15 Best + Free Stanford Online Courses with Certificates

Stanford University is a globally-known, private research university that was founded in 1885 with the goal of promoting research, student-staff engagement, interdisciplinary work, and academic success. The Stanford Center for Professional Development, a leader in online and enlarged education, operates and manages Stanford Online. Stanford University provides its students with an excellent opportunity to browse free online courses in a wide range of subjects and get rewarded with certificates. Stanford Online allows students to broaden their knowledge and realize their full potential. You can now study from any location while exploring a lifetime of opportunities such as free online courses, professional training, and credit-bearing programs and degrees.

Following that, Takethiscourse has enlisted some of the most amazing courses offered by Stanford University. Let’s be critical and have an in-depth knowledge of these best courses to get a bright future. Let’s get started!

Best Stanford Free Online Courses with Certificates

Here is the list of 15 Best Stanford Free Online Courses with Certificates.

Machine Learning

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 341,715+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (10,345 Ratings)

This course provides a thorough understanding of machine learning, data mining, and statistical pattern recognition. Machine learning has the potential to unveil the value of corporate and customer data and enable companies to make decisions that will help them be ahead of the competition.

• You will know the most useful machine learning techniques and acquire experience implementing and putting them to use. More interestingly, you will discover not only the conceptual basis of learning but also the practical know-how required to apply these techniques to new problems rapidly and efficiently. Eventually, you will learn about some of Silicon Valley’s finest innovation practices in machine learning and AI.
• By learning machine learning, you can explore many career options such as Software Engineer, software developer, designer in Human-centered machine learning, data scientist, computational linguist, etc.

Graph Search, Shortest Paths, and Data Structures

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 79,217+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (1,936 Ratings)

Since the world has been digitalized, computer programming has become essential. Hence, this course provides an understanding of vital structures in computer programming.

• You’ll learn about important topics like data structures, graph primitives (including shortest paths), and their applications (especially social network analysis).
• After completing this course, you will be a programmer, with the potential to work in computer programming and development on a variety of programs such as games, route planning, data management, job scheduling, fingerprint reading, network security, social networking, and much more.

Organizational Analysis

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 150,559+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (1,337 Ratings)

Managing an organization is a necessary task if you want to reach the top. This amazing course explains a phenomenon of organizational behavior and shows how to implement it in real-world cases of organizational change.

• This course provides organizational theories that can be used to critically evaluate how an organization works and how it can be organized most effectively. Organizational theories illustrate specific aspects of an organization’s structure and environment, as well as its negotiation, development, and change processes.
• This course can prepare you to work as a manager or organizer in a variety of fields, including performance evaluation specialist, employment and recruiting manager, staffing manager, and many others.

Introduction to Healthcare

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 30,740+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (674 Ratings)

High-quality health care system benefits and improves one’s quality of life. This course provides a thorough understanding of how the healthcare system works to identify problems and devise solutions.

• This course delves into the basics of the American healthcare system. It will introduce the major corporations and participants in healthcare systems, explain what they perform, and describe how they communicate. The course will cover physician practices, health centers, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and funds.
• By completing this course, you will be able to provide primary care, specialty care, or emergency care, allowing you to pursue a variety of career paths such as Health Informatics / Business, Direct/ indirect Patient Care, Therapeutic Services, and many others.

Introduction to Statistics

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 306,652+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (2,281 Ratings)

Introduction to Statistics at Stanford teaches statistical reasoning theories that are critical for gaining knowledge from data and communicating insights. Statistics allows us to understand the world even better through numerical information.

• You will be able to conduct exploratory research, understand key sampling fundamentals, and select suitable tests of significance for a variety of contexts
• This course can lead to a variety of jobs such as a statistician, analyst, or database jobs, among others.

Game Theory

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 462,629+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (4,394 Ratings)

This course explains game theory which is the mathematical modeling of rational agents’ strategic interaction. It explains how people socialize during critical decision-making practices.

• The course will cover the fundamentals of displaying games and schemes, the vast form (also known as game trees by computer scientists), Bayesian games, reiterated and stochastic games, and more. This also includes classic games and a few applications.
• Many professions use game theory such as game designer, technical artist intern, cryptocurrency researcher, research analyst, research scientist, and many more.

More Free Stanford Online Courses with Certificates

Introduction to Mathematical Thinking

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 442,916+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (2,535 Ratings)

Mathematical thinking entails far more than simply being able to perform arithmetic and solve algebraic equations. It is a completely new mindset of looking at things, reducing them to their essence, whether quantitative, systemic, or rational, and then analyzing the hidden pattern. It elevates math from the daily grind to art

• This course assists in the development of that critical way of thinking. This course teaches you about real analysis, mathematical logic, and much more.

Cryptography I

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 423,790+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (4,105 Ratings)

This course broadens your understanding of computer systems and other related topics. Cryptography is the practice and study of methods for stable communication in the presence of oppositional behavior.

