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edX, a popular online learning platform and nonprofit founded by Harvard and MIT, aims to democratize learning by “removing the barriers of cost, location, and access.”
The site’s over 2,500 online courses are free to audit, and edX counts many of the world’s top universities — including Berkeley, MIT, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Georgia Tech, and the University of Chicago — among its participating institutions. Courses cover virtually every topic and longer programs range from edX’s MicroMasters to professional certificate programs to acquire the skills needed to change career fields.
Of the site’s course catalog, about 145 are from Harvard. Harvard’s edX courses cover everything from public health and history to computer programming and poetry.
You can audit these classes for free, or opt to pay $50-$200 for a course. Paid users get access to graded assignments; a certificate they can add to your CV, resume, and LinkedIn profile; and unlimited course access (even after the course ends). Both paid and free users get access to discussion forums, videos, readings, and ungraded practice problems.