What is Coursera?
Coursera is a global online learning platform that partners with more than 275 leading universities and companies to bring flexible, affordable, job-relevant online learning to individuals and organizations worldwide. Coursera offers scaled online courses, specializations and degrees.
Learners come to Coursera to achieve various personal or professional goals like learning job skills, gaining new knowledge, getting ready for an in-demand career or earning a university-issued degree.
Are you a faculty member interested in creating your own course? Visit the Office of Academic and Learning Innovation website to get started.
Coursera Learning Options
Coursera offers learners up to three tiers of learning experiences in courses, with the opportunity to upgrade. Each tier grants access to additional materials.
Learners can audit all courses and specializations for free or upgrade to earn a Coursera certificate upon successful completion of the material. Learners can also enroll through Boulder and pay CU tuition to earn academic credit for courses in CU Boulder master's degree programs.
All courses are eligible for a free trial, in which any Coursera learner can sample the full experience for seven days.
CU on Coursera and Coursera Partner Consortium Programs
CU faculty, staff and students receive sponsored access to premium content through CU on Coursera and the Coursera Partner Consortium. This includes the opportunity to earn course and specialization certificates at no cost, along with access to noncredit (open) versions of courses linked to CU Boulder degree programs.
CU on Coursera features noncredit courses developed by faculty from campuses within the University of Colorado system, including CU Boulder, CU Denver, CU Anschutz Medical Campus and CU Colorado Springs. Keep an eye on CU on Coursera offerings for frequent updates.
The Coursera Partner Consortium enables universities that create content on Coursera to share it with students from other participating institutions. Explore Coursera Partner Consortium offerings.
Degree Programs
Through an innovative partnership with Coursera, and with the support of the Office of Academic Learning and Innovation (ALI), CU Boulder has successfully launched four flexible online master's degrees and five certificates on Coursera.
These programs offer performance-based admissions (no transcripts or applications required), six enrollment periods throughout the year, eight-week terms, the opportunity to audit courses before enrolling, and asynchronous, self-guided courses.
Through CU on Coursera, CU affiliates can access premium content and earn Coursera certificates in the noncredit (open) versions of courses in these programs.
Follow the links below to learn more about each program:
- Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MS-EE)
- Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM)
- Master of Science in Data Science (MS-DS)
- Master of Science in Computer Science (MS-CS)
How to access Coursera
Audit courses and specializations for free or access premium content and earn a shareable certificate of achievement by purchasing an individual course or a basic monthly subscription for a specialization.
Alternatively, a Coursera Plus subscription offers unlimited access to over 7,000 courses, projects and job-ready certificate programs.
Students, Faculty and Staff
- Visit the Coursera website and click Join for Free to create an account.
- In the pop-up window, click Sign up with your organization at the bottom. This is the login method you will always use for accessing your CU-affiliated Coursera account.
- Enter the organizational URL for CU Boulder: colorado.edu.
- Enter your IdentiKey username and password.
- If you have an existing personal account, you can link your CU-affiliated account to transfer progress from previous courses.
- Enroll in any CU on Coursera or CU Partner Consortium course and Coursera will recognize your affiliation and bypass payment requirements, audit other courses and specializations for free, or access premium content with a Coursera subscription.
Non-affiliates
- Visit the Coursera website and click Join for Free to create an account.
- Audit courses and specializations for free or access premium content with a Coursera subscription.
How to get support
For technical support, learners should visit Coursera's Learner Help Center to browse help articles, find answers to common questions, or reach out to Coursera support.
Current and prospective degree-seeking students looking for program-related support should contact the relevant program. This includes questions about curriculum, course content, academic advising, enrollment and payment.
Coursera Accessibility
CU Boulder and the Office of Academic and Learning Innovation are committed to providing accessible content to all learners.
All learners can submit a request for accommodations to Coursera Customer Support. The request should indicate what modifications are needed and which course(s) the accommodation is for. Visit the Learner Help Center to read Coursera's accessibility policy and learn about accommodations for learners with disabilities.
If you are enrolled in a CU Boulder degree program and qualify for accommodations, please submit your accommodation letter from Disability Services to your program in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed.
Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities in the academic environment. Information on requesting accommodations is located on the Disability Services website. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or dsinfo@colorado.edu for further assistance.
If you have a temporary medical condition, see Temporary Medical Conditions on the Disability Services website.
