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This service is for faculty, staff, and students.
Due to recent budget constraints and a plethora of free/low-cost alternatives, we are ending our enterprise contract with Linked-In Learning as of July 1, 2024. Currently, the cost is spread across three University units (ITS, HR, and OCB); however low utilization rates among students, faculty, and staff indicate this is not a wise use of University financial resources. The Opus College of Business (OCB) will continue to fund a subset of licenses for their use. Faculty, staff and students could purchase individual subscriptions (the current rate is: $239.88/annual or $39.00/monthly); however, these will not be centrally managed.
In the past few years, the marketplace for free/low-cost educational content has significantly expanded. We encourage you to explore options to augment academic course content and/or to support professional development goals. Below, you’ll find a curated list of platforms offering free or low-cost courses across a variety of subjects, including technical skills and soft skills.
- Coursera: Offers a variety of free courses across technical and soft skills areas, including data analysis, programming, and social sciences, provided by top institutions and companies like Google. While the courses are free, there is often a fee for receiving a certificate, though financial aid is available for those who qualify. (Coursera)
- edX: Provides a comprehensive range of free courses from universities around the world. Courses on subjects like data analysis, computer science, and soft skills are available at no cost, though a fee may apply for certification. edX also offers MicroBachelors and MicroMasters programs, which might be of interest for more in-depth learning. (edX)
- Khan Academy: Perfect for learning a wide range of subjects including math, science, and computing, as well as humanities subjects like economics and arts. All resources on Khan Academy are available for free. (Kahn Academy)
- MIT OpenCourseWare: Offers free course materials from a wide range of disciplines. It's a fantastic resource for high-quality educational content from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (MIT OpenCourseWare)
- OpenStax: Provides free, peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks, which are also available in low-cost print versions from Rice University. This resource is excellent for foundational texts across various subjects. (OpenStax)
- JSTOR Open Content: Provides thousands of free journal articles and open access books, supporting research across numerous academic fields. This is valuable for in-depth research projects. (JSTOR Open Content)
- Project Gutenberg: This platform offers over 60,000 free ebooks, focusing on older works in the public domain. It’s particularly useful for courses that require classic literature or historical texts. (Project Gutenberg)
- Internet Archive: A digital library offering free access to books, movies, music, and more. It's a great resource for accessing a wide range of materials, including out-of-print books and historical collections. (Internet Archive)
- freeCodeCamp: An excellent resource for learning programming and data analysis. They offer an extensive catalog of courses in Python, web development, and data analysis that are entirely free and come with practical projects to enhance learning and portfolio building. (freecodecamp).
- DataQuest: Specializes in data science and analytics with hands-on learning experiences. It offers free access to the initial courses in Python, SQL, and data analytics, which can be very beneficial for beginners looking to break into the field. (Dataquest)
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