… as mentioned in CNN Money's Best Value in College Courses.

How Our Free Courses Work

  • Watch fun and engaging lessons.
  • Pass an exam.
  • Earn real college credit.

View Courses

Like?

Elisa Fleming Photo
Your classes prepared me for the CLEP in less than two weeks.

I'm a full time student, working and broke. Despite all that, I was able to get everything I needed for the Psych CLEP in less than two weeks because of your classes. Your professors were clear and concise, and still covered all the necessary information. Yale and MIT also have Intro Psych lectures online for free. The lectures go on for hours, and they have poor audio and visual quality. You covered in a few minutes what the Yale professor couldn't get through in an hour. The visuals made it interesting and engaging without detracting from the material. Thank you so much for helping me to save time, money and stress. — Elisa Fleming

Our Mission

The cost of college education is skyrocketing, rising faster than inflation — faster even than health care costs. We're building the solution: free, online courses that lead to real college credit — credit that is already accepted at over 2,900 colleges and universities.

Other websites just repurpose existing college materials and throw them up on the web. We think this model leads to a poor learning experience and are doing something very different.

We're completely re-imagining online education as a visually stimulating, engaging, multi-media experience made specifically for the web user, and we're building our courses from the ground up. Over 50 world-class educators, video editors, and animators are working to create the fun and engaging 10-minute video lessons that make up each course. More than 1 million students have flocked to our courses, and both students and instructors alike are hungry for more.

Soon our courses will cover all the material that is taught in the first two years of college… and we don't plan to stop there. We already have several courses completed, so we invite you to explore our course catalog and start learning now. Once you've mastered the material, sign up for your exam and earn credit that transfers.

Our courses offer students a real solution to the rising cost of college - a solution that they can take advantage of right now to avoid student debt.

How to Earn College Credit

Students take our courses for free, anytime, anywhere, but they can also earn real, widely transferable college credit through credit-granting exams. Credit by examination is the lowest cost college credit option in the U.S. and is available to students all over the world. Exams are available in over 50 subjects and cost less than $100, which is much less than community college courses. See the full, step-by-step credit-by-exam process here.

FAQs

Since everything is free, how do you make money?

Education Portal is a free resource. Students and instructors can access all of our lessons without cost, login requirements, or any other barriers. Our free courses are funded by successes in other parts of our business and do not generate any revenue themselves. We understand the skepticism you may have when reading this, but really, there are no hidden revenue streams.

Will your courses always be free?

Yes. Our courses will always remain free and without barriers to access. However, we eventually plan to advertise on our course pages. Student experience is our top priority, so we promise that it will be done tastefully and won't interfere with the learning process. We are a self-funded company, which enables us to take a long-term approach to our business and create resources that genuinely help people without investor pressure to make a quick buck. We believe in creating more value than we capture, and this core value drives our decisions. Our founders, Ben Wilson and Adrian Ridner, believe this is the key to their success and will not compromise. You can read more about their ten year history of helping students here.

So where does the money come from?

Education Portal is much more than just free courses and lessons. We've operated as a profitable web publishing business since 2004. After nearly a decade of work, we've published over 30,000 original articles and guides that help over 3 million students each month make life-shaping decisions about career paths, degree programs, and schools. We advertise on these pages, and the revenues pay for the entire development of our free courses.

On a side note, it was through interaction with students reading our college guides that we learned about the struggles students face with rising tuition and debt. After years of hearing about these struggles, we decided to take action and leverage our expertise in content development and our wide network of instructor relationships to create free courses that efficiently lead to college credit.

Who's taking Education Portal's courses?

College students, high school students, lifelong learners and instructors are all taking our free courses. Students use them to earn college credit they can transfer and to supplement what they're learning in class. Instructors play our video lessons in the classroom, assign them for homework, and share them with students who need extra help. Lifelong learners use our growing library of 700+ video lessons to explore topics from Romeo and Juliet to DNA.

Any student success stories? What feedback are you receiving?

When we published our first course, we hoped for a positive reaction, but we were overwhelmed with the heartfelt response that poured in from students across the globe. Students and instructors have sent us hundreds of testimonials about how they are using our free courses. Our courses have helped real students lower their student debt load. Read their stories here.

Who teaches your courses?

Our team of over 30 instructors comes from diverse backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common: a passion for empowering students through education. Under the leadership of Greg Chin, Ph.D., and Max Pfingsten, M.A. & M.Ed., our instructors find innovative ways to present difficult concepts in relatable, engaging ways. Click here to see all of our instructors and their most popular lessons.

