Google, Amazon, IBM, and more major companies offer free or cheap online courses taught by their staff - gain entry-level skills and certificates from the best teachers in the field

Find all Google classes on edX and Coursera here 

As one of the world's most recognizable companies whose raison d'etre is to organize and increase the accessibility of information, Google pairs wonderfully with MOOCs (massive open online courses). 

Most Google courses are free to audit, and students can pay a small fee to receive a certificate upon completion. Skill levels required vary from introductory to intermediate. 

Courses range from Coronavirus Powersearching to a Google IT professional certificate program, and instructors include Google employees, like Daniel Russell, a senior research scientist in search quality and user happiness. You can also find Google courses taught in Portuguese and Spanish.  

Once students complete in-depth programs like its Automation with Python Certificate program, they can also opt to share their information with potential employers.

Power Searching with Google

Here, beginners learn how to create an effective query on Google  — from the basics to advanced operators like intext: filetype: and site: that narrow results. Students will also learn how to determine if information is credible. It's taught by Daniel Russell, a member of the Google Search engineering team since 2005, and will take approximately three weeks to complete.

Coronavirus Powersearching

Learn the best online search methods for finding fast, accurate medical information. This course will take approximately two weeks to complete, and it's taught by a senior research scientist at Google and the Director of Cancer Health and Communications Research at the University of Michigan.

Cloud Engineering with Google Cloud Professional Certificate

This six-course professional certificate program builds the skills needed for a career in cloud architecture. It's designed as part of a pathway to earning your Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification — including sample questions and practice quizzes similar to those on the exam. You'll earn a certificate of completion, and it will take approximately four months to complete.

Google IT Support Professional Certificate

This five-course certificate program prepares you for an entry-level job in IT support through a curriculum developed by Google. The program is also ACE certified, so you can earn up to 12 college credits once it's completed. It will take approximately three to six months to finish. 

Find all Amazon Web Services classes on edX and Coursera here 

Amazon Web Services claims to be "the world's most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform." As such, it has dozens of affordable courses and programs teaching new and experienced users how to leverage AWS to power infrastructure, improve efficiency, and lower costs. 

Most AWS courses are free to audit, with a small fee for a certificate of completion.

AWS offers courses built for beginners, like the introductory courses included in the AWS Fundamentals specialization, but a decent amount of its courses are made for intermediate or advanced learners. Instructors include senior cloud technologists, technical architects, and some of the site's most highly rated technical trainers.

AWS Fundamentals Specialization

This four-course program gives current or aspiring IT professionals an overview of the features, benefits, and capabilities of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Its instructors include senior technical trainers, architects, and technologists. It will take approximately five months to complete.

Getting Started with AWS Machine Learning

This course teaches the fundamentals of Machine Learning needed to build AI applications. It's taught by an AWS senior technical trainer and will take approximately eight hours to complete.

AWS Developer Series

This three-course program teaches students how to build, deploy, and optimize applications on AWS. It's taught by senior technical trainers and technical architects. It will take approximately five months to complete.

Migrating to the AWS Cloud

This course teaches students how to migrate on-premises applications and workloads to the AWS Cloud. It's taught by a technical trainer and technical architect, and it will take approximately four weeks to complete.

Find all IBM classes on edX and Coursera here 

IBM is the largest technology and consulting employer in the world, and it offers dozens of courses and multi-course programs in data analysis, cybersecurity, AI engineering, machine learning, cloud essentials, and more. It serves clients in 170 countries, and you can also find classes in languages such as Spanish. 

Most IBM courses are free to audit, with a small fee for a certificate of completion. Skill levels needed range from introductory to intermediate, for the most part.

The company is home to a reported five Nobel Laureates, nine US National Medals of Technology, five US National Medals of Science, six Turing Awards, and 10 Inductees in the US Inventors Hall of Fame. Course instructors include IBM data scientists and IBM software engineers with PhDs and decades of experience.

IBM Data Science Professional Certificate

This Professional Certificate from IBM will help you develop career-relevant skills in data science and machine learning. You don't need prior knowledge of computer science or programming languages. Its instructors include IBM's AI and data science program director, Chief Data Scientist, and other experts. It will take approximately 10 months to complete. 

IBM AI Engineering Professional Certificate

This six-course program is designed to build the skills and portfolio you need for a career as an AI or ML engineer. Its instructors include senior data scientists and software engineers. Upon completion, you'll earn a professional certificate and receive a digital badge from IBM recognizing your proficiency in AI engineering. It will take approximately eight months to complete. 

IBM Cloud Essentials

This course introduces students to IBM Cloud and is potentially a good fit for anyone who wants to be a cloud practitioner or use Cloud skills as a developer, architect, system engineer, or network specialist. It will also help students prepare for IBM Cloud Foundations Certification. It will take about five weeks to complete.

Find all The Linux Foundation classes on edX and Coursera here 

Linux claims to power 98% of the world's supercomputers; most of the servers powering the Internet and financial trades; and tens of millions of consumer devices such as Android phones. 

Most Linux Foundation courses are free to audit, with a small fee for a certificate of completion. Skill levels range from introductory to intermediate.

Instructors range from The Linux Foundation's Direct of Training, Jerry Cooperstein, to its Director of Open Source Supply Chain Security, David Wheeler, and related specialists and founders.

