VTC Online Software Tutorials and Certifications

While attending a four year university, I received a free subscription to VTC.com. This site has a wide collection of various training courses on software. Some of the categories include Animation & 3D, Game Design and Development, Internet and Web Design, Networking and Security, and Programming. Each course is a series of videos. After completing the videos, you can receive a digital certificate. If you want to add the certificate number onto your portfolio or résumé, your certificate can be verified by typing in the number on the VTC.com website.

There is unlimited access to 81,350 videos linked to 715 courses once you become a member. To become a member, it's $30/month. Many of the courses have several free videos.

Buy and Sell Used Textbooks

As an online student, you may find that many of your books are customized for your school rather than being just a standard text. For example, American InterContinental University ships textbooks to students automatically and most books have the AIU logo. Although many schools have the textbook price built into the tuition cost, you will save money by shopping around for your textbooks. Even if your book is customized for your school, you might find books on a used book source website.


half.com
ebay.com
Save up to 90% on New and Used Textbooks with AbeBooks.com
Sell and Buy Used Textbooks at Amazon.com
Sell Used Books - Ship Your Books For Free And Get Fast Cash Back!
barnesandnoble.com
Textbooks.com

Ask your professors if previous editions will be acceptable. Sometimes they will post the newest edition as their selected text because the bookstore can't order enough of the previous edition. Sometimes there are very few changes so a previous edition will work fine. International editions are usually identical to the US editions and much cheaper. If you school doesn't already have a website for students to trade textbooks, suggest one.



Keep in mind that your classes might move too quickly to order books from websites where individuals handle selling. If you need the book quickly and price isn't too much of a concern, Barnes and Noble will be better. I haven't really had too many complaints about buying books online. I prefer to pay by PayPal especially because one time I sent a check to a lady and she claimed she never got it. My $50.00 check was either in her hands or lost in the mail. Canceling the check would have cost $30.00 through my bank. She asked me to send another one--- which I did not. She eventually figured out that the check was at her Post Office box rather than at her regular home mailing address. When I finally got the book, it was the wrong edition and smelled heavily of cigarette smoke.

Financial Aid Scammers

The government website for FAFSA should be the place you go to fill out your free financial aid information. Do not use websites/companies that claim they offer financial aid after a fee is paid. Applying for financial aid is free.

Free Music Courses

Here's an example of a free online course posted by Berkleemusic.

MIT OpenCourseware

See what 30,000,000 other people are using to get a free education!

1800 courses complete with videos and notes.

Take Advantage of Free Materials Online

Massachusetts Institute of Technology MITOpenCourseware offers free courses in many subjects. Complete with PowerPoint slides, lecture notes, and practice exams, this site is a great tool for supplementing your education.

-Architecture and Planning
-Engineering
-Health Sciences and Technology
-Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
-Management
-Biology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Chemistry, and Earth Science
-Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation
-Energy and Environment

Through donations, GCF Learn Free provides online classes in math and computers. Some courses are accredited and will include a certificate after completion.

The Online Education Database has compiled 200 free courses offered from institutions across the nation. Click here for their list.

Open University based in the UK offers courses in business, education, IT and computing, math, science, and technology.

Tufts University, Stanford, and Carnegie Melon also offer free courses. Courses offered at Stanford are available for download to playback on iPods, PCs, and Macs.

University of California - Irvine is new to the online coureware collection, but their courses currently include e-marketing, human resources, financial planning, and capital markets.

Offering a wide variety of business courses, Kutztown University is certainly a good collection.

Utah University also offers online courses with texts that can be downloaded as zip files.

Current and archived courses dating back to 2001 can be viewed online at the University of California Berkley.

Also check out YouTube and Google for free videos of lectures from universities all over the world.

Read What Other Students Are Saying

Are you considering attending an online college? Read how others are rating online schools before you decide which school is best for your needs. Always keep in mind how a website is setup. There are many that will give glowing reviews of online schools because there is some kind of perk for the website owner.

ViewPoints allows you to search for your school and read reviews. Schools included is limited.

The Online Education Database 2009 rankings compare several criteria such as retention and graduation rates, acceptance rates, student to faculty ratios, and peer web citations.

Guide to Online Schools offers a long list of online schools that have student reviews.

Online Degree Reviews has a long list of reviews that rate schools based on materials, value, professors, support, and technology.