Is Coursera as good as all the hype it gets? Well, let’s get started. It is one of the most prestigious online educational platforms out there offering courses on Data Science, Business, Health and much more. Coursera offers different learning programs from courses to specializations and degrees.
To ensure this Coursera review is both informative and helpful, I’ve dedicated time thoroughly researching Coursera’s courses and learning programs, instructors, pricing model, refund policy, and analyzed feedback from Coursera users. Additionally, my Master’s degree in Teaching and Education, coupled with years of experience in using online learning platforms, has enabled me to create this comprehensive review.
On the other hand, it doesn’t mean that the learning programs that Coursera is offering are right for you. So let’s delve in a little deeper and find out more in this in-depth Coursera review.
Coursera Summary
Coursera is one of the leading online learning platforms on the market, providing a vast variety of courses and learning programs. It ranges from individual courses, Guided Projects, Professional Certificates, MasterTrack and Degree programs. Coursera collaborates with world-class Universities and Companies to develop its course offerings and learning programs.
Coursera offers various payment plans, from completely free courses, to paid programs, and even monthly or annual subscriptions. Its courses stand out for their flexibility, affordability and career focus. Coursera Plus includes a free trial to get you started, and refunds can be requested within two weeks of payment for either individual courses or Coursera Plus.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Partners
Coursera has partnered with 300+ top Universities and Organizations like Imperial College, Stanford University, Google and IBM to create its learning programs.
Affordable
Its course prices are affordable and is degrees programs are significantly lower than on campus-based degrees.
Free Courses
Coursera offers more than 6,000+ courses for free on a wide variety of subjects for learners of all skill levels. Be mindful that you won’t receive a certificate with a free course, but you do have the option to upgrade at anytime.
Learn Offline
Coursera’s app allows you to download course material for when you are offline. Allowing you to learn and study on the go, perfect for a plane trip.
Quality Of Courses
Courses taught by top experts in their field from world-class Universities and Organizations. Plus its Beta Testers are a way to keep the course content to the highest standard and up to date.
Flexibility
The majority of Coursera’s courses are learning at your own pace, on a schedule that suits you.
Cons
Confusing Pricing
There are many different pricing subscriptions which can make the exact price of the course seem confusing and unclear for many users.
Prior Knowledge
Some courses may require prior knowledge due to the nature of the course material. It’s not always beginner-friendly.
Heavy Workload
Some of Coursera’s MasterTrack and Degree programs can be quite challenging. Before committing to a program, ensure that you are prepared for the time and effort you must commit to it.
Limited Feedback
Depending on which course or learning program you choose, you may find that teachers aren’t available to give you personalized feedback.
Who Is Coursera For?
You may be asking yourself, is Courseraright 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 7,000+ courses for free, with the option to upgrade if you decide you want to receive a certificate and access to additional course features. All its courses are built in partnership with world-class Universities and Companies and taught by top instructors.
Guided Projects
Learn job-relevant skills in under 2 hours. A short interactive course that is taught by subject-matter experts, with 760+ to choose from,starting at $9.99 USD.
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. It offers 2,250+ specializations that start at $49 USD per month.
Professional Certificates
Training programs which prepareyou for a job or a particular industry. Some professional certificates are recognized by an organization or school. You can pick from 90+ Professional Certificates which start at $49 USD per month. 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. Currently, Coursera offers 25+ MasterTrack Certificates which start at $2,000 USD.
Degrees
Coursera has partnered with top Universities like Princeton and Yale to provide learners with affordable Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees. Its pool of 35+ Bachelor, Master’s degree’s and Postgraduate Programsstart at $9,000 USD.
Note: Coursera collaborates with 300+ leading Universities and Companies. So, when you receive your completion certificate it is verified by the collaborating partner, which often are recognized by future employers.
Coursera offers a range of 11 different topic areas, you can pick from the following; Data Science, Business, Computer Science, Personal Development, Information Technology, Language Learning, Health, Math and Logic, Social Sciences, Physical Science & Engineering, Art and Humanities.
Each one of these topics has a variety of subtopics to explore. If you are looking to learn a skill in one of the topics mentioned, Coursera maybe the right platform for you. But if after reading this you know Coursera isn’t the platform for you, check out our article on the Best Online Learning Platform.
Coursera for business
As well as individual learning, Coursera for Businesses offers an Enterprise plan for larger organizations. You will get unlimited access to the platform’s courses, skill metrics, user analytics and integration to drive success. Coursera works with businesses as big as 15000+. If you are wanting to find out more, you will need to contact them directly for a quote.