Open Source Software Development, Linux and Git Specialization

This four-course program teaches you how to develop open-source software using Linux, Git, and more. Upon completion, you'll get a certificate and a digital badge from The Linux Foundation recognizing your proficiency in open source software development, Linux environment, and Git. It will take approximately four months to complete.

Blockchain: Understanding Its Uses and Implications

This course introduces students to blockchain technology: what it is, its impact for change, how it's applied to business processes, and immediate uses in technology, enterprise, and business. The instructors include the CTO and Director of Education of Blockchain Training Alliance, and it will take approximately 14 weeks to complete.

Find all Salesforce classes on Coursera here 

Salesforce helps other companies leverage cloud, mobile, social, AI, and blockchain technologies to create a comprehensive idea of customers. The company's free online learning program is called Trailhead, and it offers five courses in topics like sales development and how to interview with confidence. 

Salesforce courses are free to audit, with a small fee for a certificate of completion.

Salesforce Sales Development Representative Professional Certificate

This five-course program helps students build job-ready skills for entry-level Sales Development Representative (SDR) positions. Its instructors range from an account executive at Okta to a customer engagement specialist at Google. No degree or prior experience is required, and it will take approximately six months to complete.

Groundwork for Success in Sales Development

You can take this course on its own or as part of the Salesforce Sales Development Representative Professional Certificate program. It introduces students to the skills needed for the non-technical aspects of their job, like strategy selection and communication. It will take approximately 19 hours to complete.

Find all Unity classes on Coursera here

Unity reportedly serves millions of registered developers — from major publishers to hobbyists — as they create 2D, 3D, VR, and AR games and apps. 

Through Coursera, Unity offers three specializations — two intermediate and one for beginners. They take between four to seven months approximately to complete. After a seven-day trial, students pay a $79 fee for a certificate of completion. 

The instructors include a Unity instructional designer and XR architect as well as a professor of game design and development in a top-ten game design program,  

Unity Certified 3D Artist Specialization

This five-course specialization prepares you for the Unity Certified 3D Artist exam. It's best for 3D artists who have used Unity for real-time rendering for 1-2 years, and it will take approximately seven months to complete.

Unity Certified Programmer Exam Preparation Specialization

This four-course specialization prepares you for the Unity Certified Programmer exam, and it's best suited for Unity programmers with 1-2 years of experience. It will take approximately four months to complete.

Unity XR: How to Build AR and VR Apps Specialization

This introductory three-course specialization teaches students about the technologies that make XR possible, the unique UX concerns around developing for XR, and how to develop VR and AR apps for mobile devices. It will take approximately three months to complete.

Find all Autodesk classes on Coursera here 

Autodesk, a 3D design, engineering, and construction software company, gives students and teachers free access to its design software and learning resources. 

On Coursera, it offers multi-course programs designed for mastering a particular skill — like digital manufacturing — and prep for tests such as the AutoCAD for Design and Drafting exam. Its programs can take between four to six months approximately to complete, and test prep is typically about 15 hours. 

Autodesk courses are free to audit, but students will have to pay a small fee for a certificate of completion.

Autodesk Certified Professional: Inventor for Mechanical Design Exam Prep

This advanced course prepares students for the Autodesk Certified Professional: Inventor for Mechanical Design exam. It's designed for industry professionals who can solve complex challenges in workflow and design, and it will take approximately 14 hours to complete.

Autodesk CAD/CAM/CAE for Mechanical Engineering Specialization

This four-course specialization teaches the foundations of applying computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), and manufacturing principles while also developing technical skills within Autodesk Fusion 360.

Autodesk CAD/CAM for Manufacturing Specialization

This four-course specialization teaches students the foundations of CAD and toolpath generation while helping them develop technical skills in Autodesk Fusion 360. It will take approximately four months to complete.

Find all Facebook classes on Coursera here 

Facebook offers a five-course digital marketing program through Coursera geared towards beginners. The program's courses delve into topics such as advertising and the optimization of marketing campaigns. Ideally, students will finish the program with a personal portfolio they can use in job applications. 

Altogether, the program will take approximately five months to complete. After a seven-day trial, the course is $49 for access and a certificate of completion.

Facebook Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate

This five-course professional certificate program is designed to make social media marketing beginners equipped for entry-level roles in approximately five months.

Find all Goldman Sachs classes on Coursera here

The Goldman Sachs Foundation's mission is to strengthen its communities through a focus on entrepreneurship and economic growth. Through Coursera, the foundation's 10,000 Women program is designed to support female entrepreneurs through a 10-course business and management program — as well as access to mentoring, networking, and capital — to women in 100 countries.  

Each course is free to enroll in, and each class takes approximately four hours to complete. The instructors and collaborators include Edward David, a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, and Mori Taheripour, an award-winning Wharton professor who teaches Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. 

Classes are available in languages such as Spanish, and subtitles are available in multiple languages, including Spanish, Russian, and Portugeuse.

Fundamentals of Funding, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women

In this course, students learn about how acquisition and funding applications can support a business opportunity. They'll evaluate their business' financial profile and create action plans to improve it. It will take approximately three hours to complete. 

Fundamentals of Financial Planning, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women

Students begin to optimize their business growth by considering factors like a cash flow cycle and its impact and developing a Cash Flow Forecast. It will take approximately three hours to complete.

Fundamentals of Sales and Marketing, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women

This course focuses on developing marketing plans and strengthening brands as the business grows, including an exploration of various digital marketing tools and identifying the right metrics to measure effectiveness.