MIT, Stanford, Harvard: 500 Free Computer Science Courses from World's Top-50 CS Universities
Tags: computerscience, learning, beginners, codenewbie
Published: 2020-04-01 19:24:24

I made a list of 500 computer science online courses from the world’s 50 highest-ranked universities for studying computer science. It includes courses from universities such as MIT, Stanford, Harvard, and many more.

You can find the course list at the bottom. Here's how I built it.

# Approach

I started with the [three leading](https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/IEJ/article/view/10638) global university rankings and looked at the latest editions of their computer science rankings:

* [QS: World University Rankings 2020 — Computer Science & Information Systems](https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2020/computer-science-information-systems)
* [Times Higher Education: World University Rankings 2020 — Computer Science](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2020/subject-ranking/computer-science)
* [Shanghai Ranking Consultancy: Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019 — Computer Science & Engineering](http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/computer-science-engineering.html)

My approach was simple. First, I combined the three rankings into one by averaging each university’s position across the three rankings. Second, I limited the list to the top-fifty institutions that offer computer science courses online. Third, I leveraged Class Central’s database to build a list of those courses.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/bkus6p1gj2rv60nrtvrn.png)*[Combining rankings in Jupyter Notebook](https://github.com/manocormen/ranking-universities-2020-world-cs)*

As you can see above, the three institutions that topped the combined ranking were [#1 MIT](https://www.classcentral.com/university/mit), [#2 Stanford](https://www.classcentral.com/university/stanford), and [#3 Carnegie Mellon](https://www.classcentral.com/university/cmu). If you’d like to see the data and the process I followed to get to that result, check out my [GitHub repo](https://github.com/manocormen/ranking-universities-2020-world-cs).

After compiling each university’s offering, the end result is a list of 500 online courses offered by the 2020 world 50 best universities for studying computer science.

# <a name="notable">Notable Courses</a>

Unsurprisingly, some of the courses in the list are also part of [Class Central’s best online courses of all time](https://www.classcentral.com/collection/top-free-online-courses). You can find these below. They’re all great options, especially for novice e-learners, since they exemplify the best that online education has to offer.

* [Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)](https://www.classcentral.com/course/python-4319) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★★(9662)
* [Machine Learning](https://www.classcentral.com/course/machine-learning-835) from *Stanford University* ★★★★★(358)
* [Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-using-python-1341) from *Massachusetts Institute of Technology* ★★★★☆(122)
* [Learn to Program: The Fundamentals](https://www.classcentral.com/course/programming1-385) from *University of Toronto* ★★★★★(105)
* [CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-cs50-s-introduction-to-computer-science-442) from *Harvard University* ★★★★★(84)
* [The Analytics Edge](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-the-analytics-edge-1623) from *Massachusetts Institute of Technology* ★★★★★(79)
* [Python and Statistics for Financial Analysis](https://www.classcentral.com/course/python-statistics-financial-analysis-12648) from *The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology* ★★★★☆(71)
* [Computing in Python I: Fundamentals and Procedural Programming](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-computing-in-python-i-fundamentals-and-procedural-programming-11469) from *Georgia Institute of Technology* ★★★★★(69)
* [Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching, and Randomized Algorithms](https://www.classcentral.com/course/algorithms-divide-conquer-374) from *Stanford University* ★★★★★(68)
* [Functional Programming Principles in Scala](https://www.classcentral.com/course/progfun-422) from *École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne* ★★★★★(66)
* [Cryptography I](https://www.classcentral.com/course/crypto-616) from *Stanford University* ★★★★★(51)
* [Python for Data Science](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-python-for-data-science-8209) from *University of California, San Diego* ★★★★☆(43)
* [Introduction to HTML5](https://www.classcentral.com/course/introhtml-4307) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★☆(42)
* [Internet History, Technology, and Security](https://www.classcentral.com/course/insidetheinternet-335) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★★(39)

# Full Course List

The full list is split into subjects. For brevity, I only included three courses in each. But a link at the end of each section will take you to the other courses. Courses that are also in [Class Central’s all-time top-100 ranking](https://www.classcentral.com/collection/top-free-online-courses) are denoted with a star (⭐).

* [AI & Machine Learning](#ai) (65 courses)
* [Algorithms & Data Structures](#algos) (60 courses)
* [Bioinformatics & Healthcare](#bio) (30 courses)
* [Computer Science](#cs) (90 courses)
* [Cybersecurity](#cybersec) (22 courses)
* [Data Science](#ds) (109 courses)
* [Programming Languages](#prog) (60 courses)
* [Software Development](#dev) (57 courses)
* [Quantum Computing](#quant) (7 courses)

With 500 courses to choose from, I hope you find something you like. But if those aren’t enough, check out [Class Central’s catalog](https://www.classcentral.com/) of over 15K online courses.

