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As with many top colleges, you often need relatively deep pockets and stellar test scores to attend an Ivy League school like Columbia University. But, like most of the world’s top universities, Columbia also offers a handful of its courses online entirely for free.
You can audit over 30 of Columbia’s online courses at no cost on edX, a non-profit founded by Harvard and MIT to lower education barriers such as cost and location. Courses range in subjects from Civil War history and Buddhism to data analysis and public health.
You can also pay to earn a certificate in one of these courses, or sign up for multi-course programs designed for building deep knowledge or valuable skill sets — like machine learning. While Columbia’s professional programs cost between $99-$996 on edX, they provide students with certifications they can add to their resume or LinkedIn — or, in some cases, even exchange for college credit at eligible universities.
Length: 4 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $225 for a verified certificate
Required for all first-year MBA students at Columbia Business School, this introductory course teaches students the key financial concepts and rules that can be used for evaluating and valuing investment opportunities.
This course is also part of a professional certificate program on Corporate Finance.
It’s recommended that students be familiar with basic accounting concepts and Microsoft Excel.
Length: 12 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $249 for a verified certificate
This course is for anyone who wants to learn the history and fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence (AI) — and how to apply both of them. Students gain insight into building intelligent agents and machine learning algorithms as well as solving real AI problems using Python.
It’s recommended that students have a working knowledge of Python programming and probability as well as linear algebra and calculus.
This course is part of a MicroMaster on Artificial Intelligence. You can find an explainer on edX MicroMasters here.
*Note: This course is currently archived (with future dates TBA), but you can still access the materials for free.
Length: 12 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $249 for a verified certificate
Students learn the essentials of machine learning and the algorithms that strengthen data analysis without human intervention. The course’s main perspectives are probabilistic versus non-probabilistic modeling and supervised versus unsupervised learning.
It’s recommended that students have a working knowledge of calculus, linear algebra, statistical concepts, and coding, as well as comfort with manipulating data.
This course is part of a MicroMaster on Artificial Intelligence. You can find an explainer on edX MicroMasters here.
*Note: This course is currently archived (with future dates TBA), but you can still access the materials for free.
Length: 15 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $50 for a verified certificate
Exploring the impact that the institution of slavery had on the US’s national and southern economies and political identity, this course highlights the growing tensions that eventually led to the outbreak of the Civil War.
This is the first part of a three-course XSeries, The Civil War and Reconstruction. (XSeries are programs designed to impart deep knowledge on a popular topic.)
Length: 12 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $249 for a verified certificate
Students learn how to develop quantitative models that leverage business data, statistical computation, and machine learning to forecast sales and support important marketing decisions.
It’s recommended that students have an undergraduate familiarity with probability, statistics, and calculus, as well as a familiarity with R or a similar programming language.
This course is part of a MicroMaster on Business Analytics. You can find an explainer on edX MicroMasters here.
*Note: This course is currently archived (with future dates TBA), but you can still access the materials for free.
Length: 12 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $49.99 for a verified certificate
In this course, students learn the origins of Buddhist philosophy by exploring its history throughout India, South and Southeast Asia, Tibet, and Central Asia. Students also learn about the basic principles of Buddhism.
Length: 6 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $49 for a verified certificate
This introductory course guides educators through the principles of inclusive teaching — from instructors’ assumptions about students to designing for accessibility — and how they can apply them in the classroom.
Length: 6 weeks
Cost: Free to audit
Intended for military veterans who are entering the civilian workforce, this course provides guidance on how to transfer skills gained in the military to different career fields, using research and expert advice.
This is the final part of a three-course XSeries, Veteran Transition: Academic Excellence and Career Readiness. (XSeries are programs designed to impart deep knowledge on a popular topic.)
Length: 10 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $50 for a verified certificate
Students examine the fight for women’s equality between 1950-2018, beginning with how the Cold War’s reinforcement of suburban family ideals impacted women’s trajectory and ending with grassroots activism such as the Me Too movement and the 2018 midterm election.
This is the final part of a four-course XSeries, Women Have Always Worked. (XSeries are programs designed to impart deep knowledge on a popular topic.)
Length: 12 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $249 for a verified certificate
Students learn the fundamentals of using data-driven models and analysis to make practical business decisions — especially in times of uncertainty — through practical business examples.
Topics include probability; statistics; regression; stochastic modeling; and linear, nonlinear, and discrete optimization.
Students should have an undergraduate familiarity with probability, statistics, and linear algebra — as well as a working knowledge of Python and basic programming concepts in a procedural programming language.
This course is part of a Business Analytics MicroMasters program. You can find an explainer on edX MicroMasters here.
*Note: This course is currently archived (with future dates TBA), but you can still access the materials for free.
Length: 12 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $249 for a verified certificate
The Director of Columbia’s Computer Graphics Group teaches you the science behind movie animation through seven themes: mass-spring systems, collision handling, rigid bodies, elastica, fluids, and a final project.
It’s recommended that students have programming knowledge in C or C++ as well as in multivariable calculus (partial derivatives) and linear algebra.
This course is part of an Artificial Intelligence MicroMasters. You can find an explainer on edX MicroMasters here.
*Note: This course is currently archived (with future dates TBA), but you can still access the materials for free.
Length: 10 weeks
Cost: Free to audit; $50 for a verified certificate
Students learn about the role Indigenous Peoples have reshaped international norms and institutions through their global movement and contributed to important global debates — including human rights, development, and climate change. Particular attention is paid to the right to self-determination; cultural rights; and the right to land, territories, and resources.
The course instructors are Andrew J. Nathan, a political science professor, and Elsa Stamatopoulou, director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Program (ISHR) who joined Columbia after 30+ years at the United Nations.
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