How are you different from Khan Academy?

We are big fans of Khan Academy, and we share several things in common; however we've designed our free courses with a few key differences:

  1. We offer a clear path to college credit. Our courses help students earn transferable college credit by testing out of their general education requirements.
  2. Each course is taught by talented subject matter experts, which allows us to deliver world-class lessons covering topics from The Odyssey to the periodic table.
  3. We use professional animators and video editors to bring our lessons to life with fun cartoons and engaging graphics.
  4. Each video lesson includes a full written transcript, so learners can choose to watch or read based on their preferred learning style.
  5. Our courses have an intended sequence of lessons, but students can easily skip lessons and move around the courses as they desire. Each lesson stands alone, and the courses are completely self navigable.

I found a mistake in one of the videos. How can I report it?

We're committed to providing you with high-quality content, and our instructors and reviewers strive to make each lesson complete and accurate. However, some mistakes do slip through. If you see an error in one of our videos, click the Thumbs Down button that appears above the video to let us know. We really appreciate your help and feedback.

How can I earn college credit?

Our free courses are designed to prepare you to earn real college credit by passing one of 33 subject specific CLEP exams. Here's how to earn credit that transfers:

  1. Find out if your school accepts credit-by-exam by asking your advisor.
  2. Choose a course and watch the free video lessons.
  3. When you finish the course, sign up for a test date.
  4. Apply to win $1,000 for passing the exam.

Learn more about how to earn real college credit.

What is the CLEP exam?

The CLEP exam, or College Level Examination Program, is similar to the AP exam. It is offered by the The College Board, the same non-profit organization that runs the AP and SAT exams. Use our free courses to master the material, and then take the exam at an official testing center. CLEP exams are offered in 33 subject areas and cost just $80 per exam. They lead to 3-12 college credits that are accepted at over 2,900 colleges and universities in the U.S., including top public schools such as Arizona State University, University of Texas - Austin, and the Ohio State University. Learn more about the CLEP exam and how it can test out of up to two years of college.

Can I share your lessons?

You have our permission to share our lessons with students, instructors, and anyone else who might enjoy them. Some of the most popular ways to share our lessons include:

  • Sharing them on Facebook or Twitter
  • Sharing them over email
  • Linking from a blog or website
  • Sharing them in your classroom
  • Using them in a learning management system

How can instructors use your lessons in their classrooms?

Each course consists of approximately one hundred 5-10 minute video lessons. Teachers use these lessons to support instruction and help struggling learners. They often assign lessons as a supplemental resource for students who need a refresher or for gifted students who are ahead of the regular curriculum. Instructors also play our videos in their classroom to illustrate concepts in a sticky and engaging way. Looking for more ideas? Instructional Coordinator Dr. Greg Chin shares his tips for using our science lessons in the classroom here.

How can I apply for an Education Portal Teacher Grant?

We award one $1000-grant a month to teachers who use our courses in the classroom. The application is easy - just tell us how you plan to incorporate our lessons into your curriculum. Read about one of our winners, Los Angeles Valley College instructor Alexandra Lezo.

How can I teach for Education Portal?

We're looking for subject matter experts who share our passion for making education accessible. If you're interested in teaching a course, apply here.

What is next for Education Portal?

We are intensely focused on building more courses that allow students to earn real college credit. This is critical to our mission of helping students test out of as many college general education requirements as possible. In parallel with building our courses, our development team is working late nights to roll out new features that will enhance the learning experience.

The other thing we need to do is generate more publicity so students everywhere know that this resource exists. Hundreds of thousands of students use our free courses each month, but there is no reason it can't be millions. We made this resource free so it can break down barriers to education for as many people as possible, and we could use your help spreading the word so people will find us. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, please share us. If you know any members of the media, please write them. Word of mouth is great too!

I'm a member of the media and would like to learn more about Education Portal. How do I get in touch?

We love talking to reporters, bloggers, and other members of the media! Just email , and we'll be in touch!

Did you like this?
Yes No

Thanks for your feedback!

What didn't you like?

What didn't you like?

*Education Portal is not affiliated with the College Board and does not receive any portion of the College Board's exam fees.

Contact Us

We love to talk to the media about what we're doing and how free courses can help students save money. If you are a member of the media and want to speak to us,

The videos were a great study tool. I aced the CLEP exam and earned 3 college credits! 

Claire Steiner, Nursing Student More success stories
Meet Our Instructors

Meet all 53 of our instructors

New Course Alert! Sign up for course updates.
All Free Courses
Share