Can you really get a free Harvard education?

I have blogged on taking free online college courses before but since it is back in the headlines again I felt that it was time to give you an update.   

By Terence Chea, Associated Press | Associated Press – Fri, Aug 10, 2012 4:29 PM EDT

From Harvard to Stanford, a growing number of elite universities are throwing open their digital doors to the masses. They're offering their most popular courses online for no charge, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to learn from world-renowned scholars and scientists.
Many colleges have offered Web-based courses for years, but the participation of top-tier research universities marks a major milestone in the expansion of digital learning.
The proliferation of so-called massive open online courses, or MOOCs, has the potential to transform higher education at a time when colleges and universities are grappling with shrinking budgets, rising costs and protests over soaring tuition and student debt.
Supporters say these online courses can lower teaching costs, improve learning online and on campus, and significantly expand access to higher education, which could fuel technological innovation and economic growth.
"It holds the potential for serving many, many hundreds of thousands of students in a way we simply cannot today," said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education.
Last month, a dozen major research universities announced they would begin offering courses on the online learning platform Coursera, joining Stanford and Princeton universities and the universities of Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The University of California, Berkeley said it would start making online courses available this fall through edX, a competing Web portal launched in May by Harvard University and MIT with $60 million in funding from the two schools.

As I have told you in my past post students cannot earn college credit for the classes.   It looks like the day may come where all of that just might change.  For now, it is a great way to learn from some of the nation's best educators at no cost.  If you are needing some education and don't have to have the college credit to go with it then this is your time to take action.  Check out the free college courses and start learning at no cost to you.  As I always say, "Free is always better".