The 30 Best Schools Offering Online Courses

If you want to expand your mind, learn new skills, and get credentials to change your life and career, you don’t have to go anywhere. In some cases, you don’t even need to pay. All it requires is a steady internet connection… and a list of the best schools offering online courses! We’ve got you covered so you can get started right away!

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METHODOLOGY

Let us help you find the best online school program that fits your educational requirements for starting a new career, a job promotion, or simply meeting your personal goals. Our researchers at PremiumSchools.org utilize these indicators of excellent academic standards to locate exceptional distance-learning degree school programs designed just for you.

The following schools are listed in random order. As every school displays its unique qualities and strengths, you should search our list based on your needs and career aspirations. On this list, we’ve ranked the best schools offering online courses. We used graduation rates, the average salary of graduates, and national rankings to calculate a final score for each school. Let’s see who cut!

In addition, the following factors were considered:

Offers online online classes for flexible or convenient attendance without compromising hands-on training,
Exhibits rigorous, yet engaging and innovative training in the desired coursework that takes into account the readiness of students to take the next step in their budding careers,
Taught by outstanding faculty consisting of experts in their fields,
Held in high esteem among academic agencies, industry organizations, and journalistic resources,
Displays stellar reviews and feedback from school alumni and students,
Offers a convenient application process,
Provides exceptional Student Career Centers, Resource Departments, and easy-to-use Learning Management Systems, where applicable,
Permits a wide range of scholarships, grants, and other financial support programs for eligible students,
Ensures the proper Accreditation by academic standards in all fields.

If you would like to learn more about our selection process, feel free to see our Methodology page!

30 BEST UNIVERSITIES THAT OFFER ONLINE CLASSES

Harvard University

Graduation Rate: 97%

Academics

Harvard is a private university headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1636, Ivy League. Harvard is known for its programs in education, government, business, medicine, engineering, and applied sciences, among many others. 8 U.S. presidents have graduated from Harvard, along with countless tycoons, educators, and other leaders in their respective fields. It holds the highest endowment of any school on the planet.

Its Harvard Extension School offers online:

Courses
Bachelor’s Degrees
Joint Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees
Premedical Studies

Students can access over 900 open-enrollment courses, 20-plus degrees, and almost 40 certificates through the Harvard Extension School. Some of these may require on-campus participation, so check carefully to make sure your area of interest delivers its work online. Some of the areas you can study include Education, Global Studies, Business & Management, Arts, Literature & Media, Life Sciences, and Technology, among many others.

Yale University

Graduation Rate: 97%

Online Courses

Yale is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1701. It’s an elite Ivy League school known for programs in Law, Medicine, Art, Nursing, Management, Music, Drama, and much more. Its alumni include Meryl Streep, Bob Woodward, and Edward Norton.

Its Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning offers a wide range of online courses in areas like:

Economics
English
Engineering
Music
Philosophy and much more.

If you’ve wanted to access prestigious Yale courses but can’t afford the school’s tuition, you’ll likely find something that appeals to you. Yale offers its online courses through YouTube, Coursera, iTunes U, and its Open Yale Courses platform. Many of these courses are provided gratis.

University of Pennsylvania

Graduation Rate: 96%

Online Learning

The University of Pennsylvania is a private institution in Philadelphia. It was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin. It’s divided into 12 schools. Five of them offer undergraduate and graduate programs and seven offer graduate programs. The school boasts elite programs in medicine, business, law, and computer science, among others. Its alumni include Donald Trump, William Carlos Williams, and John Legend.

Its online programs include offerings in:

Dental Education
Nursing Education
Medical Education
Arts & Sciences
Engineering

There are several other areas students can pursue. Many of these programs are continuing education, to professionally develop working adults who are entrenched in a field they’d like to grow in. There are open enrollment programs and courses. Students can also earn a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree through UPenn’s online wing.

Stanford University

Graduation Rate: 94%

Online at Stanford

Stanford is a private university in Stanford, California. It was founded in 1885. It’s known for being widely coveted by students across the country. It boasts top-tier programs in business, law, medicine, education, and engineering. It also has incredible musical and theatrical groups and is a powerhouse for creative writing. Some of its most notable alumni include former John Elway, Tiger Woods, and Sigourney Weaver.

Their online offerings include courses in:

Computer Security
Biomedical Informatics
Genetics
Statistics
Mechanical Engineering and much more

Students can take courses, graduate certificates, Master’s degrees, professional programs, and more through Stanford’s online wing. You can access free courses in Education, Engineering, Health & Medicine, Arts & Humanities, among other options.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Graduation Rate: 95%

MIT Open Learning

MIT is a private university that began serving students in 1861. It’s based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT is known for its technological and scientific research. The school boasts peerless programs in math, physics, computer science, and much more. Its notable alumni include astronaut Buzz Aldrin, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke.

MIT’s Open Courseware includes offerings from its schools of:

Engineering
Management Science
Architecture and Planning
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Professor Dick K.P. Yue summarizes the purpose of the MIT Open Courseware program succinctly: “The idea is simple: to publish all of our course materials online and make them widely available to everyone.” There are materials from 2400 courses, and the site has attracted 500 million visitors. This free access to prestigious MIT coursework can prove instrumental for any autodidact.