Do I need to tell you that college is expensive? I didn’t think so. Black people understand the difficulties that come with attending college. First and foremost, the cost. A university education is shamefully expensive but it doesn’t have to be. Whether you are a high school graduate, working mother or established professional you can always use more education. Its the key to advancement. You can get a free online education.
Getting an education does not have to break you. There is plenty of free online education from some of Americas’s best schools. The strategy is get as much as you can and build your transcript.
One of the sites that has a listing of free online courses is Howtogeek.com. This is a powerful site that will show you how to enroll and take courses from some of America’s top universities. By top I mean MIT, UCBerkeley and Yale. You can enroll in Harvard University, free. If you don’t believe me just click on the link! And keep in mind that you just don’t take these courses. You can earn credits, certificates and even degrees. For FREE!
We need more black college graduates. According to the 2010 census, 1.2 million black male college students make up 5.5 percent of all college students. As for black women, in 2011 black women enrolling in college hit a record high. Analysis of the most recent census data showed that almost 1 in 10 of every African-American woman is enrolled in a college or university. This data suggests that the barriers to higher education hindering women and minorities may finally be crumbling.
According to a U.S. Department of Education report over 4 million African-American students enrolled in U.S. Title IV institutions making up 14.4 % of all students at these educational institutions. Title IV institutions are schools eligible to participate in federal student financial aid programs. The report also revealed that in the 2012-13 academic year, over 300,000 African-American students earned degrees at four-year Title IV schools. These students made up only 10.4% of all students who earned degrees at these institutions that year. We still lag behind other groups especially whites and Asian-Americans.
Trying to track down free courses is made easy by Onlinecourses.com. This site offers 500 free online classes that you can search. You will have go through a few steps to get to the classes but it is well worth it.
There is plenty of choices of free online schools and programs. OpenCulture.com offers 1,000 courses from good schools. In addition this site also offers textbooks, audio books, language lessons and over 100 free business courses.
EducationalPortal.com also lets you browse the courses and schools available for free. But don’t just settle for any school. Everyone knows that the quality of education varies and the name on your degree must carry some weight and accreditation behind it. It is extremely important to find a school that has the appropriate credentials. Especially for an online or free school. Recently the University of The People, a free online university, received its accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council, a national accrediting group.
I want to make sure that black people get the most from the world of the Internet. But I also want to warn you that there are a lot of fake schools online. As you search for that free school to enhance you career or education you need to look out for diploma mills. There are a million for profit schools online that are worthless and could hurt you in the long run and even get you blacklisted as having fake education credentials. Check Geteducated.com for ten ways to spot a fake online school. A quick tip off that the school is a phoney is the lack of accreditation. Or accreditation by a group that is not recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the U.S. Department of Education. You can find a list of fake accreditation groups on Geteducated.com as well.
As black people we need to value education. And getting the most education is a valuable asset no matter what line of work you’re in or trying to get in. But you don’t have to go broke doing it. One of the great values of the Internet is that it has made knowledge free.
Now you know.
Other websites to find free online courses: