If you're thinking about taking a Coursera course, chances are, you want to learn something new to be able to gain a skill. Are Coursera certificates worth it? Is enrolling in Coursera worth it? Is there a good reason to spend your time and money on one?
This Coursera review aims to present the facts about Coursera, as an Udemy alternative, both good and bad, so that you can decide for yourself whether that’s where you want to spend your time and money.
I will also evaluate if they are as good as taking a real class, whether you will get a certificate at the end of it, plus its pricing.
Coursera Review
Coursera is a top leading online learning platform where you can take various online courses and degrees taught by professors from the world’s best universities, and they also offer some of their courses for free.
With over 3.9k massive open online courses across 20 different subject areas at the time of writing this review, their library is large and growing, including brand new offerings in such fields as artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, etc.
When It Was Founded
Coursera was founded by Stanford University professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Andrew Ng is a world-renowned Stanford University Computer Science professor and Coursera co-founder.
Andrew’s Goal Was To Use Technology to Deliver Learning Programs
The idea was born out of Andrew’s experience in teaching courses online and discovering that students in the world wanted access to good, high-quality classes but found it very difficult to do so. The goal of the startup was to use technology to deliver courses from top universities that were massive, scalable, and affordable.
Starting its life as a platform to learn programming and Web technologies, it has grown significantly to add a huge number of subjects by partnering with top universities.
Its Partnership
This online education platform partners with top universities and organizations worldwide to offer online classes and degrees in various areas such as Business, Data Science (see Full Stack Developer), Digital Marketing, K-12 Education, Computer Science, English, Online Games and other language learning, and more! It accepts freelance jobs in a wide spectrum of categories like Animation Degree, Digital Marketing Course (see Facebook Ads), Horoscope Degree, Piano Lessons, Tech Entrepreneurship Specialization, and so on.
Professors come from institutions like Stanford, Yale, Princeton, the University of Melbourne, and the National Taiwan University. A Coursera course can be taken for free or paid.
Its Students
Coursera is a giant in the world of online learning. It has attracted more than 47 million users from around the globe who are taking classes on online learning platform.
In recent years, the number of students using Coursera has increased by more than 40%—quite an astonishing figure, especially considering that the company operates in 180 countries.
Creating an Account on Coursera
If you want to study on this platform, you need to create an account. Creating an account on Coursera is easy and takes less than a minute. It is also the first step to getting started on the learning platform. To create a Coursera account, simply go to https://www.coursera.org/account.
After you have finished creating your account, you'll need to activate it by clicking on the link in the email that's been sent to you. Once you've activated your account, you can use it to sign in and take a course when it is offered or schedule it ahead of time, depending on the course type selected.
Coursera welcomes you to explore their extensive course database. In this database, you can find free and paid courses from many of the best universities around the world.
Coursera Courses
Here is an Overview of Coursera Courses |
|---|
It has over 1,400 free courses |
It has over 1000 specializations |
Coursera has over 23 professional certificates |
It has over 10m registered students |
Has over 3900 courses |
It has 2 bachelor’s degrees and 14 master’s degrees |
Personal development-137 courses |
Math and Logic-70 courses |
Physical science and Engineering-413 courses |
Social sciences-401 courses |
Language Learning-150 courses |
Business-1095 courses |
Health-471 courses |
Data science-425 courses |
Information technology-145 courses, according to its official site |
Coursera, the massive online open course platform (MOOC) that has grown exponentially over the past couple of years, recently hit a milestone: over 10 million registered users. The learning site offers hundreds of free and paid courses on a variety of subjects and boasts a large community consisting of individuals from all over the universe, not to mention the schools and companies which use it as a platform for education.
This learning website’s mission is to create universal access to the world’s best education. Coursera believes that a great education will change people’s lives. It can help anyone realize their dreams by giving them the opportunity to learn what they want, when they want, and how they want. Also, in addition to this review, see how Udacity compares to Treehouse learning platform, to get insight into more online learning options.
Tracks What You Learn
This is a platform that tracks what you learn for each course and uses an algorithm to suggest a new course that you may be interested in based on your interests. This means there is no limit to how many courses you can take.
For busy people looking for an education site to upskill their skills, Coursera is the ultimate solution.
Offers Paid and Free Courses
Anyone interested can join Coursera classes as a student plus pay $49 per month to get professional and verified certificates. It is worth getting their certificates since you will get an online course, degree, specialization from an accredited institution.
It offers courses on various topics ranging from languages and medicine to photography and science. There are also many free sections of classes that don't require any monthly subscription.
There are also lots of specialization programs like project management and Information Technology etc.
Course Specializations
Courses on Coursera are provided as specializations or individual courses. Instead of just taking a course, you can start a specialization that consists of multiple courses.
Specializations are a unique set of courses hand-selected and designed to give you an advantage in your field by taking your career to the next level. From business models like dropshipping to technology, arts, and science, each specialization includes courses of different lengths. They allow you to dive deep into a topic and choose from multiple courses within that subject.
Students can also attest their knowledge by answering questions in the Specialization Proficiency and Statement of Accomplishment. From two-week classes to courses lasting up to four months.
Certificates Offered
Coursera provides a professional certificate after completion of a degree, specialization, and series of courses or an individual course (see FBA courses).
These certificates are hard proof of the knowledge and skill you have acquired. Certificates can also be an attractive addition when posting your profile on LinkedIn or any other place where employers go to find good prospects. And a great way to get new clients is by showing them your professional certificate.
Is it Worth Getting a Coursera Certificate?
Earn a certificate of completion with Coursera. You will get a course certificate or a specialization certificate from an accredited institution, so a certificate from Coursera is worth it.
Their degree programs and courses are accredited by leading universities such as Stanford University, University of Virginia, University of Michigan, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), etc.
Pricing
Coursera pricing is simple; it is free for many courses while some cost you to get an excellent course. A course that requires payment is mostly taught by instructors and comes with a certificate and course material.
Like I mentioned before in this Coursera review, you can pay around $50 a month for access to all of the courses you want rather than spend approximately $200 each on a handful of individual courses.
The cost of every single course ranges from $50-400 each, depending on how many weeks you want access to the course. There is a free trial period for over 20 classes, so you can try them out with no commitment, which is great.
For a Team
For a team that wants to empower their employees or staff with new skills, they will need to pay $399 per user per year. With this package, a team has unlimited access to all courses listed at Coursera.
Many Specializations cost from $39 to $79 per month.
Are Coursera Certificates Accredited?
Possessing a certificate from a reputable institution can significantly enhance your resume and assist you in securing employment in your field of interest. Coursera, as one of the largest Massive open online course platforms in the world - see also Udemy platform - and offers thousands of free and paid courses from accredited universities, which ensures that their certificates are taken seriously by employers.
Are Coursera Certificates Taken Seriously?
More employers are accepting Coursera certificates as proof of mastery. By earning one or more of the 23 available certificates through Coursera, you can gain more recognition from top companies in your field.
They are in high demand, and it helps to build skills that are important for future job prospects.
Do Employers Care About Coursera Certificates?
The future of higher education is likely online, and employers are taking note. Massively open online courses (MOOCs) like those offered by Coursera are becoming more popular and accessible to students – a trend that might change the way employers look at these certifications. Also, in addition to this review, see how Udemy compares to Lynda learning platform, to get insight into more online learning options.
And to answer the above question and conclude - Yes, Coursera certificates are valued by employers and students alike.
