Udacity: Everything You Need To Know Before Enrolling

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Udacity is an online learning platform that offers both free and paid courses. Udacity students build their knowledge and skills in subjects like programming, product design, data science, product management and software development.

Udacity helps learners round out their resumes and even begin new careers in business and technology. If you want to change careers or sharpen your skills, Udacity’s courses or Nanodegrees may be the right fit for you.

What is Udacity?

Udacity offers a variety of paid and free courses to help learners work toward their career goals. The platform also provides Nanodegrees, which are paid programs in the fields of technology and business.

A Nanodegree comprises three to four single courses, which learners complete over a recommended number of weeks. The program culminates with a project that allows students to demonstrate their mastery of a subject. Nanodegree programs serve all levels of learners, from beginner to advanced. Advanced courses require prerequisite knowledge and skill in a subject.

How Much Does Udacity Cost?

Udacity’s Nanodegree programs cost $399 per month. Some programs allow students to pay for the entire course upfront at a discounted rate, but these offerings limit how long learners can take to complete the program. When paid per month, Nanodegrees are completely self-paced, and students can take as long as they need to finish the course.

Udacity also offers free and paid courses. Completing an individual Udacity course may count toward a Nanodegree depending on the Nanodegree’s curriculum.

Udacity does not accept any federal, state or local financial aid. However, learners can apply for third-party scholarships sponsored by the likes of Amazon, Shell and General Motors.

Online Courses Offered by Udacity

Udacity’s online courses teach the foundational knowledge and skills required for specific careers in business and tech. Introductory course offerings include coding, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence fundamentals. More in-depth courses explore programming languages like Python, JavaScript and SQL.

The options outlined below are only a fraction of the courses available through Udacity.

Intro to Programming

Time to Completion: 4 months at 10 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: Web designer, full-stack developer, front-end developer, UX designer

Overview of What to Expect in This Course:

Students learn the basics of programming by completing hands-on exercises to develop coding skills. Learners build and modify websites using HTML and CSS. They also learn and write Python and JavaScript code to run commands.

Introduction to Cybersecurity

Time to Completion: 4 months at 10 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: Cybersecurity analyst or consultant, systems or network engineer

Overview of What to Expect in This Course: This course teaches the foundations of cybersecurity, including system and network security, threat assessment and incident response. Students learn to secure organizations’ assets, identify and respond to threats and recommend security mitigation measures.

Data Structures and Algorithms

Time to Completion: 4 months at 10 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: Machine learning engineer, data scientist and other roles focused on data structures and algorithms.

Overview of What to Expect in this Course: This course refreshes students’ knowledge of Python. Learners explore and evaluate various data structures and both advanced and basic algorithms. To close the course, learners create a route-planning algorithm, similar to the ones used by Google Maps.

Predictive Analytics for Business

Time to Completion: 3 months at 10 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: Business analyst, business intelligence analyst, data analyst and systems analyst

Overview of What to Expect in this Course: This course helps learners build fluency in two analytics softwares, Alteryx and Tableau. Students learn problem-solving methodologies, data wrangling, classification models, A/B testing, time series forecasting and segmentation and clustering.

Career Courses Offered by Udacity

Udacity’s Nanodegrees are online career courses that prepare learners for jobs in their fields of interest. Nanodegrees are often labeled as intermediate or advanced, and many recommend or require prerequisites. The Nanodegrees listed below are just a sampling of Udacity’s career course offerings.

Become a Data Engineer

Time to Completion: 5 months at 5 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: Data engineer, analytics engineer, big data engineer, data platform engineer, data analyst, data scientist, machine learning engineers

Overview of What to Expect in this Course:

Entering with an intermediate knowledge of the programming languages SQL and Python, students build cloud-based data warehouses and implement them on Amazon Web Services. They also learn about the big data ecosystem and Spark to work with data sets. Learners create, automate and monitor data pipelines as well.

Become a Product Manager

Time to Completion: 4 months at 10 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: Entry-level product manager

Overview of What to Expect in this Course:

This course teaches what a product manager does and their role in an organization. Students learn the fundamental skills a product manager uses to lead the development of software products. Over four classes, learners explore product strategy, design, development and launch.

Become a Blockchain Developer

Time to Completion: 4 months at 10 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: Blockchain engineer, blockchain developer

Overview of What to Expect in this Course:

Students in this course learn about the fundamentals of blockchain technology. They also build a decentralized app (Dapp) on the Ethereum blockchain. Learners delve into blockchain privacy, security and decentralized file management. At the end of the course, students build an insurance Dapp that uses a smart contract to perform an action.

Become a UX Designer

Time to Completion: 3 months at 10 hours per week

Course Format: Online

Can Courses Be Completed Fully Online? Yes

Careers this Course Prepares Learners for: User experience (UX) designer, UX researcher, interaction designer, visual designer

Overview of What to Expect in this Course:

This course begins with UX fundamentals and design research. Learners then develop and implement a research plan to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data. To close the course, students create and iterate on a user interface design based on engagement data and performance indicators.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Udacity

How much does Udacity cost?

Many Udacity courses are free. Most Nanodegrees cost $399 per month. Some Nanodegree programs offer up-front payment, with which students may pay less overall but must finish the course within a certain time frame.

Can I get a certificate from Udacity?

When you complete a Nanodegree program, Udacity verifies both your compliance with their policies and your identity before awarding you a credential of completion. Udacity does not provide certificates for free courses.

Is Udacity recognized by employers?

Udacity’s courses and Nanodegrees are not accredited and cannot be transferred to educational institutions. However, course completion certificates and capstone projects still hold value among employers. You can use a completion certificate or capstone project to bolster your resume or job-ready portfolio.