SHould I have my kid pursue coursera / edx courses?

[miamivice]

Friend of mine has his kid doing part time independent studies at his high school. Apparently, the student is taking courses of interest to him and his dad says that he'll receive college credit while in high school for the courser / edx courses.

Since we didn't have any of this when I was in school, I'm curious to learn more. Is this something that I should have my student look into? Some questions that pop into my head:

- Is it a thing that high school students can get college credit through Coursera / EdX?
- Are these courses preferable to take in lieu of standard high school courses?
- Is it purposeful, or is it better for my student to just focus on normal high school courses?

Thanks!

[Kagord]

College credit is ambiguous, from my experience, the better private schools don't like to take an IB Diploma, or the less rigorous AP classes in lieu of credits, I doubt they would take a self study, non standard class formats. As to your reference of your friend, the high school may have worked something out in their curriculum, if they didn't offer something, perhaps, but I would think there would have to be an AP test or something to show competence in the subject.

That being said, there's some great leanings from these sites that can help with breadth of knowledge, and maybe talking points on a college essay or future job interview. I still review these courses of interest to me, and I'm almost retired. So yeah, augmenting high school with interests that could help down the road, sure, if they have the time.

[gtd98765]

I recommend you call your child's high school guidance counselors and ask. They are probably still working from home.

[KlangFool]

OP,

There are two separate questions here:

A) Whether my kids should study some courses from coursera/eDx?

The answer is yes.

B) Whether my kids will receive college credit from the courses?

The answer is maybe. And, my question to you is why do this matters?

i) If you know the materials, you could always take a CLEP exam to earn the credit.

https://clep.collegeboard.org/exams

ii) Even if you do not earn the credit, getting prepared for college is always a good thing.

KlangFool

[TomatoTomahto]

IME, the better colleges won’t give college credit for those (online, IB, AP, etc) courses, but they are open to letting students move up the value chain by bypassing prerequisites.

Additionally, some students will realize that the major they expected to want wasn’t actually what they want. Time saved.

Well worth it.

[Dottie57]

IME, the better colleges won’t give college credit for those (online, IB, AP, etc) courses, but they are open to letting students move up the value chain by bypassing prerequisites.

Additionally, some students will realize that the major they expected to want wasn’t actually what they want. Time saved.

Well worth it.

+1. I like Coursera. Some interesting courses. But not quite college level.

[wfrobinette]

IME, the better colleges won’t give college credit for those (online, IB, AP, etc) courses, but they are open to letting students move up the value chain by bypassing prerequisites.

Additionally, some students will realize that the major they expected to want wasn’t actually what they want. Time saved.

Well worth it.

+1. I like Coursera. Some interesting courses. But not quite college level.

Some are college level and get you credit.

[AnonLady]

I have been auditing a course on Coursera that is actually taught by a professor from the University that I did my PhD at, to learn some new skills for work. I'm planning on taking a Python course in Coursera after that.

It only costs $70 a month, that's such a steal in the higher education world. I think Coursera is a great place for you kid to try out different fields he/she might be interested in pursuing in college and to learn valuable skills. I don't know about college credits for it, that depends on the college, but as far as whether it's a good learning experience, it's great, IMO, as long as your kid is able to work independently.

[WildBill]

Howdy

There is no general answer because universities differ in how they award course credit for outside courses. Our experience with several universities is that if you have mastered course material outside of the university classes, it is going to benefit you in one way or another, be it credit, advanced standing, research opportunities or whatever. In general, if you can demonstrate mastery, good things will happen.

For specific universities: Examples (slightly dated information)

Caltech - no such thing as credit for a non-Caltech course.

MIT - Up to the department, in general credit for an MIT-equivalent course, to be decided by department review.

Harvard - Credit for AP courses based on score and registrar review.

Stanford - Ditto

Texas A &M - Credit for some Texas community college courses, many CLEP courses, equivalent courses from other universities, and AP courses.

I do not know of any universities awarding credit for edX or Coursera courses, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from encouraging any student to take them. If you have mastery of the material it is going to benefit you.

Happy studying

W B

[Dottie57]

IME, the better colleges won’t give college credit for those (online, IB, AP, etc) courses, but they are open to letting students move up the value chain by bypassing prerequisites.

Additionally, some students will realize that the major they expected to want wasn’t actually what they want. Time saved.

Well worth it.

+1. I like Coursera. Some interesting courses. But not quite college level.

Some are college level and get you credit.

Which colleges give credit.

