edX Review: Is This the Learning Platform for You?

There is a multitude of schools and universities that offer various degrees and courses. What if time is not on your side to attend daily classes? Fortunately, the internet now offers different online learning platforms and provides the same education level that you can have from traditional schooling. In this article, we provide an edX review that looks into what this popular e-learning platform can offer and whether it’s worth it for you to enroll in one of their programs.

What Is edX?

Let’s begin this edX review by taking a look at the platform itself.

edX is one of the online platforms that provide university-level courses. Established in 2012 by several scientists hailing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, the company offers students multiple courses to improve professionally or academically. Currently, edX has already amassed more than 50 million users, helping them improve their lives through education.

Aside from offering professional education, the company is tied up with several high schools and big corporations like Microsoft. Geared towards becoming the number one provider of massive open online courses (MOOC) worldwide, edX is focused on offering a user-friendly interface that allows students to pinpoint the courses they might like to take easily.

Presently, edX provides about 2,500+ courses that were created by its 140 partner institutions that even include Berkeley University and Harvard University. It is no wonder, then, that you get to find snippet mentions of this company, especially if you are searching for a credible online platform where education is at its finest. These edX courses are accredited, and you get to receive certification after completing these.

If you’re interested in reading more about online learning platforms, we have reviews for MasterClass, Udemy, and Skillshare.

How to Enroll in edX Classes?

Of course, starting your education with edX requires you to enroll in its classes. This part of our edX review aims to help readers who want to enroll in edX classes.

Sign-Up Process

To sign up for a course, below are the steps you should follow:

Visit edX.Org. You can also use edX’s app to access the platform.
Browse the different courses that they offer. Locate the edX course catalog provided on the platform to do so.
Click on the course that you want to know more about.
This brings you to a brief introduction or description of the course.
You will get to see the course’s contents, starting date, and other relevant information.
Then, click the Enroll Now button to register.
Provide all the necessary information edX is asking for.
Once you finish through the registration phase, your selected course gets added to your edX dashboard.

You should note that the course’s starting date is located at the upper-right corner of your course window. While a brief background about the course is adequately provided for you, you are not allowed to see its specific contents before its starting date.

Once the course begins, however, a blue View Course button appears. Clicking on this will permit you to access its contents, including the materials needed for the course.

Course Classifications

edX has two kinds of subscription plans for potential students:

Free

The edX platform offers courses you can take free of charge. Anyone can take up these courses without cost. However, the catch is that these courses are unverified and do not provide you with the credentials that you need, certificates that may be necessary when you plan to use them to advance your career. You can take such courses if your goal is only really to expand your knowledge.

Verified

edX also offers verified courses. These courses are accredited and provide you with the needed certificates that you can use. This is helpful especially when you are taking courses that your employer or would-be employer will credit. You need to bear in mind that edX is geared towards providing university-level courses specifically for those who need them for a reason.

Thus, if you opt to enroll in these verified courses, prices are expected to vary depending on the difficulty level of the courses you choose to register in. A single course is priced from US$50 to US$300. These verified and accredited courses offer you a certification to use when accomplishing your comprehensive resume.

Financial Assistance Program

If you don’t have the capacity to pay for these verified courses, you may seek financial assistance on the platform. Many of the verified courses are accessible via financial aid. If you successfully get approved for assistance, you can get a 90% discount on the complete course cost. You can even apply for financial assistance up to five times per year.

Financial aid applications are pretty straightforward. You do not have to go through too many steps to do so. You need to enroll in the Audit Track of the course you wish to take and enter your details. This financial aid application gets examined within two to four days after submission. If you get approved, you will receive an official email that affirms approval, indicating a financial assistance code that you will have to enter into the course’s payment form.

Several courses, including those for MicroMasters, XSeries, MicroBachelors, and Professional Programs, are accessible through financial assistance. Nonetheless, you can merely apply for aid for every course and not for the whole program or degree.

Accepted Payment Methods

You can pay for your edX education via credit or debit cards. It accepts the following:

Visa
MasterCard
Discover
American Express
PayPal

As of writing, edX does not accept any other payment method other than these.

edX Review: Features and How to Use Them

edX offers multiple types of courses and programs that you can look into. This part of the edX review will tackle the different courses and programs offered by the platform.

Single Courses

These are one-off courses that you can take, especially if you merely want to focus on a single choice topic. edX has a list of hugely popular courses under several specializations; here are the categories of their courses:

Computer Science
Engineering
Data Science
Business and Management
Language
Humanities

MicroMasters Programs

These edX MicroMasters programs aid professionals who desire to further polish their credentials. Each MicroMasters program comprises in-depth specialization on specific and relevant topics necessary for career growth or promotion.

At present, edX offers about 59 MicroMasters programs to choose from. Fees for these programs may range between US$700 to US$1400. They can also take about one to 1.5 years to complete. These programs typically do not have prerequisites. Nonetheless, a few of them have suggested requirements indicated under their brief description snippets.

Professional Certifications

Another one for professionals, these certifications allow students to get accredited for specific specializations and, thus, get accepted to particular jobs. In a way, these certifications are also synonymous with online master’s degrees. Currently, edX offers 140 programs under this category. Fees are between US$100 and US$2,340. They also last for about three to six months.

