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A deep recession, just like the one that we’re in right now, is causing millions of Americans to reconsider their career paths even helping some to consider returning to college.

For some adults who have been out of school for years, the thought of taking classes again has them nervous. After all, once engrained study habits may have been forgotten or their personal inability to juggle family responsibilities with school could temper those dreams.

Hesitant adults aren’t about to spend their hard earned money on college if they aren’t sure that they’ll be able to succeed. If only they could make a “test run” first before signing up for class.

Well, actually you can. Thanks to a consortium of 200 universities, colleges and other schools of higher learning located around the world, users of the OpenCourseWare Consortium can take classes online and for free.

Although they aren’t exactly classes like Univerity of Phoenix or what other online schools offer, they allow users to access online syllabi and study materials along with lecture notes and exams. Just the right sort of materials you can peruse to see if the class is right for you.

Schools from around the world are participating in this program including universities in Afghanistan, Iran, Netherlands, South Africa, Venezuala and elsewhere. The United States has the most participants and currently features the following schools in the consortium:

* Arizona State University

* College of Eastern Utah

* Dixie State College of Utah

* Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

* Kaplan Higher Education

* Massachusetts Institute of Technology

* Michigan State University

* Open Institute of law, Int.

* Tufts University

* UC Berkeley

* University of Alaska Fairbanks

* University of California, Irvine

* University of Massachusetts Boston

* University of Michigan

* University of Notre Dame

* University of Utah

* University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire

* Utah State University

* Utah Valley State College

* Weber State University

* Western Governors University

* Wheelock College

To participate, colleges must offer a minimum of ten courses to students. All you need is a computer and internet access and you’re good to go.Information about the courses is posted online; no registration is required.

With this arrangement, no degree is conferred and you may not have as easy a time proving completion of a course if you were enrolled somewhere. But, what OpenCourseWare does do is give you enough information about the curriculum for you to decide whether you want to enroll as a student, whether at that college or somewhere else.

Care to give it a test drive? Visit OpenCourseWare.com for more information.

Adv. — Are you considering returning to school to get your degree? Check out OfftoCollege.com’s free planning calculator and financial aid pages to see what steps you need to take before your enroll.

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