How to apply for Coursera Financial Aid in 2024? - Updated

 

What would you say if I tell you a secret way using which you can premium Coursera courses worth thousands of rupees at a whopping 90% discount?

Sounds too good to be true! Right?

For those who don't know what Coursera is: 

Coursera is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform where some of the world's top universities and companies like Stanford, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Yale, Duke, Michigan, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Princeton etc. offer online courses, certifications, and degrees (online) in various different domains.

While Coursera has got both free as well as paid courses, the most popular and highly demanding courses from the world's top universities are paid and are heavy on the pockets of Indian students as they are charged in terms of USD (US Dollars).

The solution for this is to opt for something called financial aid. 

Coursera gives all its students an option to get any course no matter how much costly it is for free (via this financial aid) and this benefit is specifically for those students who are from poor background and or cannot afford the course.

Financial aid is a fund collected by donations from high net worth individuals, NGOs or any other form of fund raising.

In this article, I will walk you through the financial aid application process in detail and provide sample answers to the 3 most important questions asked in the financial aid application.

Here's how to apply for financial aid:

Here's an example of someone who applied for financial aid on Coursera for the “Project Management” course which was approved by Coursera. 

Even, I applied, got approved and completed a couple of courses, and was given a verified certificate for the same. You can claim financial aid for almost every course available on Coursera. You may apply for financial aid by modifying my answer below according to your needs and your financial situation. Just remember, be honest and truthful.

Why are you applying for Financial Aid?

I am a resident of India. My father is a lobby attendant and my mother is a housewife. Our annual income is pretty low when compared to the average national income of our country. This course will be beneficial for me to get into the top MNCs/firm as an intern. But I’ve no job of my own to handle my expenses or to pay for the certificate of this course. I live only for my scholarship. In this circumstance, it is quite difficult for me to arrange such an amount of money for the certificate. Financial Aid will help me take this course without any adverse impact on my monthly essential needs. Therefore, I’m badly in need of this financial aid. Receiving this Financial Aid will open for me a new horizon of opportunities, which in turn will help me develop my skills, gain knowledge and hopefully get a job in the future. I plan to complete all the assignments on or before deadline as I have done in previous Signature Track Courses. Further, I also intend to participate in all Discussion Forums, which can help me supplement my learning immensely in the other online courses I have taken on Coursera. I plan to grade assignments, that are peer-reviewed, which I believe will be an invaluable learning opportunity.

How will taking this course help you achieve your career goals?

 I would like to take this course as I want to learn <course name>. I want to complete the course due to my interest, curiosity and also so that I help me make a good CV to apply for a job. This course will boost my job prospects after graduation from my college/institute. It will help me perform better in managing various programs and tasks in the organization I go and give me an edge over my competitors. A verified certificate will attach credibility to the certificate I receive from this course. The field of civil engineering is becoming saturated, and industries are now placing a high level of importance on skills and specialization. This course was suggested by one of my seniors. I'm a junior in college and from next semester I have my placement pool. Getting certification in this course will not only help me to stand out among thousands but also help my resume get shortlisted and get high pay jobs in top companies are using <course name> and it has been said that by 2025 the world will need 50 times more project management professionals in each sector, so many companies are looking for Project Managers. There is a lot of scope and potential in this career field.

If you answered no, please help us understand why?

The financial status of the family is not too good to pay the loan amount. We already have a lot of debt including the bank and private financers, and my parents are paying it regularly. It would make their life even harder to add a new loan over them. Sir, I don't want to put any pressure on them. Sir, it would be a great help for me to get a good job and help my family if I'm able to get this course.

Then click on the SUBMIT button.

Acknowledgement mail from Coursera

After successfully submitting the application you will get an acknowledgement mail. Please note that it will take at least 16 days for your financial aid application to get approved by the Coursera team.

So, till then keep your fingers crossed and wait for it to get approved or you can also start watching the videos by auditing the course.

Share it among your friends and groups as this will be required regularly if you want to learn new stuff on Coursera.

Thank you for reading.

Also, watch our new video on " How to apply for edX Financial Assistance?"