Free Online Psychology Courses

1. Introduction To Psychology

Offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Introduction to Psychology course is one of the more comprehensive free psychology courses available. Course materials include self-tests, assignments, videos of classroom sessions, and a downloadable textbook. The textbook and other materials date from 2010 or earlier. Coursework explores the physical nature of the brain, emotions, learning, psychopathology, and social psychology.

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2. Introduction to Psychology

Offered by Carnegie Mellon University

While this free psychology course is part of Carnegie Mellon's series for community college students, the university welcomes learners at any level to participate. The course, now updated to reflect DSM-5, includes 16 units with an average of four modules per unit. It does not include scored assessments or the opportunity to earn credit.

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3. Introduction to Psychology

Offered by Yale University

This free psychology course uses a recording of a class taught at Yale in 2007. It covers introductory psychology topics like personality, development, emotion, and cognition. Resources include course recordings and supplemental materials but not the official textbooks. Each recording includes 75 minutes of lecture and discussion from one of the bi-weekly classes offered on the Yale campus. There are no options for credit or assessments.

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4. Social Psychology

Offered by Wesleyan University through Coursera

Like many Coursera offerings, this program is a free psychology course or certificate option. To earn the certificate of completion, you must complete all course materials, including video lectures, assignments, and reading materials. Please note that this is a certificate and not a certification.

The course does not offer college credit hours. If you want to use this course for professional development credit hours, be sure your credentialing organization accepts Coursera certificates of completion and the required hours. Coursera estimates that the course takes 37 hours to complete. The curriculum includes social perceptions and beliefs, communication, group behavior, aggression versus peace and mutual help, and how social psychology relates to daily living.

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5. The Psychology, Biology, and Politics of Food

Offered by Yale University

This free psychology course offered by Yale University addresses the psychology of food and eating, political and social aspects of food production and policy, and personal and societal barriers or supports for healthy eating and nutrition.

These include malnutrition and obesity, eating disorders, and environmental and socioeconomic factors in food and eating. This course uses a class recording from 2007, and participants are not eligible for certificates or credits. The materials include supplemental readings but not the course textbooks.

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6. Positive Psychology

Offered by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill through Coursera

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's positive psychology course is one of the shorter free psychology courses available. Each enrollee should expect to spend 11 hours to complete the course over three weeks. The six modules cover the psychology of positive thinking, seeking happiness, and other topics related to positivity and psychological well-being.

You can take this course either as a free option, which does not include assessments or a certificate of completion, or as a paid certificate option. If you plan to use this course for continuing education credits, be sure that the credentialing organization accepts Coursera. The paid option includes six assessments.

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7. BerkeleyX: The Science of Happiness

Offered by the University of California Berkeley through edX

This program from UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center is one of the earliest and most popular free online psychology courses, with nearly 600,000 learners enrolled. It is designed for amateurs rather than mental health professionals but remains relevant for those with experience in the field.

At an estimated 11 weeks of 4-5 hours per week, it is one of the longer courses on this list. The curriculum is based on positive psychology and explores the nature of positive psychology, happiness, empathy, mindfulness, and other approaches that can improve mental well-being. Like other edX courses, you can take it for free or enroll in the certificate option to receive a certificate of completion.

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8. Psychological Research Specialization

Offered by the American Psychological Association through Coursera

Coursera recommends taking the American Psychological Association's (APA) free psychological research specialization course over three months. The course covers methods of conducting effective research in psychology through methods, ethics, and statistics sessions. The intended audience is first-year and second-year college students, but anybody interested can participate.

APA updated the course in August 2023. You can review the material for free or pay for a certificate option that includes assessments. If you want to use this course for continuing education credit, find out if your credentialing organization accepts Coursera classes and how many credits you can receive.

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9. Methods for Quantitative Research in Psychology

Offered by the American Psychological Association through Coursera

The methods for quantitative research in psychology course is offered by the APA and takes approximately seven hours to complete. Like the psychological research specialization, it is ideal for first-year and second-year college students. There are nine modules ranging from 2-60 minutes each.

Like other Coursera classes, you can view the material free and pay for the certificate option, which includes assessments. If you want continuing education credit, check with your certifying organization to see if it accepts Coursera credits or this specific course, along with how many credits it accepts.

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10. Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life

Offered by the University of Chicago through Coursera

Are you interested in delving into the intricate workings of the brain and understanding the biological underpinnings of psychology? If so, this free online course offered through the University of Chicago might be a great option. Enrollees spend an average of 27 hours to complete the course, based on nine hours each week over three weeks.

The curriculum covers the biology of the brain and other parts of the nervous system and how they function. Some modules focus on one particular function or sense, such as hearing, vision, or voluntary movements. Like other Coursera courses, you can view the materials as a free psychology course or pay for the certificate option, which includes 10 assessments.

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11. Abnormal Psychology

Offered by Doane University through edX

Abnormal Psychology is a free online psychology course offered by Doane University. The course provides an overview of abnormal psychology within a psychosocial framework of mental health, how to use the DSM-5 to categorize psychological conditions and methods of treating behaviors. Materials emphasize cultural and biological diversity factors.

