Coursera Review [2024] | How To Learn Anything Fast
Have you heard about Coursera?
It’s become one of the single greatest places to learn just about anything, and I think one of the most amazing resources humanity has ever built.
This is my Coursera Review for 2022.
Affiliate Disclaimer: While the opinions expressed on this page are my own, I do have affiliate links throughout the article. If you are interested in the products and sign up through one of my referral links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars.
Key Takeaways:
- Coursera Is An Affordable Way To Learn Just About Anything. It’s an online training and learning platform Including courses from top-tier educational institutions like major universities.
- Coursera Certificates can be earned from legitimate universities and add credentials and credibility to your professional resume.
- Pricing: ranges per course, certification, or degree – There are many courses available for free – most courses are available starting for the $39/month standard fee, and some more advanced tracks, degrees, or certificates can require more investment.
- Topics Covered: While the most popular courses on Coursera are technical in nature (Programming, Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, Data Science & Analytics) – there are thousands of courses in almost every discipline available.
- Free Trial: You can try out everything on Coursera for free for 7 days with the free trial.
Coursera Review [2022] Table of Contents:
| What Is Coursera? | Most Popular Coursera Certificates | ||
| Coursera Pricing | Is Coursera Worth It? | ||
| How Coursera Courses Work | Frequently Asked Questions | ||
| Popular Coursera Certificates | |||
| Is Coursera Legitimate? |
What Is Coursera?
Coursera is an amazing learning platform that provides courses, degrees, and professional certificates from thousands of learning partners including legitimate educational institutions like universities (University of Michigan), and some of the top companies in the world (Google, Meta, LinkedIn).
You can see a full list of courses here.
You can learn just about anything on Coursera, usually in a small fraction of the time that it would take to get the same amount of education in a college course (in my opinion).
Some of the most popular courses are in the areas of Programming, Machine Learning, Data Science, and Digital Marketing.
These technical and highly in-demand areas are where Coursera really shines.
Coursera Pricing
Pricing for Coursera depends on what you’re looking to achieve, learn, or gain credentials, certificates, or degrees in.
Free Courses On Coursera
There are a number of free courses available on Coursera.
Some of the courses provided for free are even full courses by some of the world’s most renowned financial institutions, like Yale University.
There are free courses on just about every subject you can imagine: Writing, Psychology, Finance, Business, Data Science, and More.
Some Popular Free Courses Include:
- Financial Markets – by Yale University
- The Science of Well-Being – by Yale University
- Introduction to Psychology – by Yale University
- Introduction To Statistics – Standford University
See A Full List of Free Coursera Courses Here
Guided Projects (Starting at $9.99)
- Average time commitment: 1-2 hours
- Cost: starting at $9.99
Guided projects are a feature available on Coursera to “Quickly learn job skills and industry tools” according to their website.
These are short (usually a few hours or less) contained courses focused on acquiring a specific high-demand skill, usually for the professional world.
For example, you can learn how to use the popular Docker platform in the “Docker For Absolute Beginners” guided project.
The goal with guided projects is to learn a specific skill in a short amount of time, by focusing on completing a condensed project.
For the right person and/or skill, this can be the perfect option to pick up a new skill to increase your job skills or just for your own curiosity.
And since it’s being provided on Coursera, you know the quality of the information is top-notch.
Check out the full list of guided courses here.
Specializations On Coursera (Starting at $39/month)
Specializations are more in-depth courses that help you to really dig in and “master” a particular skill.
These are similar to the style of a traditional college course, but the learning pace is set by you.
- Average time commitment 1-3 months
- Cost starting at $39 USD per month
If you really want to gain true mastery over a skill – whether it’s Machine Learning, Microsoft Excel, Business Adminstration, Finances, or Programming – The Coursera Specialization is going to help you get there.
And for a tiny fraction of a traditional college class – usually starting as low as $39/month.
Popular Specializations on Coursera
- Machine Learning Specialization – by Standford University
- Master of Business Administration – by Illinois University
- Introduction To Cyber Security – by New York University
- Excel Skills For Business – by Macquarie University
Professional Certificates
- Average time commitment: 1-6 months
- Cost starting at: $39 USD per month
Professional Certificates are probably the best way to get a job from studying on Coursera, and a truly amazing learning opportunity unlike anything that’s ever existed before. .
You can earn a Business Certificate, Computer Science or IT Certificate, Data Science Certificate, and more from some of the top (and highest paying) employers in the world.
You can essentially launch a new career path in your own time, at your own pace and schedule – from some of the top hiring companies out there who will be much more likely to consider hiring you after you take their proprietary training program included in the Professional Certificates, including:
- Meta (Formerly Facebook)
- Intuit
- Deeplearning.AI
- Microsoft
- IBM
Gaining these professional certificates will not only increase your skill, but give you a real edge in hiring considerations, especially if you’re applying to positions from these companies.
See The Full List of Professional Certificates offered by Coursera
Mastertrack® Certificates
For example, you can earn legitimate credits toward your bachelor’s or masters degree with certain certificates, namely the MasterTrack® Certificates.
