60+ of the best Harvard University courses you can take online for free

TL;DR: A wide range of online courses from Harvard University are available to take for free on edX.

Do you have big plans to do absolutely nothing over the festive period. We get it. It's been a long year, and you deserve some rest.

But believe it or not, there are some people out there who refuse to rest. These people are "built different." They see the holidays as an opportunity to learn, develop, and grow. Does this sound like you? We've got a special opportunity that you should grab with both hands.

A wide range of online courses from some of the top educational institutions in the world are available for free on edX. You could become a student of somewhere prestigious like Harvard University without actually spending anything (or stepping foot outside). Harvard University is offering free online courses on popular topics like AI, cybersecurity, game development, personal development, law, and so much more.

We have checked out everything on offer and lined up a standout selection of online courses to get you started. These are the best free online courses from Harvard University in December 2025:

• American Government: Constitutional Foundations

• Ancient Masterpieces of World Literature

• Applications of TinyML

• Building Personal Resilience: Managing Anxiety and Mental Health

• Calculus Applied

• Cell Biology: Mitochondria

• Child Protection: Children's Rights in Theory and Practice

• CitiesX: The Past, Present and Future of Urban Life

• Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract

• CS50's Computer Science for Business Professionals

• CS50's Computer Science for Lawyers

• CS50's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python

• CS50's Introduction to Computer Science

• CS50's Introduction to Cybersecurity

• CS50's Introduction to Game Development

• CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python

• CS50's Introduction to Programming with R

• CS50's Introduction to Programming with Scratch

• CS50's Understanding Technology

• CS50's Web Programming with Python and JavaScript

• Data Science: Capstone

• Data Science: Inference and Modelling

• Data Science: Machine Learning

• Data Science: Probability

• Data Science: Productivity Tools

• Data Science: R Basics

• Data Science: Visualization

• Deploying TinyML

• Early Childhood Development: Global Strategies for Implementation

• Electrochemistry

• Energy and Thermodynamics

• Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies

• Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles

• Fat Chance: Probability from the Ground Up

• Fundamentals of Neuroscience Part 1

• Fundamentals of Neuroscience, Part 2: Neurons and Networks

• Fundamentals of Neuroscience, Part 3: The Brain

• Fundamentals of TinyML

• High-Dimensional Data Analysis

• Human Anatomy: Musculoskeletal Cases

• Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster

• Improving Your Business Through a Culture of Health

• Introduction to Data Science with Python

• Introduction to Digital Humanities

• Introduction to Probability

• Islam Through Its Scriptures

• Justice

• Justice Today: Money, Markets, and Morals

• Leadership: Creating Public Value

• Leaders of Learning

• Machine Learning and AI with Python

• Managing Happiness

• Masterpieces of World Literature

• MLOps for Scaling TinyML

• Modern Masterpieces of World Literature

• PredictionX: Lost Without Longitude

• Principles of Biochemistry

• Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology

• Remote Work Revolution for Everyone

• Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking

• Shakespeare's Life and Work

• Statistics and R

• Structure and Function of Argument: Introduction to Critical Thinking

• Super-Earths and Life

• Technology Entrepreneurship: Lab to Market

• The Architectural Imagination

• The Path to Happiness: What Chinese Philosophy Teaches us about the Good Life

• Using Python for Research

• U.S. Political Institutions: Congress, Presidency, Courts, and Bureaucracy

• U.S. Public Policy: Social, Economic, and Foreign Policies

It's important to flag that these free courses don't include certificates of completion or graded assignments/exams. But you can still enroll at any time and start learning at your own pace.

Find the best free online courses from Harvard University with edX.