Like most edX courses, this class is available for viewing without charge or through a paid certificate option. It does not offer college credit. Check with your credentialing organization to see if you can apply for continuing education credits.

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12. Fundamentals of Neuroscience, Part 1: The Electrical Properties of the Neuron

Offered by Harvard University through edX

Fundamentals of Neuroscience is the first of a three-part course on neuroscience. Offered by Harvard University, this course explores neurons and the electrical principles behind their functions, typically over five weeks. There are four standard lessons and a final do-it-yourself lab session.

While this is a beginner-level course, it assumes some background or familiarity with math, basic algebra, and using equations. Like other edX programs, you can view the materials without paying, or you can purchase the certificate option. You do not receive college credit but may apply the course toward continuing education requirements.

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13. What is a Mind?

Offered by the University of Cape Town through FutureLearn

One of the many advantages of online learning is that you can take courses from schools in other countries to explore topics in different cultural frameworks. This free psychology course from the University of Cape Town uses multidisciplinary and often competing disciplines to explore the question of the mind and its nature.

The course is open to all learners from any background, but the materials note that it is likely to interest individuals in fields like psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, neurology, and philosophy. You can take the class for free or pay for a certificate of completion.

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14. Exploring Play: The Importance of Play in Everyday Life

Offered by the University of Sheffield through FutureLearn

This course covers developmental and adult psychology, exploring play in psychology across cultures, including the definition of play, play and innovation, and play in different cultural contexts. At three hours per week, it takes approximately seven weeks to complete the course.

The course is available as a free psychology course or with a paid certificate option that includes assessments. Please note that the UK-based CPD Certification Service has designated the program as "conforming to continuing professional development principles," but this does not guarantee acceptance by all certifying bodies.

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15. Psychological First Aid

Offered by Johns Hopkins University through Coursera

Psychological First Aid is a free online psychology course developed as part of the Johns Hopkins Open Learning Lab. The course takes approximately six hours to complete. The curriculum includes an introduction to the concept and principles of psychological first aid, understanding and using the RAPID model (reflective listening, assessment and prioritization, intervention and disposition), and how to provide self-care, followed by a concluding segment.

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16. Understanding Memory: Explaining the Psychology of Memory through Movies

Offered by Wesleyan University through Coursera

Understanding Memory is a free psychology course by John Seamon, the author of Memory and Movies: What Films Can Teach Us About Memory. Seamon uses illustrations from movies to illustrate concepts and occasional misconceptions about memory and how it functions.

This course includes modules on memory processes, making long-lasting memories, autobiographical memories, amnesia, and forms of dementia. The course takes approximately eight hours to complete. Like other Coursera offerings, you can attend at no cost or pay for a certificate option.

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17. The Psychology of Thrill-Seekers

Offered by Emory University through Coursera

While most people are drawn to new experiences and events that promise excitement, some regularly seek thrills in work, recreation, or other arenas. The Psychology of Thrill-Seekers is a free psychology course that explores the psychology of thrill-seekers from biological and sociopsychological perspectives, exploring how it affects the individual and relationships.

It concludes with a module exploring how to effectively channel thrill-seeking behaviors. The course takes approximately 15 hours over three weeks. You can apply for a certificate or audit the course for free.

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18. Introduction to Child Psychology

Offered by The Open University

Unlike many of the free psychology courses on this list, you can receive a free certificate of completion from The Open University, a UK-based nonprofit education provider. This course, initially published in 2014 and updated in 2020, requires no prerequisites and views the nature of child psychology at an introductory level.

The course takes approximately eight hours to complete. You do not have to sign up to review the materials, but you do need to enroll to receive a certificate of completion. The course includes videos and other learning materials.

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19. Gender and Sexuality

Offered by the American Psychological Association through edX

This course introduces the concepts of gender, sexuality, and biological sex and explores the differences between them. It looks at romantic relationships, the role of gender and sexuality at different developmental stages, and gender as a social construct.

Offered by the American Psychological Association (APA), this online course is self-paced but is designed to take about eight weeks and 2-5 hours of coursework per week. A paid option will give you a certificate upon completion. This course is part of a larger professional certificate program offered by the APA entitled Psychology in Action.

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20. Positive Psychology

Offered by the American Psychological Association through edX

The APA also offers this course on positive psychology as part of its "Psychology in Action" professional certificate program. Positive psychology explores the impact that mental characteristics such as optimism, hope, and gratitude can have on our mental health and emotional well-being.

In addition to covering psychological research into these positive traits and cross-cultural viewpoints on happiness and well-being, the course also provides students with opportunities to practice positive psychology in their own lives.

The course takes about eight weeks with 2-5 hours of work per week, though students are free to move at a slower or faster pace.

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21. Introduction to Clinical Psychology

Offered by the University of Queensland through edX

Taught by professors at the University of Queensland, this free online psychology course dives into the basics of psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety. While the focus of the course is on psychological disorders and treatment options, it also explores other fundamental psychological theories related to personality, intelligence, and stress.

This course requires 1-2 hours of work per week for seven weeks, though students can choose to move through the course at their own pace. Students can pay a fee to receive a certificate of completion and have their assignments and exams graded by the faculty. This course is also part of a larger psychology program offered by the University of Queensland through edX.

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