- Average time commitment: 4-7 months
- Cost: starting at $2,000 USD
Master Track
Earn Your Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree Online with Coursera
- Average time commitment: 2-4 years
- Cost: starting at $9,000 USD
You can even explore their options for earning a full Bachelor’s or Master’s degree online with Coursera.
Personally, I think this is really amazing and such an incredible thing for the future of education online.
These are limited programs right now, but I’m sure the selection of available Master’s Degree programs will just keep increasing over time.
Even so, right now some universities offering Master’s Degree certifications through Coursera include:
- Business Analytics for Managers MasterTrack® Certificate – by Tufts University
- Social Work: Practice, Policy and Research – by University of Michigan
- Machine Learning for Analytics – by The University of Chicago
See The Full List of MasterTrack® Programs Available On Coursera
Most Popular Coursera Certificates
The famous Programming For Everybody (Getting Started With Python) course is a great example of a course that can really increase your value in the professional job marketing with a small amount of time investment.
But there are hundreds of extremely popular courses available.
Here are some of the most popular certificates that people love to pursure on Coursera…
Coursera History
According to Wikipedia, Coursera was founded in 2012 by Andrew Ng, and Daphne Koller.
How Coursera Courses Work
Course Structure
I personally really enjoy the way that courses are structured inside of Coursera.
Here’s an example from inside the Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-Commerce certificate that I’m currently taking, provided for Free from Google’s own marketing experts:
Each course includes the following:
- Weekly Lesson Structure
- Individual Lessons (Video, Text, Quizzes)
- Weekly Study Goals
- Other resource material (links to relevant websites, pdfs, guides)
For many lessons, you have to pass a small quiz to move on to the next lesson, making sure that you’re fully understanding the material in the course.
Course Material – Weekly Lesson Structure
While most courses are on-demand, meaning that you can take them any time you want, 24/7 – some of them have specific time frames and deadlines.
Whether they are time-restricted or on-demand, Courses are organized in a weekly lesson structure.
Individual Lesson Structure
Individual lessons include a mixture of video lessons and text to study, along with quizzes, images, checklists, and sometimes additional learning resources.
Most individual lessons follow this format:
- Notes – a place for you to save your own notes for each lesson.
- Discuss – a link to community comments discussing the lesson.
- Download Options – You can download your video files for offline viewing.
- Lesson Transcript – a full text transcript is provided below each video lesson.
Is Coursera Legitimate?
Many people wonder if Coursera is a legitimate source of learning.
And that question does make sense.
However, if you’re wondering whether or not Coursera is a trustworthy place to get certifications: have no fear.
Yes, Coursera is legitimate. They have been in business since 2012 and have provided training, certificates, and more to millions of students in that time.
Coursera partners with more than 275+ leading universities and companies across multiple industries and educational fields.
According to This Article on ThinkImpact.com, Coursera has some pretty impressive stats:
- Coursera reached 82 million registered users in Q1 2021, representing a 5% rise over the previous quarter.
- Coursera has over 3,000 courses available to its learners and more than 2,800 employees.
- Coursera provides its learning service to learners across more than 200 universities, non-profit organizations, and businesses.
- “Coursera-gained skills are acknowledged by over 25% of the Fortune 500 companies.”
These courses are 100% legitimate and vetted by real credible institutions and experts.
Is A Certificate from Coursera Legitimate?
There are so many options available for you on Coursera – the type of certification, training, skills, degrees, or certificates you want to discover are completely up to you.
Yes. Certificates, degrees, and credits earned in partnership with Coursera are 100% legitimate.
It just depends on what you’re looking for:
- Professional Upskilling and Skill Development
- Explore Personal Curiosity and Gain New Knowledge With Some Courses Starting For Free
- Professional Certifications
- Full Bachelor’s or Master’s Degrees
Whatever level you are interested in, the certifications from Coursera are legitimate.
So does a certificate from Coursera really have value in the professional world?
Absolutely. There are so many applications: from simply gaining a new skill to impress potential employers or earn a higher paying job within your organization, to launching and entirely new career path.
Is Coursera Worth It?
My Review: 4/5 Stars
With such a proven track record, Coursera is worth exploring for just about anyone who wants to learn new skills, get real, legitimate professional certification, and even earn credits, degrees, and get top level education from esteemed universities like Yale, for a tiny fraction of the price it used to cost.
If you’re looking to learn a skill, you should check out Coursera. It’s one of the highest quality, most trustworthy and most affordable places to learn in 2022.
Other Reviews of Coursera:
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coursera Free?
While Coursera isn’t free, you can start with a free 7 day trial to explore what it has to offer. After that, it’s just $39/month.
Is Coursera Trustworthy?
Coursera is very trustworthy. It is partnered with companies like Google, Meta, and other fortune 500 companies, as well as top universities like the Univeristy of Michigan, Yale, and more.
Can You Download Coursera Videos?
Yes. Usually, the video lessons are available in your classes.