Coursera for teams
Like Coursera for Business, is the option for teams, which is aimed at a smaller workforce. Its plan is designed to provide your team with access to 5,000+ courses, specializations and Guided Projects. This plan is designed to pay per user for 1 year and a 14-day refund policy is guaranteed.
Coursera for Campus
Coursera for Campus focus is to empower any University to offer job-relevant (credit ready) online education to students, faculty and staff. As well as that Coursera offers this plan for free to a student lookingto learn job-ready skills for free. The plan gives you access tounlimited Guided Projects and 1 free course per year. To get started, you just need to enter your school email.
The Coursera for Campus Student Plan is available to full-time, part-time, community college and university students from all over the world. Its courses are accredited by world-class universities and companies like Yale and Google.
How Much Does Coursera Cost?
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 USDand its online degrees go up to $50,000 USD. As well as offering one-time payments, you have the option of monthly or annual subscription plans with Coursera Plus.
Free Courses
Coursera offers a wide variety of over 7,000+ free courses, covering topics from Arts and Humanities, Business and Computer Science (see image below). The platform’s filter system lets you narrow down your choices by several criteria like; Language, Level, Duration, Subject, Skills, Partner and Learning Product, making it easier to find a course that fits your needs. If you decide you’d like to earn a certificate for successfully completing the course, there is an option to upgrade to the paid version of the course (see image above), you can upgrade at any time. Opting for the paid version, you’ll also get a few extra features like assessments, exams and feedback from the instructor.
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 760+ Guided Projects to choose from.
Specializations
Its Specializations focus on mastering a specific skill. Its starting price is $49 USD 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 to earn a career credential. Its starting price is $49 USD 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 the 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 USD/ month (includes a 7-day free trial)
- Coursera Plus Annual – $399 USD/ year (includes a 14-day money-back guarantee)
If you compare it to the cost of a single learning program ($49-$79 USD) 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.
In summary, Coursera’s pricing options can be summarized as follows; you can access individual courses for free, its Guided projects start at an affordable $9.99 USD. Specializations and Professional Certificates are available from just $39.99 USD per month, while MasterTrack Programs start at $2,000 USD. Its Degree Programs, begin at $9,000 USD. Additionally, Coursera Plus, a subscription plan, is priced at $59 USD per month or $399 USD annually.
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 USD 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 L’Oréal, 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 circ*mstances. Most courses offer Financial Aid or Scholarships.
We have a detailed pricing guide for Coursera that talks in more detail about this topic, you can check it out here.
Coursera in Detail
Criteria
Comment
Ease of Use ?
5
Opening an account is really straightforward, you just need to add your name, email and create a password.
The design and layout of its platform is easy to navigate around thanks to its minimalistic design. My favourite part is the professionalism of the site and the fact you feel like you are on an established educational platform.
Convenience ?
4
The majority of courses you can take at any time and learn at your own pace, there are some courses which have a start and end date.
If you have enrolled on a paid course or specialization you will be able to take the 7-day free trial and if you decide to cancel before the 8th day you won’t need to pay anything.
Courses are available to watch offline on its app which can be pretty handy if you are learning on the go or have a plane trip to take.
Available Platforms
5
Courseracourses are 100% online which you can access from a desktop, laptop or via the Coursera app with a smartphone (for Android and iOS).
The Coursera app has a 4.8 rating with both the IOS and Google Play store Apps.
Certifications ?
Coursera provides accredited certificates that are recognised by employers. Coursera doesn’t create its own learning material. However, it works alongside educational institutions, government agencies and top universities to facilitate its online courses.
So you’ll be able to earn a certificate from Coursera backed up by the university that organizes the course.
Categories ?
4
Coursera currenty offers more than 5,800+ courses, professional certificates, degrees and more. Its programs are broken down into 6 types; Courses, Guided Projects, Specializations, Professional Certificates, Mastertrack Certificates and Online Degrees which are taught by top instructors from renowned Universities and Organizations.
As well as individual learning is Coursera for Business. It offers two plans Coursera for Enterprise and Coursera for Teams. Both of these plans give access to 5,400+ courses from top institutions, access to guided projects, assessments, quizzes and verified certificates.
Free Courses
4
When you land on the Coursera homepage and click on Explore, you can find ‘Take a free course’ where you will be taken to more than 7,000+ free courses. There is also the option to find a course and choose to Audit the course, which means you will have access to the course for free but won’t receive a certificate at the end of it.
Be aware that some courses, specializations and degrees don’t offer the Audit option.
Content Quality ?
5
Since Coursera’s content is built in collaboration with leading universities and companies, you can be rest assured of the quality of its courses and programs.
