Updated April 19, 2022

Didn’t make it into an Ivy League school? No problem. There are dozens of free Yale courses online taught by Yale University professors. Taking them is as simple as signing up. And perhaps the best part is, all of these massive open online courses with relevant course materials let you learn at your own pace, taking the stress out of education. At Yale University, there is a Yale center prioritizing research in different fields, such as humanities, arts, sciences, and more. These variety in these Yale courses reflects that as all of these Yale courses will benefit you, no matter if your goal is to learn something new to advance your career or instill new productive habits or simply for your own happiness because you’re interested.

30 Yale Free Courses You Can Take Online

Here are 30 of the best Yale free massive open online courses.

Yale Courses for Personal Development

The Science of Well-Being

This course is designed to help you improve your own happiness and increase your productivity. The professor dives into misconceptions about happiness, why our mind tricks us into thinking the way we do, and ways to help us change. The course will help you incorporate wellness into your life.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 19 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Persian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty & Stress

This course is designed to help teachers, counselors, principals, and other staff working at K-12 schools improve and protect their own mental health and teach strategies to their students. However, the content in the course is applicable to anyone who is interested in learning about how to better identify and manage their emotions in times of uncertainty and stress.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 10 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Coursera

Moralities of Everyday Life

What is morality? How do we develop our morals? What is kindness, and what is cruelty? This course seeks to answer those questions and others as it “explores the psychological foundations of our moral lives.” The course dives into topics such as compassion, the origins of morality, and our moral feelings towards family, friends, and loved ones, among others.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 24 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Albanian, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing

Do you have a child? Are you expecting one? Either way, this course will help you “develop the behaviors you would like to see in your child.” You’ll learn a ton of techniques, including how to effectively modify your tone of voice and phrasing to instill more compliance in your child. The course also exposes many “parenting misconceptions and ineffective strategies.”

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 21 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Yale Courses for Arts and Humanities

Music and Social Action

What is the role of a classical musician? Do classical musicians “have an obligation and an opportunity to serve the needs of the world with their musicianship?” This course dives into answering those questions and others as it explores examples of musical and artistic initiatives that were focused on positive social impact in the past.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 26 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English, French, Portuguese (European), Russian, and Spanish
Vendor: Coursera

Introduction to Classical Music

Do you want to get into classical music but don’t know where to start? This course will introduce you to “the wonders of classical music, from Bach fugues to Mozart symphonies to Puccini operas.” In an easy-to-understand way, the course breaks down the elements of classical music and covers its history, from the middle ages to modern times.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 66 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Modern Poetry

Looking to expand your understanding of poetry? This is the perfect opportunity. This course dives into the techniques, concerns, and practitioners of modern poetry. It covers many famous poets, including Yeats, Eliot, Pound, Stevens, Moore, Bishop, and Frost, and explores the poetry of World War I, Imagism, and the Harlem Renaissance.

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 25 50-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

Introduction to Theory of Literature

Whether you’re new to the subject or consider yourself to be a literature buff, you will learn from this course. It dives into the main trends in twentieth-century literary theory and explores fundamental questions, including what is literature, how is it produced, how can it be understood, and what is its purpose?

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 26 50-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner

This course dives into the works of three historically significant and celebrated authors, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and William Faulkner. According to the course description, this course explores their interconnections on three scales, including “the macro history of the United States and the world; the formal and stylistic innovations of modernism; and the small details of sensory input and psychic life.”

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 25 50-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

Roman Architecture

Do you love to travel? Or maybe you’re more interested in history. This course dives into everything Roman architecture. You’ll learn about how architecture evolved throughout the history of the Roman Empire and how architecture shaped the Roman Empire’s politics, society, and culture.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 40 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

African American History: From Emancipation to the Present

This course dives into the African American experience in the United States from the middle of the 1800s to recent times. It covers many important topics, including the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction, African American’s urbanization experiences, the civil rights movement and its aftermath, and the philosophies and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 25 75-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877

This course is a dive into the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War. Ultimately, the course is intended to help you better understand the meanings of the transformative event. It explores the crisis of union and disunion, slavery, race, and emancipation, the experience of war for individuals and society, the political and social challenges of Reconstruction, and more.

