Harvard, Others Offer Free, Online EdX Courses

For students abroad seeking free education in the United States, EdX is one option without the cost, travel or need for a visa.

EdX was founded by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012.

Because the online programs are free does not mean the quality is poor. On the contrary, aside from EdX founders Harvard and MIT, contributors t

o the platform include Caltech, Princeton University and Columbia University, Boston University, Australian National University, and University of California-Berkeley, in addition to 48 other institutions.

"The full list is composed of 1,000 universities from 65 different countries, ranked on 12 different performance indicators, focusing specifically on each school’s academic research performance and overall reputation," according to the EdX website.

Most of the courses do not offer academic credit, except for Arizona State and Charter Oak State College.

A little known gem of information about EdX is that it also offers Advanced Placement (AP) and college preparatory (CP) courses for high school students.

Users of the EdX program, can also earn programming and skill-based certificates.

EdX falls into the same category as Lynda or Khan Academy. Those also offer academic and skills courses to users worldwide.