On top of that, it has Beta testers who are experts and enthusiasts to review and give feedback on its courses to ensure the quality is of the highest standard, this is all done before its courses are published.
Languages ?
5
Coursera courses have a wide range of languages available which include the following: English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Arabic.
The majority of the video lessons have an interactive transcript (also available on the mobile app) which you can follow along with during the class.
Instructors ?
5
Every course on Coursera is taught by well-recognised instructors from top universities and companies including instructors from Stanford and Duke University, and experts from Google and IBM.
Course Requirements ?
4
As Coursera offers many different types of courses, its requirements all vary.
Coursera courses normally are 4-6 weeks. Each course includes several hours of video lessons every week, graded assessments, quizzes and forum participation with peers. Some of these courses have final exams.
Coursera Specializations can combine 4-5 courses into a group. Some of the shorter specializations have only 3 combined courses and can take 4-6 months to complete. Whereas the longer specializations can combine 10 courses and take a year to complete.
If you take a degree program with Coursera who are partnered with a top University it will usuallytake 1-3 years of study.
Course Structure ?
4
Every Coursera course is created by a partnered University or Organization, which follows a specific curriculum and syllabus.
Its courses are based around video lessons, graded assessments, quizzes, forum participation and, at times, final exams.
Quizzes and Tests ?
4
Quizzes are normally auto-graded. Peer-reviewed papers are evaluated by a subject matter expert and feedback is given within 3 days.
Some courses also have teaching assistants to help assist with your learning.
Payments and Refunds
5
You can make payments on Coursera with the following Credit and Debit Cards Visa, Mastercard, Discover, JCB, American Express (only for courses priced in $USD) and Paypal.
The cost of Coursera coursesvaries widely depending on which type of course you choose.
Depending on the subscription you have chosen, the refund policy differs. For example, the month-to-month subscription does not offer refunds.
The Coursera Plus, One-time Course, Specialization and Coursera for Team all offer a 14-day refund. The Degree and Mastertrack Certificate Programs vary as the refund policies are established and administered by the University.
Coursera also offers Financial Aidand Scholarships to those needing financial assistance.
Support ?
4
Coursera offers a Help Center with covers many topics and you can find the answers for. It also offers a support via chat, which allows you to send them an query or issue you may have. Lastly they have a Contact pagewhich should help to answer any doubts or questions you have.
Overall Rating ?
4.8
Coursera is one of the most popular online learning platforms on the market. Its diverse range of courses and learning programs make it a standout platform. It’s an ideal choice for someone looking for a career change, study a degree online or simple learn a new skill. Its courses and programs are designed in partnership with top Universities and Organizations, means you are learning from the very best. It is an inexpensive and convenient way to learn and if you aren’t ready to commit, you can get started with one of its free courses.
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.
After you have selected a subject or learning program, you can choose one of the subcategories, which will take you to all the relevant courses.
Coursera Customer Reviews
To offer a well-rounded perspective on this Coursera review, I opted to explore two of the most popular customer review platforms, Trustpilot and ConsumerAffairs. This way allows us to gather insights from a large pool of customer feedback to understand what a large number of users have to say about the platform.
The Trustpilot review is collected from 444 users, below you’ll find a breakdown of ratings ranging from 1 to 5 star. Surprisingly, only 4% of those users rated the platform with 5 stars and 69% left a 1-star rating. At ConsumerAffairs, feedback was from 151 users, with 27% expressed their satisfaction with a 5-star rating, while 17% were discontent leaving a 1-star rating.
| Rating | Trustpilot | ConsumerAffairs |
|---|---|---|
| 5-star | 14% | 27% |
| 4-star | 5% | 32% |
| 3-star | 4% | 19% |
| 2-star | 8% | 5% |
| 1-star | 69% | 17% |
| Overall | 1.8 out of 5 stars | 2.4 out of 5 stars |
Data gathered on 10/23/2023
As I delved further into the 1-star ratings, I discovered that many complained about bad customer support, billing and subscription issues and technical problems. “Horrible customer service and there’s no way to make an official complaint. Very disappointed as the content is fine” an unhappy one-star reviewer said.
On the upside, many of the 5-star ratings praise the quality of courses, value for money and financial aid. “Amazing platform with many financial aid opportunities. Variety of courses and specialties makes it suitable for everyone” a satisfied five-star reviewer said.
My Coursera Experience
The best way for me to get a real insight into the Coursera platform is by taking a course myself. I decided on Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate, a program offered by Google. It’s a course that quickly piqued my interest, as not only does it have a 4.8 rating, but no prior knowledge is needed.
