Feel like getting a jump start on college? Some of nation’s top colleges offer free …

The OpenCourseWare Consortium, in conjunction with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has made courses at some of the nation’s (and world’s!) top universities available to you.  Yes, you.

This is extremely exciting news!  Having the opportunity to take a wide variety of courses from such distinguished schools for free and in the comfort of your own home (or where ever) is such an amazing gift to the enthusiast and the academic.

US News checked out the courses and offered some advice about how to get started.

Begin by searching the list of courses offered by OpenCourseWare Consortium or searching the websites of the universities involved: MIT, Yale, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, University of California – Berkeley, University of California – Irvine, Utah State, Stanford School of Engineering and Stanford University.

Keep in mind that some schools are known for being strong in certain subjects and not as strong in others.  Choose your courses wisely.  For example, if you are interested in taking a science or math course, MIT and Carnegie Mellon are your best choices, but Yale, Notre Dame and Berkeley would be better if you are interested in philosophy, religion and history programs.

A key to being successful in these courses and gaining the most from them is to choose a course that you are truly passionate about.  Listening to lectures on a subject you think you should take will certainly not keep you as engaged as you would if you were taking a class that really interested you.  US News recommends Shellay Kagan’s Death (Yale, philosophy), Amy Hungerford’s American Novel since 1945 (Yale, English), Norman Crowe’s Nature and the Built Environment (Notre Dame, architecture), and Gary Merkley’s Sprinkle and Trickle Irrigation (Utah State, biological and irrigation engineering).  MIT’s numerous introductory science courses were also a favorite, especially Introduction to Biology, Physics I, and Principles of Chemical Sciences.  Berkeley offers some fine courses, inlcluding Cymie Payne’s International Environmental Law (law), and John Kihlstrom’s Scientific Approaches to Consciousness (cognitive science).

Different courses come in different formats, so be sure to consider how you will learn best.  Classes are presented as either video, audio or print out classes.

The OpenCourseWare Consortium also offers translations of courses into numerous foreign languages and in closed captioning.  In these economically tough times who can turn this opportunity down?

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