Global Freshman Academy

These are also called MicroBachelors programs. Aimed at fresh high school graduates who do not like to enroll in traditional, offline schools and universities, the Global Freshman Academy is an excellent alternative. Courses provided under this category are those that are accepted and accredited all over the globe as well. Hence, university and college students can also enroll in these courses to supplement those they are taking offline.

In partnership, of course, with several traditional schools and universities, there are five courses currently available via edX: Computer Science Fundamentals, Marketing Essentials, Information Technology Career Framework, Professional Writing, and Elements of Data Science. These programs take about three to five months to complete.

Fees range from US$500 to US$1500. Completing a MicroBachelors program allows you to be eligible for transferable college credit. This credit is currently priced at US$166, which is remarkably better than the national fee average of US$594.

XSeries Programs

Likewise, students who are having a hard time understanding several subjects can also enroll in the XSeries Programs of edX. These programs are designed to help students comprehend various subjects while taking traditional, offline subjects as well. These programs can act as additional, remedial ones to offset the insufficient comprehension of multiple topics necessary for their collegiate or university degree. Fees for these programs may vary hugely, but they typically range from US$100 to US$450. After you finish a program, you also get an accredited certification.

Master’s Degrees

At present, edX provides 12 master’s degrees. These degrees are accredited by several institutions. The list includes the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Queensland, and Purdue University. These degrees can take around 1.5 to three years to complete. These courses suit working professionals who barely have the time to attend offline schools. Without the hassle of attending scheduled, face-to-face classes, you get to do your coursework at your preferred pace.

edX Review: Pros and Cons of the Service

To better come up with a wise decision, it is necessary to point out the said platform’s different strengths and weaknesses. Hence, below are several of them:

Pros

edX is a well-established e-learning platform.
It provides accredited creditable courses.
edX provides authentic, recognized certificates.
The platform is user-friendly.
It offers a multitude of courses and programs to choose from.
You can apply for financial assistance.

Cons

Many of the courses are too expensive.
The platform tends to crash at times.

edX vs. Other Learning Platforms

Nevertheless, this edX review won’t be complete if we do not take a peek at the different e-learning platforms accessible via the internet. Hence, here are several educational platforms that you can check out as well.

Coursera

Like edX, Coursera also offers a wide variety of courses and programs from prestigious universities, including Yale, Stanford, Princeton, HEC Paris, and the University of London. However, fees for the different courses are not immediately present on the description pages. You are required to enroll first before you get to see the exact cost you need to pay. Coursera also offers free courses.

You merely have to click the Audit button under a course to do so. Note, however, that these free courses do not provide you with a certification. Like in edX, you need to upgrade to a premium to get accredited and certified for a specific course or program.

At Coursera, you can also take a course series. These course series require you to pay a monthly subscription. These are also called Specializations, which permit you a seven-day trial period to get a feel of the series. Students have heavily criticized some of Coursera’s Career or Personal Development courses due to being superficial in nature. Thus, professionals are not advised to take these courses because they may not be relevant or necessary. Coursera offers more premium courses. It is one of the more expensive e-learning sites around.

FutureLearn

Photo from FutureLearn

If you are looking for an e-learning site that provides academic-level courses, programs, and degrees similar to those offered by Coursera and edX, you might like to check out FutureLearn. The platform offers students MOOCs that give you certification and accreditation once you complete them. A perfect choice for professionals and university students alike, FutureLearn is also affiliated with various prestigious universities.

At present, the platform has around 10 million students. It also has about 175 institutional partners. Fees for FutureLearn courses can range from US$39 to US$99, a bit cheaper than those offered by edX. Programs, however, are pricier as they can go from US$600 to US$7000, depending on which kind of program or degree you might want to enroll in. The company offers post-graduate degrees as well.

SkillShare

If you’d rather focus on learning single, non-academic courses, you should check out Skillshare. Unlike edX, Coursera, and FutureLearn, Skillshare offers more practical courses. These courses are specialized in the sense that they are geared towards providing students with skills that may be needed for their different career choices.

You get to learn practical skills like dog training, photography, computer programming, and so on. However, these courses are perfect for professionals or non-professionals who may want to learn a particular skill needed for the job.

At Skillshare, non-academic courses are king permitting you to earn additional money if you ever decide to create your channel there and allow students to follow your video-courses.

MasterClass

Like Skillshare, MasterClass also offers a variety of practical courses that may help you improve yourself. These courses are is aiming to provide students with the necessary skills that are specific to their profession. At MasterClass, you get to find coaches and instructors that are experts in their fields. For instance, instructors like Steve Martin, James Patterson, and Malcolm Gladwell teach some courses there. Hence, you get to learn from them directly, permitting you to learn special skills from excellent people at what they do.

Udemy

Aside from Skillshare, you can also look into the different courses provided by Udemy. Unlike edX, FutureLearn, and Coursera, Udemy focuses on providing students with the same practical education to help students and professionals improve their particular skills.

The platform has over 130,000 courses to choose from. It is the largest e-learning platform worldwide. Currently, it has more than 35 million students. You can take free classes, as well, as you decide whether or not the platform is the right choice for you.

Take note, however, that Udemy does not offer academic courses. Nonetheless, the platform is an excellent repository of various classes that include photography, dog training, video editing, makeup application, etc. Hence, if you are looking for a non-academic e-learning platform, you should visit Udemy and determine what courses are offered there. Remember that, unlike edX, it can provide you with practical skills that may be equally valuable as you advance your career.