No Cost Technical Skills Education

Many jobs today require knowledge of technical skills. Education doesn’t have to be expensive. Whether you’re interested in changing the direction of your career, just starting out, trying to beef up your resume or just looking to stay on top of technology trends, any of these online education providers can help you without breaking the bank.

Most of these offer online technical skills training for no cost, low cost or affordable cost for university level education:

Codeacademy

Codeacademy offers free coding classes in 12 programming and markup languages, including Python, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, jQuery, React.js, AngularJS, HTML, Sass and CSS. The courses promise to give hands-on experience and real-time feedback from peers. If you like the courses, you can choose to sign up for a Codeacadmy Pro account for $19.99 per month, which will give you more access to hands-on projects, quizzes and advisors. Otherwise, the basic courses are all offered for free — so if you’re a self-motivated worker, they might be enough to get you skilled in coding.

Dash General Assembly

General Assembly is a for-profit education organization, but they also offer a free course that promises to teach students the basics of web development. The Dash program focuses on teaching you how to use HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The program is free and completely online, so you’ll be able to learn at your own pace. The course includes tutorials and hands-on projects you can complete in your browser — if you’re interested in web design, it’s an easy way to test the waters.

EdX

EdX is a massive open online course (MOOC) provider with university-level courses developed by schools, nonprofit organizations and corporations. These programs are offered for free to users, with courses from universities such as MIT and Harvard. Courses include short videos, interactive learning exercises, tutorial videos, online textbooks and a forum where students can interact with one another, ask questions and reach out to teaching assistants. At the end of your course, you’ll received a certificate — and some courses might count as college or university credits, depending on the school.

Harvard Online Learning

Harvard offers online access to course materials, lectures, programs and other educational content for free. The goal is to offer “effective, accessible avenues for people who desire to learn but who may not have an opportunity to obtain a Harvard education.” Courses are offered through a number of online learning content providers, including EdX, GetSmarter, HarvardX, Harvard Business School (HBX), Harvard Extension School and Harvard Medical School (HMX). There are courses on nearly every IT topic you can imagine so you can get a Harvard education, without the tuition bill.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy was developed in 2006 as a non-profit educational organization, with the distinct goal of educating students online for free. Lessons are taught through YouTube videos, with additional exercises online for educations and students. Courses can be accessed on a mobile device and most have been translated into several languages, with nearly 20,000 subtitle translations available. While it might not serve as a formal education, it’s an easy way to learn new skills as you advance your career.

Lynda.com from LinkedIn

Lynda.com was founded in 1995 by Lynda Weinman, a special effects animator and multimedia professor who founded a digital arts school with her husband. It originally served as online support for her books and classes but it started offering free courses in 2002. It was purchased by LinkedIn in 2016 and offers free courses for subscribers on a wide variety of technical topics. You can try it out for free for one-month, but after that you’ll need to pay $29 per month (or $24 per month for a yearly subscription) to get access to the courses. While it’s not completely free — you get access to all the courses for a subscription fee, making it an affordable option.

MIT OpenCourseWare

In 2001, MIT University launched its initiative to publish all undergraduate- and graduate-level course material for free online through MIT OpenCourseWare. It was the first major university to make its coursework available for free to the public — 250 other colleges and universities have since followed in MIT’s footsteps. In 2018, MIT added complete video lectures to over 100 courses that users can stream or download for offline viewing. If you want to work on a certain skill or try out a new skill before you commit to paying for a course, it’s worth checking out MIT OpenCourseWare to see what they have on your topic-of-interest.

Udemy

Udemy is targeted at professional adults who need to fit education into their busy work schedules. Some courses on Udemy are free, while some are available at a fee — it will depend on the course and instructor. However, even paid courses won’t break the bank, as most go on sale for as low as $9.99, so you can typically find a good deal if there’s a course you want to take that isn’t free.

More Resources Offering Free or Low Cost Training:

AARP Foundation

AARP Foundation is aimed at helping low-income, unemployed individuals aged 55 or older find work, AARP’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) matches eligible job seekers with local nonprofits and public agencies that offer skills training courses. The foundation currently operates in only 21 states. Check this AARP list to see whether one of the program’s 72 locations is near you.

SCORE

In conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE provides entrepreneurs and small business owners,or those who want to own a business,with free career-education and business counseling. With more than 300 chapters throughout the U.S., SCORE pairs participants with free mentors in their field, across 62 industries. (Mentoring is offered in person, via email, or by video.) The organization also offers free or low-cost local business workshops and webinars.

Monster/Skillshare

Monster through their partners at Skillshare offer more than 10,000 online classes to help you brush up on Excel, Photoshop, public speaking, and other skills. You can learn at your own pace from your computer or mobile device. The best part? Monster members get a sweet deal: three months for $0.99.

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