Coursera

Coursera is an online learning platform founded in 2012. The global platform offers learning and career development to anyone, anywhere through its online courses and degrees. The company has partnered with over 300 leading universities and companies to bring a range of learning opportunities from hands-on projects and courses to job-ready certificates and degree programmes.

Coursera Learning Courses

Coursera learning opportunities are divided into six categories namely:

Guided Projects – Quickly learn job skills and industry tools.

Courses – Gain new knowledge.

Specialisations – Master a specific skill.

Professional certificates – Get job-ready for an in-demand career.

MasterTrack Certificates – Earn a university-issued certificate and credit towards a degree.

Degrees – Earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Coursera for Business

Coursera for Business is a skill development solution for businesses looking to empower their teams with high-impact skills which drive innovation, competitiveness and growth.

With Coursera for Business, you can do the following:

• Provide transformative learning with expert-curated, AI-driven learning programmes.
• Enable hands-on learning to drive rapid skills acquisition.
• Track and measure skill development and benchmark proficiency against industry peers.

Coursera for Teams

If you are looking to upskill fewer than 125 employees, Coursera offers a business solution where you can upskill as few as 5 employees. Coursera offers the following for teams:

• Upskill and reskill your employees in key growth areas such as tech, marketing and leadership.
• Help employees learn skills as they are promoted.
• Your employees earn shareable certificates with course completion.
• Access to 200 000 clips for lessons.
• Access to 6  755 courses from top universities and instructors.
• Get guided projects to help master new apps, tools and processes.
• Access to 640 specialisations.

How to Apply for Coursera Courses

The Coursera platform is free to join for anyone. And although the platform is free to join, the courses are not free. Each course is sponsored by a company or university which then decides the price.

To apply for courses, first join the platform and then pick which course or degree you want to study. Once you have picked a course or degree, you can press enrol. For short courses and certificates, you can just press enrol and you will be enrolled into the programme. Some short courses are free but that is dependent on the instructor.

For degrees, you will have to first look at the qualifying criteria for enrolment. It’s important to note that degrees that are more technical in nature, will have a longer list of criteria you have to meet before applying. Once you have identified the degree you want to pursue and see that you meet all requirements, you can apply for it. If your application is successful, you will begin learning.

All degrees on Coursera cost money, but some of them have financing available for those who need it.

Free to Join – The Coursera platform is free to join for anyone.

Courses – Coursera offers short courses and degrees.

Course financing – Some Coursera degrees have financing available.

Coursera for Business – Coursera offers a business option for enterprises who want to upskill employees.

Coursera for Teams – Coursera offers a team option for companies with less than 125 employees.

Pricing for Coursera courses depends on the course itself. Some short certificates are free depending on the instructor. For example, most of the Google courses on the platform are free.

Pricing for Coursera degrees is dependent on the institution that is offering the degree. Enrollment for degrees is free but cost is course dependent. Remember, some degrees on Coursera have financing aid available.