, etc. Here is how to access Coursera courses for free and have some chance to earn the certificate:

1) Search courses through keyword -> 'free' <-, it will show you thousands of courses you could enroll in for free. The cons are no certificate after completion, the course you want may not be available. The pros are you could do the assignments/quizzes.

Search courses by using the keyword 'free' -> choose the course -> click enroll for free -> it will show you the popup same as the picture above -> select the second option

2) If the course you want to enroll in is not available in the free section, then you could audit the course. The cons are no certificate after completion, and you cannot take on the assignments/quizzes.

Choose the course -> click enroll for free -> it will show you the popup same as the picture above -> choose audit only

3) If you are a university student and have a university email, you could link your university email and receive 1 (one) ticket per year to be exchanged for a free course for full access and eligible to earn its certificate. Also, you will have access to complete and earn certificates on the Coursera project network. The pros already stated. The cons are the ticket is not eligible for several courses (ex. IBM, Google, etc.)

New Policy for Coursera for Campus Basic (Coursera for Students):

As of March 30, 2022, an institution's maximum student license is 500; one free course per year is not available anymore; if you already using the one free course quota, you should finish it before May 30, 2022; if you have not to use the one free course quota, you could use it to enroll a course before March 29, 2022; since institution student license is limited, you should link your Coursera for Students account with your Coursera main account (personal email), so you will not lose your learning history; for the Guided Projects is still the same, unlimited access to all guided projects in Coursera for Students catalog.

On the homepage click 'For Student' -> you will be directed to the page same as the picture above -> type your university email -> click 'Link and Start'

After verifying your university email, you could access the Coursera for Students by clicking the small arrow button next to the Coursera logo -> click Coursera for Student -> you will be directed to the page same as the picture above -> all the courses on this page are eligible for your free ticket

4) Coursera sometimes gives you free access to their courses. For example, in November 2021, all the courses from Google are free for access for 6 months! Also, sometimes Coursera just gives you a discount or a free course with a certificate! Other than that, their referral program could give you one free course for one successful referral (note, turn off your adblocker for referral). Here is the information on referral --> Referral Information

Example of free course (choose one from the list) --> Free Course

Example of discount on courses --> Discounted Course

I hope the example site could still be accessed, or even could still give you a free course.

I haven't tried the referral method yet, if you have no Coursera account and are willing to be invited, Please contact me :D

5) Financial Aid. Coursera generously gives you financial aid if you cannot afford the course. If your application for financial assistance is approved, you have full access to the course you apply for and are able to earn a certificate after completion. It takes 14 days to process your application, so you can audit the course while waiting for approval. From what I read on the internet, the maximum pending application (waiting for approval) is 10, and there is no information regarding how many courses you could have through financial aid. Note: for specialization, you should apply financial aid for each course.

The application asks you to fill in some information regarding your annual income, how much you could pay in a month, and answer these questions:

• Why are you applying for financial aid? (minimum 150 words)

• How will taking this course help you achieve your career goals? (same)

• Would you consider using a low-interest loan to pay for your courses?

Choose your course -> beside enroll for free, there will be 'Financial aid available' -> click it, and it will show popup same as the picture above -> click 'Continue to the application'

edX

is a MOOCs website, almost identical to Coursera, even some courses are available on both websites. But, some courses are available in edX while it is not in Coursera, vice versa. Since it is quite identical to Coursera, thus the edX also has good credibility.

1) Audit the course. It is no different with Coursera. Courses in edX are available for free access in the audit mode. It gives you access to the material, video, and some quizzes except the grading assessment and certificate. If I'm not mistaken, the pros are the audit track available for all courses in edX. The cons, limited time in accessing the course in edX audit track mode; after the time is ended, all the course processes will be deleted.

Choose your course -> make sure it is available to be enrolled

After you click enroll, you will be directed to this page -> click continue

2) Financial Assistance. EdX could give you a 90% discount on the course you applied for financial assistance. It takes 4-5 (could be less) days for your request to be approved. Once approved, you will receive a coupon code that applies only for the course you apply for financial assistance. To apply for the assistance, you need to choose the course (you need to enroll as audit track first before applying for assistance), select your annual household income range, and answer these questions:

• Tell us about your current financial situation. Why do you need assistance?

• Tell us about your learning or professional goals. How will a Verified Certificate in this course help you achieve these goals?

• Tell us about your plans for this course. What steps will you take to help you complete the course work and receive a certificate?

All require a minimum of 1250 characters and a maximum of 2500 characters.

