As college students return to the classroom this week, mom and dad can go off to college
themselves without leaving home. Wouldn’t your family or boss be surprised to learn you’re
attending Harvard University in your spare time?
A smartphone app and website, edX offers the opportunity to attend a premier college or
university. For free.
edX started as a website. Now the edX app for iPhone and Android devices offers anyone
classes at universities such as Harvard, Cornell, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and many others.
There are over a thousand courses to choose from. Classes in Architecture, Chemistry,
Business and Management, Philosophy, and Education.
The app is easy to use (though the classes aren’t that easy I expect). Enroll in a class within the
app and you’ll get to see lectures from actual professors at those universities.
When you open the app to enroll in a class, it may say the class starts that day.

When I checked it a few times this week, the classes also showed they start that day. I imagine it’s to show potential students that you can start a course or class whenever you want.
I enrolled in a course in contract law at Harvard. The first class, an introduction, includes a
pre-recorded lecture that featured animations that seemed to keep me watching the screen.
There’s also homework that will be graded and a discussion board so you can discuss the
classes with other students.

Take the course at your pace whether that is every day or a few
hours each week. The app allows you to audit courses for free or you can pay a subscription
and receive a certificate of completion when you finish.
If you’re really serious about going back to school you can earn a bachelor’s degree or even a
Masters at prestigious universities. For a fee of course. A Master’s degree in computer science
at the University of Texas is $10,000. Financial aid is also listed on the website and in the apps.
edX is a free app. You can also take courses on a computer by visiting the EdX website at
edex.org. Going to college at any level isn’t easy, but this is an easy way to earn a degree or a
new skill, while on your smartphone