Courses
The Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate is made up of 8 courses, that will help prepare you for a job in Google Data Analytics. From working just 10 hours a week, you can complete the certificate in less than 6 months. The 8 courses are broken up into the following;
Course 1 – Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere
Course 2 – Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions
Course 3 – Prepare Data for Exploration
Course 4 – Process Data from Dirty to Clean
Course 5 – Analyze Data to Answer Questions
Course 6 – Share Data Through the Art of Visualization
Course 7 – Data Analysis with R Programming
Course 8 – Google Data Analytics Capstone: Complete a Case Study
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 USD.
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 USD.
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 USD 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 $9.99to 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 the University of Michigan. It will take approximately 8 months to complete, and costs $49 USD 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 the University of Washington. It will take approximately 6 months to complete, and costs $49 USD 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 USD 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 USD a month, with a 7-day free trial available.
MasterTrack Certificates
Sustainability and Development – In this 6-course program, you’ll learn how to address sustainability and development challenges. The certificate is partnered with The University of Michigan and will take you 4–6 months to complete, working 6–8 hours a week. You can either do a 1 off payment for $2,100 USD or pay in 4 installments at $525.
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 USD or 4 payments for $500 USD 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 USD). 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 USD. You will need to apply for the Master’s Degree.
7Tips To Find The Perfect Coursera Course
If you are undecided between which course is right for you. I have put together 7 tips to help you to choose the perfect course.
Use the filter feature
A very useful feature to use is the Filter by feature (see image above) which will help to narrow down your search. For example, if I were to select a category like ‘Nutrition’, I could then select from the various filters (e.g. Skills, Job Title, Level, Language, etc) and click ‘apply’ which would then show the relevant courses related to these filters – see image below.
About this course
You are able to read the description of the course, the topics which are included and the different areas the course will focus on.
In the About this Course section, you will find the Skills you will gain(see image below). If your objective is to get specific knowledge from your chosen course, this can be a quick way to check out a course and determine if it will meet your needs.
Syllabus of the course
By reading the syllabus for each of the courses you can see how each week is broken down and how long it will take you to complete it. This includes the videos, reading material and quizzes.
Read reviews at Coursera
Every Courseracourse has reviews and ratings from past students which can be a really helpful way to get a comprehensive feel for the course and what have others gained from it.
Within the reviews, you have the option to Filter by with All Learners, All Stars and Sort by. Allowing you to focus on reading the reviews that are relevant to what you are searching for and filter out anything you don’t want to read.
Check out the instructor
An instructor rating is included in the course description. You can then click to read his or her bio along with prior experience. They also include their websites and social media handles and other courses they teach (if any). This is an ideal way tofind more about who will be teachingthe course.
Try for free
Anyone enrolling for a paid course or a Specialization will get access to a 7-day full access free trial period. It really is the perfect way for you to try a course and see if it is for you before you commit to pay. If you are unhappy with the course or the instructor, simply refund it.
Audit the course
The Coursera interface can be a little confusing and will lead you to pay for the course, but if you are looking to take a course and click Audit the courseit will mean you can take the course for free, but you will not receive a certificate at the end of it. The link to Audit the course can be found on individual course pages (see image below).
The Audit option is not available on Specialization, Mastertrack or Professional Certificates so you need to navigate to the individual course page first.
Is Coursera Recognized & Accredited?
You won’t be the first one asking if Coursera is recognized and accredited? It’s a valid question, and something that leaves many of us (including myself) a little confused about.
What’s does accreditation mean?
So to give you a bit of background, for a course or learning program to be accredited, the College or University offering that course or learning program has to be approved by the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the Department of Education. The CHEA is a US Organization that accredits Colleges and Universities in the US, accreditation can look different depending on the Country you are in, so it’s important you are aware of this before deciding on the purpose of the course or learning program you are wanting to take.
As for Global Organizations like Apple and Microsoft, they must partner with training institutions who are accredited to teach a course or learning program. Which means on behalf of the tech company they have the right to teach, test and certify the student learning on its course or program.
Therefore, when the student successfully completes a course, program or degree they will receive a certification that is officially recognized.
Is Coursera accredited?
The platform Coursera is not accredited by CHEA or the Department of Education, but the majority of courses and learning programs that Coursera offers are.
Its really important that before you decide on which type of Coursera course or learning program you want to take, you understand what each of them mean. It offers 6 different types of learning programs.
Individual Courses: Enrolling in an individual course with Coursera can mean two things. You can choose to audit the course (learn for free) or decide to pay for a Coursera certificate, which you will receive when you successfully complete it. The certificate will display your name, course title and logo of the University providing the course. The course may go towards a credit or a degree program, but this is something you would need to check in the course FAQ. This certificate is not an official qualification or transcript from the University.
