Harvard University Online Courses

Studying with Harvard University online

Harvard needs no introduction. Easily one of the most prestigious universities in the world, it’s regularly ranked as one of the best in terms of teaching quality and future career prospects for its students.

Luckily, that quality and expertise is now open to the general public through their online learning program. Even better, many Harvard University courses are free.

Harvard’s background

Harvard is the oldest university in the USA, predating the American Revolution by nearly a hundred years.

The achievements of their alumni could fill up a book by themselves. Their most famous students include leaders of industry like Bill Gates, but also dozens of the world’s most famous politicians, like Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy.

Are the online courses at Harvard University free?

Around one hundred of the six hundred total courses online are free. For the courses hosted on edX, however, there’s also an option to pay for a Verified Certificate. 

The price of Verified Certificates vary depending on the course. They’re almost always worth it, however, because otherwise you have no way to prove that you completed a course.

This makes them particularly useful as a form of evidence of your skills and knowledge for resumes or CVs.

What free online courses are there?

While many of them are based on STEM subjects, like computing or physics, there are also many centered around the humanities. Here are some examples of the variety you can find:

• A history of Judaism through its holy books
• An analysis of the opioid crisis in America
• A breakdown of the composer Handel’s most famous works

What qualifications can you get?

Harvard’s online courses, as a rule, do not translate to accredited university degrees.

However, the majority of their courses hosted on edX have the option to pay for a Verified Certificate, which certifies that you completed the course successfully.

How much a Verified Certificate costs depends on the course, and can range from a few dozen dollars to hundreds in total. The primary reason to get one is to add it to your resume to demonstrate the breadth of your learning to potential employers.