How to Get Free Certificates on Coursera (Financial Aid)

One of the best Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) providers in the world—Coursera—no longer offers free Certificates of Accomplishment. Students who wish to earn Course Certificates after they complete and pass a course have to pay for it.

But:

There’s an option to apply for financial aid on Coursera.

Financial aid allows learners who face significant economic hardship to achieve Course Certificates without spending a dime.

Financial aid eligibility

To qualify for Coursera’s financial aid, you must show that:

• Paying the cost of the Course Certificate would lead to economic hardship
• The Course Certificate would be of a great value to your education or career
• You’re committed to contributing positively to the course community
• You’d uphold a high standard of academic integrity

Applying for financial aid on coursera.org

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to do so:

1). Login to your account on coursera.org

2). On your account dashboard, click on the “catalog” button.

3). Select your course field and course or specialization respectively. Courses or specializations on Coursera are grouped into the following fields:

• Arts and Humanities
• Computer Science
• Data Science
• Math and Logic
• Personal Development
• Physical Science and Engineering
• Social Sciences

4). For courses: follow the links in the course site to purchase a Course Certificate [Otherwise, move to step 5].

5). For new platform Specializations, choose the “Pay-By-Course” option.

Note: You’ll need to do this for each course you want to enrol to.

6). Click on the financial aid button on the final payment screen

Note: The financial aid link is at the bottom of the page, and it’s not bright. So you can use the “find” feature in your browser to look for it.

7). Complete the financial aid form with the necessary information and submit.

You’d receive a confirmation email respectively.

Illustration

Course chosen: “Inspirational Leadership: Leading with sense”—a specialization course under Leadership and Management (Business).

I clicked on the enrol button.

A pop-up page came up with an option asking if I wanted to pay for the whole specialization or just for a course. I selected the “pay-by-course” option.

I was directed to a page requesting my mode of payment (credit card or Paypal).

Below that page—at the right side was the “Apply for Financial Aid” link. I clicked on it.

I was directed to the financial aid page where I was asked the following questions:

• What is your annual income in USD?
• Which country are you currently located in?
• Please tell us why you are taking this course. What is your interest in this field? How would a Verified Certificate be valuable to you? (50-300 words)
• When participating in this course, how do you intend to demonstrate academic integrity and contribute to the course’s community? (50-300 words)

I completed the form and clicked the submit button.

I received a confirmation email confirming I had signed-up for the course via Signature Track.