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7 Universities with Free Online Biology Courses

See our list of top free online biology courses. Learn about what courses are available, what topics they cover and whether you can use them to get college credit.

Take Free Courses. Earn Real College Credit.

Most free courses don't lead to college credit. Education-Portal.com's free courses do!

Here's how it works:

  1. 1. Watch free video lessons.
  2. 2. Pass an exam to earn real college credit.

Info on Free Online Courses in Biology

All of the courses on this list are free, but not all of the courses offer credit. Some include slide shows as well as questions within lessons, lecture notes and readings for students to complete. Certain courses also include recorded visual and audio lectures.

Education Portal

Courses offered at Education Portal are available for college credit for students who pass an exam after watching lecture videos. Intro to Biology includes video lectures on nucleic acids, carbohydrates, the chemical nature of the gene and social biology, among others. Each video lecture includes multiple lessons and utilizes animation, stories and quizzes at the end of each lesson. You'll be able to earn college credit for the course by taking the College Board's Biology CLEP Exam.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT's free courses in this field don't offer college credit. Students can choose the PDF files of study materials that they want to view or can download all of the course materials at once. Genetics is an undergraduate course about the fundamentals of genetics as it relates to cells, molecules and multicellular organisms. Lecture notes cover the physical structure of the gene, tetrad analysis, human polymorphisms and the genetics of cancer, among other topics. Students will be able to look over old exams and assignments and see solutions for both. Photosynthesis provides lecture summaries about the several reactions that take place during photosynthesis, including chemical, physical and biological. Students can see assignments that were used in the original class and can review a reading list.

Developmental Biology offers course materials from an undergraduate and a graduate level course focused on the molecular mechanisms that play a part in animal development. Students can access a list of recommended readings. The materials also include assignments, exams and solutions for students to view. Graduate Biochemistry was originally offered in 2001. Course materials include some lecture notes covering subjects such as kinetics, chemical thermodynamics and mystery protein.

Open University

The Open University's free course materials include specific units from full courses that were originally offered to regular students. Courses include lecture materials and a reference section, but the courses do not lead to credit. Animals at the Extremes: Polar Biology is an intermediate level course that studies how animals that live in frigid environments are able to survive. Students can learn about the significant features of polar regions, the effects that the length of the day have on feeding and the biological adaptations of fish. Users will find images and questions within lessons.

Tufts University

Tufts OpenCourseWare doesn't require registration, and students can't earn credit for courses taken. Microbiology teaches students fundamental tactics used to identify infectious diseases. Students will learn about parasitic and microbial infections. Lecture slides and notes are available for most of the original lectures.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Courses at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia do not offer academic credit, nor are students required to register to enroll in OpenCourseWare. The Cellular and Molecular Biology course utilizes PowerPoint presentations for students to learn about DNA transmission and the connection between function and structure in molecular biology. Lecture topics include the difference between DNA and RNA, polypeptide bonds, prokaryotic replication and the different types of mutation.

University of Massachusetts at Boston

OpenCourseWare at the University of Massachusetts at Boston can be accessed on most Web browsers, but students may need to have the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view materials. General Biology I has students examining life at the cellular and molecular level. Students can download lecture handouts and notes or access lecture videos. Selected portions of the course's lab manual and other lab materials are available to download. Topics of lecture handouts include chemistry, cell biology, cancer and genetics.

Yale University

Open Yale Courses are recorded lectures from past courses. Credit is not offered for these course materials, and students can complete a survey after completing the course. Principles of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior focuses on the building blocks of ecology, evolution and behavior. Lecture topics include genomic conflict, sex allocation, coevolution, evolutionary medicine and ecological communities.

Earn Real Credit from Free Courses

While the free courses above don't award credit directly, you can earn credit by passing an exam and transferring credit to your college. There are two widely recognized and affordable options for exams that award credit.

Option #1: CLEP Exams

The College Board's 33 CLEP exams allow you to test out of your general education requirements. Credit is accepted at 2/3 of colleges and universities in the U.S.

Option #2: Excelsior College's Credit-by-Exam

Excelsior College offers over 40 exams that lead to transferable credit. You can also earn three full degrees by taking free online courses and earning your credit by exam.

Learn how Education Portal Academy will pay you to earn credit!

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