How To Apply for Coursera Financial Aid or a Scholarship
Outline
If you can’t afford to pay for a Certificate, you can apply for Financial Aid or a Scholarship through the link on the course home page. You can also view most course materials for free using the audit mode. Learners with Financial Aid or Scholarships in a course will be able to access all of the course content and complete all work required to earn a Course Certificate. Financial Aid and Scholarships only apply to the course that the application was approved for.
Most courses offer Financial Aid or Scholarships, but these may not be available for certain courses.
To receive Coursera Financial Aid or a Scholarship, you’ll need to:
- Fill out an application that includes information about your educational background, career goals, and financial circumstances
- Commit to abiding by our Honor Code and our Code of Conduct
Apply
You can only apply using our website on a computer – you can’t apply using our mobile app.
To apply for Financial Aid or a Scholarship:
- Using a computer, open the course home page for the course you want to apply for Financial Aid in.
- Next to the information about Financial Aid or Scholarships, click Learn more and apply.
- Fill out and submit your application. Make sure your application is over 150 words. Applications below this minimum will not be accepted.
- Wait for your application to be reviewed. While you wait for your application to be reviewed, you can begin the course immediately in audit mode or free mode. The review process may take up to 15 days.
- When your application is reviewed, you’ll get an email letting you know whether it’s been approved or denied. You can also check your Updates page to see the status of your Financial Aid application.
After you submit your application, it will take up to two weeks to review your application. Unfortunately, Coursera is unable to provide exceptions or rush individual applications.
You can see course materials for free while you are waiting for your application to be approved by using the audit mode.
Approved applications
If your application is approved, you’ll get an email letting you know, and you’ll be automatically enrolled in the course. Courses have personalized deadlines, so you won’t need to worry about falling behind.
If you do not complete the course within 180 days, you may submit another application.
You will have 2 weeks to unenroll from the course from the time your application has been accepted.
Denied applications
If your application is denied, you’ll get an email letting you know. That email will explain why your application was denied, so you can fix the problem and apply again.
Free Trials
Your financial aid application or scholarship will be canceled if you start a free trial while it is being reviewed.
If you’ve already started a free trial and still want your application to be reviewed for approval, you should cancel your subscription and re-apply.
Specializations
When you apply for financial aid or a scholarship for a Specialization, you will get Financial Aid only for the first course. You will need to submit separate applications for each new course as you go through the Specialization.
To apply for Financial Aid or a Scholarship for courses in a Specialization, follow the instructions above for each course in the Specialization.
Transfer Financial Aid
Unfortunately, Coursera cannot transfer payments, Scholarships, or Financial Aid across different courses.