---

## <a name="ai">[AI & Machine Learning](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#ai)</a> (65 Courses)

* [Machine Learning](https://www.classcentral.com/course/machine-learning-835) from *Stanford University* ★★★★★(358) ⭐
* [Machine Learning Foundations: A Case Study Approach](https://www.classcentral.com/course/ml-foundations-4352) from *University of Washington* ★★★★☆(38)
* [CS188.1x: Artificial Intelligence](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-cs188-1x-artificial-intelligence-445) from *University of California, Berkeley* ★★★★★(31)
* [See all AI & Machine Learning courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#ai)

## <a name="algos">[Algorithms & Data Structures](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#algos)</a> (60 courses)

* [Divide and Conquer, Sorting and Searching, and Randomized Algorithms](https://www.classcentral.com/course/algorithms-divide-conquer-374) from *Stanford University* ★★★★★(68) ⭐
* [Algorithms, Part I](https://www.classcentral.com/course/algs4partI-339) from *Princeton University* ★★★★★(60)
* [Algorithmic Toolbox](https://www.classcentral.com/course/algorithmic-toolbox-5471) from *University of California, San Diego* ★★★★☆(23)
* [See all Algorithms & Data Structures courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#algos)

## <a name="bio">[Bioinformatics & Healthcare](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#bio)</a> (30 Courses)

* [Finding Hidden Messages in DNA (Bioinformatics I)](https://www.classcentral.com/course/hiddenmessages-3289) from *University of California, San Diego* ★★★★★(17)
* [DCO042 – Python For Informatics](https://www.classcentral.com/course/independent-dco042-python-for-informatics-1010) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★★(14)
* [Python for Genomic Data Science](https://www.classcentral.com/course/genpython-3476) from *Johns Hopkins University* ★★☆☆☆(12)
* [See all Bioinformatics & Healthcare courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#bio)

## <a name="cs">[Computer Science](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#cs)</a> (90 Courses)

* [Using Databases with Python](https://www.classcentral.com/course/python-databases-4272) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★★(1570)
* [Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-using-python-1341) from *Massachusetts Institute of Technology* ★★★★☆(122) ⭐
* [CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-cs50-s-introduction-to-computer-science-442) from *Harvard University* ★★★★★(84) ⭐
* [See all Computer Science courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#cs)

## <a name="cybersec">[Cybersecurity](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#cybersec) (22 Courses)

* [Cryptography I](https://www.classcentral.com/course/crypto-616) from *Stanford University* ★★★★★(51) ⭐
* [Software Security](https://www.classcentral.com/course/software-security-1728) from *University of Maryland, College Park* ★★★★☆(27)
* [Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies](https://www.classcentral.com/course/bitcointech-3655) from *Princeton University* ★★★★☆(18)
* [See all Cybersecurity courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#cybersec)

## <a name="ds">[Data Science](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#ds) (109 Courses)

* [R Programming](https://www.classcentral.com/course/rprog-1713) from *Johns Hopkins University* ★★★☆☆(241)
* [The Data Scientist’s Toolbox](https://www.classcentral.com/course/datascitoolbox-1712) from *Johns Hopkins University* ★★★☆☆(162)
* [The Analytics Edge](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-the-analytics-edge-1623) from *Massachusetts Institute of Technology* ★★★★★(79) ⭐
* [See all Data Science courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#ds)

## <a name="prog">[Programming Languages](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#prog) (60 Courses)

* [Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python)](https://www.classcentral.com/course/python-4319) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★★(9662) ⭐
* [Python Data Structures](https://www.classcentral.com/course/python-data-4174) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★★(4369)
* [Using Python to Access Web Data](https://www.classcentral.com/course/python-network-data-4343) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★★(1903)
* [See all Programming Languages courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#prog)

## <a name="dev">[Software Development](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#dev) (57 Courses)

* [Ruby on Rails: An Introduction](https://www.classcentral.com/course/ruby-on-rails-intro-4258) from *Johns Hopkins University* ★★★☆☆(56)
* [Introduction to HTML5](https://www.classcentral.com/course/introhtml-4307) from *University of Michigan* ★★★★☆(42) ⭐
* [Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems: Part 1](https://www.classcentral.com/course/androidpart1-1178) from *University of Maryland, College Park* ★★★★☆(38)
* [See all Software Development courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#dev)

## <a name="quant">[Quantum Computing](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#quant) (7 Courses)

* [Quantum Information Science I, Part 1](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-quantum-information-science-i-part-1-10087) from *Massachusetts Institute of Technology* ★★☆☆☆(2)
* [Quantum Machine Learning](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-quantum-machine-learning-12860) from *University of Toronto* ★★★★★(1)
* [Quantum Information Science I, Part 2](https://www.classcentral.com/course/edx-quantum-information-science-i-part-2-10259) from *Massachusetts Institute of Technology*
* [See all Quantum Computing courses ➡️](https://www.classcentral.com/report/cs-online-courses/#quant)