Students at the University of Illinois soon will have new course options that won’t break the bank.
The institution will offer several online classes this fall free of charge, according to the Chicago Tribune. U. of I. will join a list of other schools including the University of Michigan and Princeton University to team up with Coursera, a free online class program that allows anyone to access courses by creating a login to the website.
Champaign-Urbana will offer its first classes in microeconomics, organic chemistry and programming for smart phones with plans to expand the amount of classes in the upcoming semesters, the Tribune reports.
If students choose to take these classes, they won’t be receiving any college credit. According to the Tribune, students could end up paying the university as much as $80 for proof of completion of the course.
The university is working on a deal with Coursera to receive compensation for the exchange of information of students who agree to share it.
Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng said he hopes to see the University of Illinois’ participation eventually grow to millions of students using the online program.
