Going Back to School for a Career Change
Published Sep 11, 2024
Related Learning Paths:
Changing careers can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. Whether you're feeling burnt out in your current role, eager for new challenges, or drawn to a completely different field, deciding to go back to school is a bold move that can open doors to fresh opportunities. With the right plan, further education doesn't just facilitate a career shift—it can help you truly thrive in your next professional chapter.
But what if you're not sure what direction to take? A great way to start is by exploring different industries through online courses that introduce the fundamentals of various fields. To help you navigate this journey, we've compiled a list of courses across several industries, designed to inspire and guide you as you consider your next career move.
Data Science and Computer Science
With data driving decision-making in every industry, data science is one of the most in-demand fields. Whether you're interested in healthcare, finance, or tech, understanding data analytics can position you for success in a range of roles.
Recommended Courses:
Data Science: R Basics
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $219 to earn a certificate.Build a foundation in R—a foundational computer programming language—and learn how to wrangle, analyze, and visualize data.
CS50's Introduction to Computer Science
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $219 to earn a certificate.One of edX’s most popular courses. Join more than 6 million learners in an introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming.
Data Science Principles
Schedule: 4 cohorts offered per year.
Cost: $950 to earn a certificate with discounts available.If you feel a little intimidated by math and coding, this course will give you a code- and math-free introduction to prediction, causality, data wrangling, privacy, and ethics.
Big Data for Social Good
Schedule: 4 cohorts offered per year.
Cost: $950 to earn a certificate with discounts available.Learn how core concepts in data science, economics, and statistics can help leaders and communities tackle some of the most pressing social challenges of our time.
Health Care and Public Health
The health care industry continues to evolve with new technologies and approaches to patient care. Public health, policy, and management are vital areas where further education can help you make a significant impact. If you’re interested in entering the field as a practitioner or on the business side, it’s important to understand all of the elements at play.
Recommended Courses:
Human Anatomy: Musculoskeletal Cases
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $209 to earn a certificate.Step inside a provider’s shoes and learn the anatomy basic to understanding five musculoskeletal injuries commonly seen in primary care medicine and orthopedic clinical specialty practice. Follow hypothetical patients from injury to the operating room.
Improving Global Health: Focusing on Quality and Safety
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $149 to earn a certificate.Everyone deserves high quality health care no matter where they live. This course is an introduction to the emerging field of global healthcare quality.
Innovating in Health Care
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $249 to earn a certificate.Learn about innovation opportunities in health care technology, management, consulting, or investing by examining health care cost, quality, and access.
Health Care Economics
Schedule: 4 cohorts offered per year.
Cost: $1,600 to earn a certificate with discounts available.
Understand the economic forces and public policies that are shaping the health care industry and its costs.
Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care
Schedule: 4 cohorts offered per year.
Cost: $950 to earn a certificate with discounts available.Learn about best practice for identifying and addressing disparities in health care from leaders at the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Business and Management
Whether you’re looking to pivot into leadership or explore entrepreneurship, business courses can give you the foundational knowledge needed to excel in new ventures or organizational roles.
Recommended Courses:
Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $209 to earn a certificate.Build foundational leadership skills and learn how to mobilize people to tackle tough problems and build the capacity to thrive through the dangers of change.
Technology Entrepreneurship: Lab to Market
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $149 to earn a certificate.Explore how entrepreneurs build successful businesses by moving technology from lab to market.
Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $249 to earn a certificate.Explore how entrepreneurship and innovation tackle complex social problems in emerging economies.
Outsmarting Implicit Bias
Schedule: 6 cohorts offered per year.
Cost: $550 to earn a certificate with discounts available.Leaders understand that bias impacts performance. Understand the science of implicit bias and strategies to counter the impact of bias in the workplace.
Sustainability and Environmental Science
With sustainability becoming a top priority across industries, those with expertise in climate change, environmental science, or sustainable business practices are poised to lead in this rapidly growing sector.
Recommended Courses:
The Health Effects of Climate Change
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $219 to earn a certificate.Learn how global warming impacts human health, and the ways we can diminish those impacts.
The Climate-Energy Challenge
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $49 to earn a certificate.Learn more about the science behind climate change.
Education and Learning
If you're passionate about teaching or supporting learning at any stage of life, courses focused on educational strategies and cognitive development can be a great starting point.
Recommended Courses:
Introduction to Family Engagement in Education
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $105 to earn a certificate.Learn about successful collaborations between families and educators and why they lead to improved outcomes for students and schools.
Leaders of Learning
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $209 to earn a certificate.Explore and understand your own theories of learning and leadership. Gain the tools to imagine and build the future of learning.
Government, Public Policy, and Social Activism
For those interested in working in government, nonprofits, or advocacy, gaining a deep understanding of policy, urban development, or ethics can set you on a path to making a difference.
Recommended Courses:
Justice
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $209 to earn a certificate.This introduction to moral and political philosophy is one of the most popular courses taught at Harvard College.
We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $149 to earn a certificate.Gain a foundational knowledge of American constitutional democracy and understand how to encourage others to explore their own civic paths.
Leadership: Creating Public Value
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $209 to earn a certificate.Face and meet today’s challenges and design a public value proposition that is both actionable and value creating.
Strategy Execution for Public Leadership
Schedule: 4 cohorts offered per year.
Cost: $1600 to earn a certificate with discounts available.Learn how to develop strategies for public leadership success.
Creative Industries and Cultural Arts
The creative industries encompass fields that rely on imagination, communication, and design to shape culture and society. Whether you’re interested in honing your skills in persuasive communication, exploring architectural concepts, or studying literature and performance, these courses offer foundational knowledge and practical skills.
Recommended Courses:
Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $209 to earn a certificate.Gain critical communication skills in writing and public speaking with this introduction to American political rhetoric.
The Architectural Imagination
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $249 to earn a certificate.Learn fundamental principles of architecture — as an academic subject or a professional career — by studying some of history’s most important buildings.
Shakespeare’s Life and Work
Schedule: Start anytime and learn at your own pace!
Cost: Free to audit or $209 to earn a certificate.Learn how to read William Shakespeare's plays through his biography, Elizabethan and Jacobean history, and modern performance.
With a wide variety of courses and enrollment options, Harvard Online provides you with a broad view of what’s available and guides you in selecting an area that aligns with their interests and goals. Which course will you take next? View all courses.