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 27 50-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times Specialization

What is our role as humans on Earth? This three-course specialization combines the discoveries of the evolutionary sciences with history, philosophy, art, and religion to “demonstrate an understanding of the unfolding of the universe, Earth, and humans,” assess the development of cosmological thought, and help you understand what cosmological events have contributed to our existence.

The first course takes approximately 24 hours to complete, while the second course takes 40 and the third takes 25 hours. You can take any one course or all of the Yale courses for free.

The 3 Yale courses:

Course 1: Journey to the Universe: The Unfolding of Life

Course 2: Journey Conversations: Weaving Knowledge and Action

Course 3: The Worldview of Thomas Berry: The Flourishing of the Earth Community

College credits: NO — Courses Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 5 months (5 hours/week)
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Yale Courses for Health and Medicine

Health Behavior Change: From Evidence to Action

Every day, we make decisions that directly impact our health. This course will help you better understand the factors that contribute to the health decisions that you make. Through a series of course materials and exercises, you’ll learn how to apply the theory of health behavior change to impact the health decisions that you make in your own life.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 15 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Introduction to Psychology

This course is an exciting introduction to the subject of psychology. In an effort to provide an overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior, the course dives into answering many fascinating questions, including “What are people most afraid of? What do our dreams mean? Are we natural-born racists? What makes us happy? What are the causes and cures of mental illness?” It explores a wide variety of topics, including perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, persuasion, emotions, and social behavior.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 15 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Essentials of Global Health

Have you ever wondered what people get sick, disabled, and die from? Have you thought about why they suffer from these conditions and which people get most affected? Are you curious about what can be done to address these issues in fast and sustainable ways? This course on global health seeks to answer all of these questions and more. The course focuses on low- and middle-income countries and the links between global health and development.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 70 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Understanding Medical Research: Your Facebook Friend is Wrong

Don’t fall for fake medical news. This course will teach you how to effectively interpret medical studies and “determine for yourself the difference between good and bad science.” The course dives into topics such as study design, research methods, and statistical interpretation. Additionally, it covers the “dark side of medical research,” including fraud, biases, and common misinterpretations of data.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 17 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Anatomy of the Chest, Abdomen, and Pelvis

There are few better ways to develop an understanding of the human anatomy of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis than by taking this course. However, those who get queasy should stay away, as this course features course materials and videos of human dissection.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 15 hours
Difficulty level: Intermediate
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Yale Courses for Business

Financial Markets

This course provides an “overview of the ideas, methods, and institutions that permit human society to manage risks and foster enterprise.” You’ll receive an introduction to risk management and behavioral finance principles so that you can better understand the operations of securities, insurance, and banking industries.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 32 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Financial Theory

This course “explains the role and importance of the financial system in the global economy.” It seeks to explain the financial world as a part of the global economy, rather than separating the two. It will also help you understand the kind of thinking and analysis done by hedge funds.

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 26 75-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

Introduction to Negotiation: A Strategic Playbook for Becoming a Principled and Persuasive Negotiator

This course will set you on track to become an expert negotiator. It explores the framework and shaping of effective negotiation and will teach you how to make principled arguments to successfully persuade others. Expert instructors will even teach you how to negotiate when you have no power, negotiate over email, and the role of gender differences in negotiation.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 31 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

The Global Financial Crisis

Remember the global financial crisis of 2008? This course, co-taught by former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner, explores its causes, events, policy responses, and the aftermath.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 64 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

