some free distance education or 500$ for a year

I don't think you will be able to find exactly what you are looking for. You seem to be asking for things that are mutually exclusive. You can have a free program, or you can have a legitimate diploma, but it is unlikely that you will find a program that offers both.

 

Yes, our esteemed Moderator wrote that, on Sept. 2, 2012. Here: http://www.degreeinfo.com/education-teaching-related-degrees/42912-degree-plan-comprised-free-courses.html

Still correct. There are, however, a few places with free courses - certificate optional at nominal cost. For example www.w3schools.com although their courses are not in Birkhoff's stated field. If you comb through the 14-page freebies thread, you may find some others. But the certificates are not for college credit, that I can think of. A few offer CEU's but that's different. Virtually non-exchangable for credit-hours. Might form part of a prior learning portfolio at college, though...

Johann

 

Birkhoff -

Free courses are good. But you should not expect miracles from them.

Johann

 

I'm a free course junkie. I have enjoyed free courses / lectures from Mercer, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, renowned French schools... Heck, I even have about 40 lectures on Bible Greek from the Nashville School of Preaching! :smile: Most of these treasures (and that's how I view them) came via downloads from Youtube University or ITunes U. But I never, ever expect any of these fine schools to grant me a single credit-hour for what I have enjoyed... all two drawers of DVDs worth!

No miracles. We don't live in Biblical times any more. :smile: Free is really good. Better than before. But (sigh) you have to understand the limitations.

Johann

 

Free Online Courses, Workplace Skills Training, Interactive Education and Multimedia Learning | ALISON
No degrees but diplomas. It said free. There are also languages.

 

A friend of mine did a couple of the Alison courses. They were extremely easy and the course was free, but you had to pay if you actually wanted a diploma or certificate. I can't remember how much it was, but it seems like it was around $75 to get a diploma from them.

Alison courses might be good for padding a resume if the person reviewing your resume wasn't aware of how easy the courses are. Other than that, I think they are mostly valuable as entertainment only.

 

We have a five-page thread on free courses with certificates. Of course the certificates may be optional at extra cost.

http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/31292-free-online-courses-certificates-michael-gates.html

The Alison Courses have been mentioned elsewhere in the forum. The prevailing opinion was the same as given by SurfDoctor. Most extremely easy and quick to complete. Some quite good info - even if very easy. Like our esteemed Moderator said - resume padders or fun-to-learn. Nothing serious.

Johann