What is Class Central?

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Written by Pat Bowden Last updated on March 01st, 2023

Our goal is to make online education work for everyone.


Dhawal Shah set the site up in late 2011 when several universities began making courses available online for free. Dhawal wanted to list the courses so he and others could keep track of when they were available. Now, thousands of courses are listed.


Class Central is a listing of online courses. We aggregate courses from many providers to make it easy to find the best courses on almost any subject, wherever they exist. We focus primarily on free (or free to audit) courses from universities, offered through massive open online course (MOOC) platforms. Whatever you are interested in learning, it is more than likely that our catalog includes a course that will meet your needs.


Through Class Central, you can find courses; review courses you’ve taken (and read more than 200K reviews); follow providers, universities, and subjects to receive personalized updates; and also plan and track your learning.

Class Central's Help Center represents our best effort to answer the most common questions new learners face. It may not be completely accurate in every circumstance.

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