Yale Courses for Social Sciences

Moral Foundations of Politics

This course explores the Western answers to the question, “When do governments deserve our allegiance, and when should they be denied it?” It dives into the political theories of the Enlightenment, including Marxism, Utilitarianism, and the social contract tradition. From there, it addresses anti-Enlightenment theories, and the last part of the course goes over democratic politics and their relationship to Enlightenment and anti-Enlightenment thinking.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 45 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

America’s Unwritten Constitution

Taught by Akhil Reed Amar, the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, this course provides an introduction to basic techniques of constitutional interpretation. Over the course of 13 modules, Professor Amar will teach you how to go beyond the text of the U.S. Constitution, while still remaining faithful to it.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: Approximately 17 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in French, Portuguese (European), Chinese (Simplified), Russian, English and Spanish
Vendor: Coursera

America’s Written Constitution

Do you want to develop a better understanding of the Constitution? Then this course, taught by Akhil Reed Amar, the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, is for you. It introduces the principal themes of the American Constitution, including popular sovereignty, separation of powers, federalism, and rights. You’ll develop an understanding of what influenced the Constitution and explore what the Founders were thinking and what influenced them when drafting the historical document.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 20 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English, French, Portuguese (European), Russian, and Spanish
Vendor: Coursera

A Law Student’s Toolkit

“Whether you are an advanced law student looking to review the basics or an aspiring law student looking for a head start, this course will help you build the foundation you will need to succeed in law school and beyond,” the course description states. This course will give you an introduction (or refresher) to terminology, concepts, and tools lawyers and legal academics use to make their arguments. Throughout the course, you’ll begin to develop the tools you need to make legal arguments of your own.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 16 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French
Vendor: Coursera

American Contract Law I

Are you interested in going to law school and want an example of the contract law topics you’ll learn in year one? Are you already in law school and want free information to accompany your curriculum? Or maybe you’re just simply interested in the subject. No matter what your situation is, this course will help you develop a fundamental understanding of contract law in the United States. You’ll learn many of the key concepts taught in a first-year law school class. By the end of the course, you’ll understand how a valid and enforceable contract is created.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 16 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Vendor: Coursera

American Contract Law II

This course is a follow-up to American Contract Law I. It dives deeper into the fundamental concepts of American contract law that you would learn about in year one of law school. By the end of the course, you’ll understand what would make an otherwise valid contract void, the content of a contractual obligation, and the types of available remedies for a breach of contract.

College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 39 hours
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English, French, Portuguese (European), Russian, and Spanish
Vendor: Coursera

Yale Courses for Science and Engineering

Freshman Organic Chemistry I

Organic chemistry is well known as one of the most difficult courses an undergraduate student can take. If you’re currently enrolled in an organic chemistry course at your university, this course could easily supplement your education to help you get some extra practice and better understand the topics. According to the course description, it “is focused on current theories of structure and mechanism in organic chemistry, their historical development, and their basis in experimental observation.”

A follow-up course, called Freshman Organic Chemistry II, dives into more advanced topics.

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 37 50-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

Fundamentals of Physics I

This course dives into the introductory principles and methods of physics, with an emphasis on problem-solving and quantitative reasoning. Specifically, the course covers Newtonian mechanics, special relativity, gravitation, thermodynamics, and waves.

A follow-up course, called Fundamentals of Physics II, dives into more advanced topics.

College credits: NO
Price: FREE to audit — There is no course certificate upon completion
Pace: Self-paced
Time needed for completion: 24 75-minute lectures
Difficulty level: Beginner
Languages: English with subtitles in English
Vendor: Open Yale Courses

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this list of free online Yale courses along with relevant course materials! If you’re lucky enough to have a few free hours in your week, it would be hard to find a better way to spend them than by trying out new productive habits and taking massive open online courses taught by some of the most acclaimed professors in the country. There’s no money or serious time commitment attached to these Yale courses. All you need to do is enroll.

For more massive open online courses, check TUN’s list of curated classes, or use the online classes search engine to find the best online courses in any subject.