Here is the information page for Financial Assistance: Information

On the bottom page of the information page, there is a button heading to the application page of Financial Assistance

It is the course page after you click continue on the audit track. Also, it is an example of an alternative to access the Financial Assistance information page

Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)

is a website for online learning, specifically to earn titles provided by them. Many reviews I found say that it is worthy of completing their programs and earning the title. I've tried some small parts on one of their programs, and I'm satisfied with their material quality and their way explain the material. CFI uses a membership program instead of pay per program to enroll in the programs. It costs $497 for a 1-year subscription. So, if you could complete all 4 of their program in a year, you could earn 4 new titles in your name.

CFI provides Financial Aid for their programs. It will cover 50% of the program fees. Here is the detailed information of their financial aid: CFI Financial Aid.

CFI also provide free fundamental/introductory course for their programs. There are more than 20 free courses on their website. Some of those free courses give you Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit. After completing the free course and passing the test, you will receive a free certificate. Here is the link for the list of CFI free courses: Free CFI Courses.

Breaking Into Wall Street (BIWS)

is a website that provides a legit course about Financial Modeling. The credibility of BIWS is no doubt since many top institutional used it. BIWS provides free courses of Knowledge Base for Financial Modeling. More than 100 videos, including basic accounting, excel VBA, PowerPoint, valuation, interview, merger, etc. Unfortunately, there is no certificate given in completing the courses. But, still, it is FREE! Here is the link to the website: BIWS Free Courses.

Codecademy

provide you courses to learn various programming languages: Python, R, Ruby, PHP, etc. Codecademy is very beginner-friendly since the course starts from the basics and is accompanied by examples, detailed instructions, and helpful stuff. The great feature it has is Workspace, so you don't need to install any programs; the website already provides it.

Most introductory courses of any subject in Codecademy are free, but it is free only for the Learn part (a course consists of Learn, Quiz, Video, and Projects). Some intermediate-level courses are also free. To know which course has free access or not is by seeing whether there is a PRO tag on the course name. Here is the link to the website: Codecademy.

freeCodeCamp

is a website that helps people learn to code for FREE. freeCodeCamp provides more than 8000 tutorials and more than 10 free certifications. This site provides interactive learning (Workspace) and several types of material such as video, text, quizzes, etc. freeCodeCamp focus on developing your technical skills. Want to know more? Visit -> freeCodeCamp <-

Udacity

is an online learning website that is famous for its Nanodegree programs. Most of the courses provided by Udacity are related to Programming, IT, IS, and several Business topics. Udacity has hundreds of free courses which discuss the fundamentals/introduction topic for their Nanodegree programs. For me, the pros of Udacity courses is it teaches the subject so detail, therefore the cons is it takes a long time to finish it. Another cons is no certificate given for free courses. Here is the link to free courses available in Udacity: Free Courses.

Cisco

an IT and Networking company. They provide lecture courses for fundamentals of IT and Networking. Here are 2 learning websites from Cisco:

1. Cisco Netacad (Networking Academy): The courses with the 'Online self-paced' tag are free, and give you a badge upon completion. But, once you enroll in a course, you are required to finish it in a range of time (several months).

2. Cisco Skills for All: The course is Cybersecurity Career Path, if you took the path you could earn the certificate + badge, while if you take some of the courses, it will give you a badge only.

Google

1. Google for Education - Applied Digital Skills: General lessons of Digital Skills.

2. Google Developers: Some of it gives you a badge.

3. Google Digital Garage: The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course give you a certificate upon completion, while other courses (Career Development and Data) have no information regarding a badge or certificate.

4. Google Cloud Skills Boost: The free courses are only for the Looker course, and it gives you the badge upon completion.

International Business Machines (IBM)

1. Cognitive Class ai: All courses are free, and they provide you with a certificate or badge from IBM.

2. IBM Free Digital Learning: The introductory part of IBM certification, you might earn some badge.

Oracle

1. Oracle DEV GYM: Free BootCamp and open to everyone, and give you a certificate upon completion.

2. Oracle University Learning Subscription / My Learn: It is better to use the My Learn than University Learning since if I am not mistaken, My Learn is the newest version of University Learning. Also, I found out that My Learn is easier to use and to find free courses. There are 91 learning paths in My Learn, and you could earn an explorer badge upon completion.

Microsoft

it provides you with learning for Microsoft products (Azure, 365, etc.) and also by roles (AI, Analyst, Developer, etc.). Those courses are also used for Microsoft Certification exam preparation. Unfortunately, there are no certificates or badges provided, it only earns exp (I don't know what for) for your account. Here is the link: Microsoft Learn.