Guided Projects: These projects are a quick (normally under 2 hours) and cheap way to fill the gap on a topic area that you are lacking. You will receive a shareable certificate to showcase what you have learned, but it isn’t accredited, and the purpose is for your own individual learning.
Specializations: Are where you combine related classes together on a specific subject area, and they work in a similar way to the individual course. You will either pay for a one-off payment or it is included in your monthly subscription. When you successfully complete the Specialization, you will receive a certificate with your name, course name and University logo. The same applies as the individual course, if you are looking for it to go towards a credit or degree program, you will need to inquire in the course FAQ. This certificate is not an official qualification or transcript from the University.
Professional Certificate: These are Coursera’s version of industry recognized certification, that are closely aligned with the Company’s certification syllabus like Microsoft, Google and IBM. The certificate you will receive is similar to the individual courses and Specializations, including your name, the course title and the company logo.
MasterTrack Certificate: These programs can count towards a University degree and like Specializations they are a collection of classes, but the difference is they have a set start and end date. The points you collect from these programs can be credit towards a degree program. You will receive a certificate from the University, which is an official document from the accredited University.
Degree Programs: Online degree programs at Coursera are accredited by the University and when you successfully complete it, you will receive an official transcript with your final grade from the University, as well as your official degree certificate.
In short, it’s important that:
- You enrol on the right course or learning program for your needs
- If applying to a University, contact them first to know what you require to apply
- Know that a certificate isn’t always official
- Read Course FAQ’s before committing
Finally, Coursera courses and learning programs are cost-effective and will benefit you in terms of your knowledge base, and adding another skill to your CV or Resume can only benefit you.
Coursera Partnerships
Coursera partners with a mix of Universities, Businesses, Governments and Non-profits. In many cases, Coursera personally reaches out to these Institutions to partner with them. Coursera hasn’t made its conditions and contracts clear when working with an Institution, but I would imagine it varies from one to another. If you are interested you can complete the University or Industry Partnership Inquiry Form which will ask you a series of questions.
Like the Institutions who partner with Coursera, there is also the option for an individual to collaborate with them and become a Project Instructor. In this role you will create guided projects.
Some of the perks include:
- Growth: Developing your career and reputation by sharing your expertise through hands-on projects.
- Resources: Become part of the instructor community and get the support and tools to create high-quality projects.
- Income: Earn your income remotely on a per-project basis once your project is reviewed and approved.
- Impact: Use your expertise to help learners around the world gain valuable career skills.
Coursera Alternatives
edX:offers over 4,000 courses and learning programs which, like Coursera are partnered with Universities and Organizations. It offers both self-paced or instructor-led learning programs.
Udacity: offers a little less than 100 Nanodegree programs, that focus on gaining skills for a career in the tech and business industry. Although its courses aren’t accredited, it is still highly recognized by industry experts.
MasterClass: this platform offers over 185+ engaging courses covering 11 categories. Its courses are taught by VIPs and celebrities like Anna Wintour and Stephen Curry, a 30-day money-back guarantee is offered, in case you change your mind.
Coursera Conclusion
Ok, so let’s summarise why Coursera is worth it.
If you want to further your academic knowledge by studying for 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’re looking to learn a new skill or hobby and not wanting to gain an accredited certification, then platforms like Udemyand Skillshareare probably a better fit.
You will love Coursera for its:
- Accredited Certificates
- Top Instructors and Experts
- Networking Opportunities
- High-quality courses
- Variety of learning programs
Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to help you out.
Coursera FAQs
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.
Something which many of you ask when considering elearning communities is: Is this course legit?
It is completely normal to have these doubts, especially if you are considering one of the more expensive Specializations programs or Online degrees at Coursera.
Coursera was founded in 2012 by two Stanford professorsAndrew Ng and Daphne Koller with their headquarters located in California. It has had well over 150 million course enrollments and collaborates with 275+ partners.
Courserais part of the growing Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement and theirelearning platform focuses on their partnerships with universities and corporations. It also attracts instructors from top universities and businesses who are experts in their field and who teach top-quality courses.
Anyways, Coursera is legit and it’s safe to use, you won’t be scammed.
Coursera coursesare ideal for someone wanting to further their higher education or career skills by studying an online degree or taking a specialization learning program. The fact that it is partnered with so many well-established universities and businesses means that the final certificate accreditation is recognized worldwide and something definitely worth adding to your Curriculum Vitae or LinkedIn profile and recognized by future employees.
If you already have a full or part job, then studyingwith Coursera could be an ideal option for you. Many of its learning programs have flexible hours and the cost is just a fraction of what a traditional university course would cost.
