Major universities in the United States are now offering courses online--for free. You too can take a class from Harvard, Yale, or MIT!

The new trend in education that allows people to enrich their minds without paying tuition. Some of the finest universities in the world have decided to open up excellent educational opportunities to everyone--students and public alike.

Yale is beginning a pilot program--The Open Educational Resources Video Lecture Project. This project will make available via a Web portal videos of seven courses. In addition to the videos there will be course materials available for printing. The materials will be available in several different language. If the pilot project is a success there are plans to offer other courses. Everyone will be able to tap into the great educational minds.

This concept is not new. Massachusetts Institute of Technology began offering OpenCourseWare some years ago. MIT offers materials for over 1,000 courses. Unlike the Yale program MIT does not offer video materials. There are discussion groups available for courses which allows "students" to connect with each other.

So, you don't want to commit to an Ivy League college course. Instead you are interested in what it takes to begin a home business. The Small Business Training Network, sponsors a virtual campus housing free training courses, and workshops. Most of the courses are designed to be completed in less than an hour. The SBA offerings cover everything from how to begin a business to international trade. Are you looking on the best way to build an E-commerce site? There are courses on building a website and managing the data.

The HP Learning Center offers classes in business, software, technology, in house marketing, and real estate for free. A full list of free classes can be seen at the HP learning center web site. The classes are informative and fun and things you will actually use in your day to day life and business.

Take note that some of these courses may require that you have certain materials, or may encourage you to purchase certain materials, such as software and books. Not all the courses that encourage you actually require you to so be sure you feel comfortable with the course and material requirements. Just because the course is free does not mean the necessary tools are free, so watch closely and read the course outline and requirements carefully.

If you've always wanted to study a particular topic these courses may be just the way to go. They also provide the knowledge you need to advance in your present job or help you land the position you have your eye on.