[BrownEyedGirl_27]

Yes. Coursera is a great platform and vets great professors. I would take an official course from them either while in school or for future career training. I don’t know if the free courses are worth much time wise but you can audit any class.

If your kid is thinking about going into any creative field or into business management, check out Lynda.com (LinkedIn Learning). You can look up your public library and if your library is participating, you can use Lynda.com for free using your library card credentials. I’m currently using it to brush up on industry skills before I go back into my field. Great learning hub for soft skills too like public speaking and building a personal brand.

[GLState]

IME, the better colleges won’t give college credit for those (online, IB, AP, etc) courses, but they are open to letting students move up the value chain by bypassing prerequisites.

Additionally, some students will realize that the major they expected to want wasn’t actually what they want. Time saved.

Well worth it.

+1. I like Coursera. Some interesting courses. But not quite college level.

Some are college level and get you credit.

Which colleges give credit.

Arizona State gives credit for some classes on EdX.
https://www.edx.org/course?search_query=arizona+state

[tenkuky]

I wonder...
Can a Coverdell or 529 account cover this as an eligible expense?

[lindsayinsf]

- Is it a thing that high school students can get college credit through Coursera / EdX?

I doubt many accredited universities would accept this type of coursework for college credit. Does the program (Coursera, etc) website say anything about this?

- Are these courses preferable to take in lieu of standard high school courses?
- Is it purposeful, or is it better for my student to just focus on normal high school courses?

If your student is interested in learning material that these types of platforms offer, then that seems like a fine use of their free time. If they are choosing how to spend their limited time studying, I would focus on regular high school work first.

If you are interested in obtaining college credit prior to starting college, then look into local community college classes and AP high school classes.

[WildBill]

IME, the better colleges won’t give college credit for those (online, IB, AP, etc) courses, but they are open to letting students move up the value chain by bypassing prerequisites.

Additionally, some students will realize that the major they expected to want wasn’t actually what they want. Time saved.

Well worth it.

+1. I like Coursera. Some interesting courses. But not quite college level.

Some are college level and get you credit.

Which colleges give credit.

Arizona State gives credit for some classes on EdX.
https://www.edx.org/course?search_query=arizona+state

Howdy

I was curious about the ASU program and checked it out. Doesn’t appear to be working very well.


https://iblnews.org/asu-abandons-the-gl ... nitiative/

[wfrobinette]

IME, the better colleges won’t give college credit for those (online, IB, AP, etc) courses, but they are open to letting students move up the value chain by bypassing prerequisites.

Additionally, some students will realize that the major they expected to want wasn’t actually what they want. Time saved.

Well worth it.

+1. I like Coursera. Some interesting courses. But not quite college level.

Some are college level and get you credit.

Which colleges give credit.

Maybe there is a misunderstanding. There are several bachelors, masters and certificates offered by reputable schools on Coursera.

[wfrobinette]

+1. I like Coursera. Some interesting courses. But not quite college level.

Some are college level and get you credit.

Which colleges give credit.

Arizona State gives credit for some classes on EdX.
https://www.edx.org/course?search_query=arizona+state

Howdy

I was curious about the ASU program and checked it out. Doesn’t appear to be working very well.


https://iblnews.org/asu-abandons-the-gl ... nitiative/

Yeah. But the numbers may be misleading. I see 8000+ students that got credit. I see a couple hundred thousand that tried it and did complete it. It would have been interesting to see the demographics of those students.

[Whakamole]

I did not find Coursera courses very useful. The ones I took were focused on machine learning.

[Jack FFR1846]

WPI won't give credit but because they don't force anyone to take pre-requisites, if the kid has learned all that's needed from a Calc 1 course, they can enroll into a Calc 2 course right from the start. However, there are number of credit requirements in disciplines, so the kid will end up taking the rest of the calc series and still need a few more maths. The bad news is that he didn't shorten the time or reduce cost, but if he likes math or wants to broaden to different math topics, he can.

I would also caution that calc 3, for example is NOT the same from one college to the next. My son (at WPI) reviewed one calc course (don't remember which) which WPI had granted transfer credit from his freshman year college (he transferred in). He determined that half the topics were not covered in the course he already took, so he took it again at WPI to be prepared for the next calc course.

[quantAndHold]

Coursera is great for general learning, but the “college” courses they offer are short versions of the actual college course, that just hit the high points of what the actual university course teaches. For a high school kid with time on their hands that wants to get a jump on the material for the courses they’re planning on taking in college, I think it’s great. I wouldn’t expect anyone to give actual college credit for a Cousera class, however.