How Can Students Use Coursera for Duke?

Duke students, staff and instructors have access to thousands of Coursera courses for free. These courses can be used, wholesale or in part, to supplement official Duke courses or as ways to explore interests while considering future majors. They are available through Coursera for Duke.

You’re already at an excellent university. Why would you take Coursera courses?

  1. Level-ups. If you feel you could use a boost before starting a challenging course at Duke, you could look for a related course on Coursera to expand your understanding of the subject matter. 
  2. Practice spaces. Some courses include spaces where you can practice activities such as coding and receive feedback on your work. This can be a low-pressure environment to increase your skills before trying them in a graded situation.
  3. Exploration. If you think you might be interested in a particular major, you could look for related courses on Coursera and explore the subject further. If you determine whether the subject is right for you in a free Coursera course, instead of in a Duke class, you could save time (and money)—and you’re free to quit at any time without affecting your overall grade. 

How do you access the Coursera for Duke program?

Just logging into coursera.org will not take you to the Duke-sponsored content. (Duke students are free to explore anything on coursera.org, but they will be responsible for any fees outside of this program.) To access anything from Coursera for Duke, students should go here. You’ll need to click the “join” button in the middle of the top image, sign up with your NetID, and then you’ll receive access to thousands of courses created by many universities.

What kind of courses are available?

To find out more about the available courses, join the program, go here and use the search bar to find courses on the topics in which you’re interested. While Coursera has the most courses in STEM and data science, there are quite a few available in the arts and humanities. 

Will you get Duke course credit for any Coursera courses?

Duke’s Coursera courses are not official courses at Duke University and thus will not confer any official Duke course credit. Duke instructors may incorporate some course content as “level up” material or to supplement a regular Duke class, and some instructors use Coursera for Duke as a host for “boot camps”.

However, you may earn a Coursera certificate, which can be uploaded to your LinkedIn profile. To learn more about Coursera certificates, please see Coursera’s page on Course Certificates. Coursera certificates do not represent university credit or continuing education units from Duke and do not come with a Duke University transcript.

What do you do if you run into trouble with Coursera?

Coursera has extensive help documentation in the Learner Help Center, linked under the user’s profile picture. If you run into problems with your course or the Coursera site, that’s a good place to start troubleshooting. If the help documentation doesn’t resolve the issue, please email learninginnovation@duke.edu.