Education is such a valuable things these days, and with the power of the Internet, there is no reason people should be without it. However, with all this information flying around, it can be a little difficult rooting out the bad facts from the good ones. With that said, a few websites have set out to provide decent education in the format of online universities. However, what makes it great is that these websites offer all of their material for free (well, for the most part).

Granted, these sites are not true, accredited universities. However, if education is what you are truly wanting, then these sites are for you. Besides, what is a piece of paper without the desire to learn? These sites pull their information from people who want to teach with the idea that it will be going to people who want to learn. With that in mind, when people are doing what they love, you know that this information will be great.

University Of The People

As already mentioned here on MakeUseOf, the University of the People is a tuition-free university devoted to providing easily-accessible education who would otherwise be unable to acquire it. The school requires an application process much like any other institution, and although the tuition is free, there are a few minor fees. For instance, the application itself is $10-$50, and end-of-course exams are $100 each. Granted, financial aid is available for these items, and this still is cheaper than going to a full-fledged university.

That said, the university is not accredited, so your educational experience may be viewed as questionable. However, if you are in it just to learn, then I believe that the university will have served its purpose. I certainly think this is an evolution in education, but it may not be as widely-accepted as it should be.

Reddit University

Reddit University is not exactly affiliated with Reddit itself, but its users do flock from the “mothership”. The site itself functions quite a bit like Reddit with its upvote and downvote system, and the categories of classes are quite reminiscent of Reddit. The website has gained a great deal of credibility by users, but in the context of higher-level academics, the courses would not exactly be recognized.

This website is a great source for those of you are just simply willing to learn, and it’s even better for redditors who are already used to the open-format discussion style that Reddit already makes available. Classes range all the way from computer science to art, and there’s even an option to actually teach classes if one so desires.

The University of Reddit is mostly focused on the sharing of academic information rather than popular culture information as its sans-University counterpart.

No Excuse List

The No Excuse List describes itself as “the best place on the Internet to learn anything, free”, and it actually features a couple of the sites here. However, this website strays away from academics and dives into courses including cooking and even DIY projects. It’s a website for tinkerers, and furthermore, it amps up the whole “no excuse” mantra as a way to push people to do things that they have always wanted to do, but always found a reason not to. With categories that also include music, language, and programming, there will always be something to learn.

Conclusion

These are just three online universities that are out there, but really, it seems like the Internet itself is one big university! Just type a search into Google, and you have all of the world’s knowledge at your fingertips.

What other websites do you use to help you with your learning? Have you ever taken online classes?

Image Credit: mettem