• In this course, you will discover the internal world of cryptographic systems. You will learn about cryptography techniques and how to apply them accurately in real-world practices.
• While learning cryptography, the top jobs to be considered are becoming a university professor, a security consultant, or a financial consultant. You could also consider a career as an encryption expert or message decoder, among other options.

Social and Economic Networks: Models and Analysis

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 65,88+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (704 Ratings)

This course teaches students how to design social and economic networks and discuss their effects on human behavior.

• The course provides background information on social and economic networks, as well as an insight into the theories used to explain and assess networks. This course provides a collection of models for how networks build, including spontaneous network models, strategic formation models, and some hybrids. It represents a set of models that describe how networks influence behavior, such as diffusion, learning, and peer thoughts.
• Networking helps you strengthen your career and gain access to new career opportunities.

Stanford Introduction to Food and Health

• • • Stanford via Coursera
    • 637,449+ already enrolled!
    • ★★★★★ (825,377 Ratings)

As we all know Health is wealth. This course primarily focuses on spreading the importance of home-cooked, clean and nutritious food so that people become aware of health hazards spreading because of processed food.

• This course will provide learners with the knowledge and practical skills they need to start optimizing their eating habits. This course will shift the emphasis away from reductive nutrient discussions and toward realistic conversations about real food and the environment in which we intake it. By the end of this course, students should be able to differentiate between foods that will benefit their health and those that will harm them. Furthermore, it will represent simple home cooking as an essential component of our initiatives to live longer, healthier lives.
• By taking this course, you will become enough capable to address how food plays a major role in maintaining your health.

Healthcare Leadership

• getSmarter via edx
• 8 weeks (6–9 hours weekly) of effort required!
• Course type (Self-Paced)

In this course, you will gain the practical tools that can help you lead innovative improvements in your healthcare setting more efficiently and effectively.

• The best thing about this course is its focus on explaining how to develop effective strategies to maximize team performance. You will understand how to harness the power of vulnerability for building trust and collaboration.
• This course is for those who wish to understand the systems improvement frameworks in detail. Those who need to improve their ability to make leadership decisions in high-pressure situations are also welcome to join this course.

Nutrition Science

• getSmarter via edx
• 8 weeks (8–10 hours weekly) of effort required!
• Course type (Self-Paced)

In this course, you will develop a deep understanding of nutrition and why it is critical for health and wellness.

• The reason why we chose this course is its focus on exploring the role of micronutrients and macronutrients in our body and how they impact human health at different stages of development.
• This course is for those who wish to understand the value of optimal nutrition in preventive care.

Child Development: Behavior and Mental Health

• getSmarter via edx
• 6 weeks (6–8 hours weekly) of effort required!
• Course type (Self-Paced)

Do you wish to learn a practical and science-informed approach that can help children be happier and healthier? With the help of this course, you will learn different tools that can help you handle the challenging behavior of children and encourage social connection and even support mental health.

• The best thing about this course is its focus on explaining how to create a space that fosters positive interactions and optimal learning. You will be taught how to encourage a child’s innate learning abilities. Similarly, the instructor will talk about some positive behavioral discipline techniques that can help you prevent and address children acting out.

This course is for all those who wish to understand how they can support a child’s mental health and help them lead a happy and healthy life. Similarly, those who wish to understand the importance of a child’s social connection with adults and peers should also enroll in this course.

Employee Wellness and Stress Management

• getSmarter via edx
• 6 weeks (6–8 hours weekly) of effort required!
• Course type (Self-Paced)

This course explains how you can optimize your productivity and engagement at work through a mental and emotional tool kit that can empower you to prioritize and support the well-being of not only yourself but others.

• The reason why we chose this course is its focus on explaining the strategies that can help support the self-care of the teams that you lead. You will also learn to focus on your own well-being and personal resilience while at the same time taking care of the colleagues you influence. Note that this course uses self-reflection, goal setting, and global case studies to guide learners defining their wellness priorities. You will be taught how to build resilience for a fast-paced and complex working world.
• This course is for all those who wish to explore the reciprocal relationship between a “healthy you” and “healthy team” by learning the science and practical examples of self-care.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Healthcare

• getSmarter via edx
• 6 weeks (4–6 hours weekly) of effort required!
• Course type (Self-Paced)

In this course, you will understand how systemic racism and implicit bias can create inequity in the healthcare system. Here you will be taught how to develop your own DEI strategic plan to address this issue. The instructor will explain in detail how to mitigate health disparities and bias in the healthcare system.

• The best thing about this course is its focus on explaining why some population groups get worse healthcare as compared to other groups. You will also learn and apply specific DEI strategies to combat discriminatory practices while at the same time focusing on building a stronger patient-practitioner experience in the process.
• This course is for those who wish to discover how they can enhance recruitment policies, organizational change, and team dynamics by using inclusive practices. Those who wish to walk away with knowledge and tools to build a healthcare organization that prospers should also enroll in this course.