There are some important differences between the non-credit and for-credit experiences. Please see below for details. 

Non-Credit

We encourage you to start with a non-credit course so you can preview course content and determine whether you a ready to complete the course within an 8-week for-credit session. 

To enroll in the non-credit versions of the ME-EM curriculum, sign up for an account on Coursera, find the course you are interested in, and click the Enroll button to audit the course.

Our non-credit courses offer a different experience than our for-credit courses, including: 

Dates for non-credit courses are flexible, and courses are available on-demand.
Non-credit courses carry a monthly subscription fee, which you pay directly to Coursera.
Non-credit courses are not supported by faculty or course facilitators.

Students can earn course completion certificates from Coursera for non-credit courses and specializations. This non-credit certificate of completion does not confer transcripted credit from the University of Colorado Boulder, nor can these classes be applied to the degree.

If you decide to upgrade to the for-credit version later, any assignments you complete in the non-credit experience will automatically apply to your for-credit experience. Due to their interactive nature, discussion board posts and peer-graded assignments may not transfer from session to session when you upgrade. Be sure to save your work outside of the Coursera platform.

We occasionally update courses to stay relevant with industry trends and student feedback. Updates can include adding new elements or changing/removing existing elements that students may have already completed in the non-credit version of the course. We recommend upgrading to the for-credit version of a course soon after completing non-credit work. 

 

For-Credit

Start directly in a for-credit course or enroll in the non-credit version first to preview course content. You may upgrade from non-credit to for-credit at any time during the enrollment window. See the calendar for exact dates. 
 
 
 

Our for-credit courses offer a different experience than our non-credit courses, including:

For-credit courses have session start and end dates. Each session is 8 weeks long. See the calendar for exact dates. All for-credit coursework must be submitted by the last day of the 8-week session, and tuition cannot be carried over to future terms.

For-credit tuition is paid to the University of Colorado Boulder and includes access to additional CU services (online library and alumni/career services, CU on Coursera membership, and an @colorado.edu email address).

For-credit courses are supported by course facilitators through weekly office hours, discussion forums, and email.

Students receive academic credit for their for-credit courses on a transcript from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Due to their interactive nature, discussion board posts and peer-graded assignments may not transfer from session to session if you drop/withdraw and later re-enroll in a particular class. Be sure to save your work outside of the Coursera platform.

Additional material and assessments must be completed to earn credit; these materials are only available to students who pay tuition. 

Prior to accessing for-credit content for the first time, you must pass a short (4–5 hours) non-credit onboarding course. You only need to complete this course once. 

We recommend new students take 1 course in their first session. And we encourage continuing students to take no more than 3 courses per session, which is equivalent to a full-time graduate-level course load. For every one credit hour, you will spend approximately 5–8 hours studying each week. This includes videos, discussions, readings, and assignments. Students who take 3 courses per session complete the degree in about 2 years. You must complete all courses within 8 years.