Princeton free online courses and the certificate question
None of Princeton's open courses offers a certificate, free or paid. Princeton's own FAQ states that no certificates, statements of accomplishment or other credentials are offered for its open online courses, and every Coursera course page listed here repeats that no certificates, credentials or reports are awarded. There is nothing to upgrade to and nothing to buy.
What you get instead of a certificate
You get the whole course. Each Coursera page states that all the features of the course are available for free, and that includes the assessed work: Algorithms, Part I runs weekly exercises, weekly programming assignments, weekly interview questions and a final exam, and Algorithms, Part II sets weekly programming assignments and interview questions. The textbooks the courses are based on are optional.
If a credential matters to you, free certifications lists providers that issue one at no cost, and free online courses with certificates compares paid and free options.
Princeton on edX: free audit with no paid track
Constitutional Interpretation is Princeton's PrincetonX course on edX. It is taken in the audit track, which edX describes as limited access without a certificate. Because Princeton offers no verified certificate, there is no paid track to move to; the only limit is time, since edX audit access ends when the course run does. Several older PrincetonX runs are archived or no longer published, so check the run dates on the edX page.
How to enrol in a Princeton course on Coursera or edX
Princeton hosts its open courses on the two platforms rather than on its own site.
- On Coursera, create a free account and open the course page. Because Princeton offers no certificate there is no paid option to decline; the free route is the complete course, including assignments.
- Every Princeton course listed here is labelled flexible schedule on Coursera, so you set your own pace. Coursera also states an estimated effort for each course.
- On edX, create a free account, open the Constitutional Interpretation page and enrol in the audit track at no cost.
- Plan to finish an edX course inside its run, because there is no way to extend audit access by paying.
What you can study with Princeton for free
The listed courses fall into computer science, mathematics, ethics and society, science and law. No Princeton course in data science, AI, languages or marketing is listed here.
Computer science and programming in Java
Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose is the beginner entry point: Java from variables and loops to recursion and data types, estimated at about two months. Its sequel, Computer Science: Algorithms, Theory, and Machines, is intermediate level, moving from sorting and searching to Turing machines and how a processor executes programs. It is estimated at two weeks.
Algorithms, Part I and Algorithms, Part II are Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne's intermediate-level course on sorting, searching, graphs and strings with Java implementations. Part I runs five weeks and Part II six weeks. Computer Architecture is advanced and assumes an undergraduate background in processor design. It runs five weeks. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies explains how Bitcoin works technically; no level is given. It is estimated at about two weeks. More options sit under computer science and programming.
Mathematics behind algorithms
Analysis of Algorithms is labelled advanced and covers recurrences, generating functions and asymptotics. It is estimated at two weeks. Its companion Analytic Combinatorics is intermediate and teaches the symbolic method and complex-analysis asymptotics in full. It is estimated at two weeks. Both assume a strong mathematics background rather than an introductory one. See also free mathematics courses.
Ethics, philosophy and society
Effective Altruism is Peter Singer's beginner-level course on doing the most good; its first module includes a refresher for people without philosophy. It is estimated at 1 week. Food Ethics applies four ethical theories to what we eat, with an interest in food or philosophy as its only prerequisite. It runs five weeks. Paradoxes of War is a conceptual course on why societies fight, and Global Systemic Risk is a beginner-level course on globalisation, networks and risk with no technical background required. Paradoxes of War runs two weeks and Global Systemic Risk two weeks.
Science and law
Imagining Other Earths covers planets, stars and the search for life in twenty-five short modules, with no prerequisites. It runs about three weeks. Constitutional Interpretation is intermediate level, on judicial review, federalism and the courts' role in securing rights; it is Princeton's only entry in the law hub. It runs seven weeks at 2 to 5 hours a week.
How long do Princeton's free courses take?
Coursera's estimates run from 1 week for Effective Altruism to about two months for Programming with a Purpose. Algorithms, Theory, and Machines is estimated at two weeks, Analysis of Algorithms at two weeks, Analytic Combinatorics at two weeks, Bitcoin at two weeks, Paradoxes of War at two weeks and Global Systemic Risk at two weeks.
Imagining Other Earths is estimated at three weeks. Algorithms Part I is estimated at five weeks and Food Ethics at five weeks. Algorithms Part II is estimated at six weeks. The edX course is seven weeks at 2 to 5 hours a week. Every course is self-paced, so treat these as planning figures, except on edX where the run end date applies.
Difficulty is uneven. Analysis of Algorithms and Computer Architecture are labelled advanced, the two Algorithms parts, Algorithms, Theory, and Machines, Analytic Combinatorics and Constitutional Interpretation are intermediate, and Programming with a Purpose, Effective Altruism, Food Ethics and Global Systemic Risk are beginner level. Bitcoin, Paradoxes of War and Imagining Other Earths carry no level label.