Free Project Management Courses

Learn the essentials of Project Management with our list of free online courses. Choose from university style, tutorials, or short courses.

Businessman talking on phone while learning against a railing

Learn the essentials of Project Management with our list of free online courses. Choose from university style, tutorials, or short courses.

Online Courses

1. University style

Coursera
  • Connected Leadership: Yale University
  • Agile with Atlassian Jira: Atlassian
  • How to Manage a Remote Team: GitLab
edX
  • Introduction to Project Management
  • Project Management Techniques for Development Professionals

2. Online tutorials

Coursera
  • Budgeting and Scheduling Projects
  • Initiating and Planning Projects
  • Managing Project Risks and Changes
  • Project Management: The Basics for Success

3. Short courses (skills training)

ALISON
  • Diploma in Modern Project Management Theory and Practice
  • Diploma in Project Management
  • Fundamentals of Project Management
  • Introduction to Modern Project Management Theory and Practice
  • Modern Project Management - Managing the Project Start-up, Scheduling and Budgeting
  • Modern Project Management - Working with Clients and Project Teams
  • Project Management - Project Feasibility and Life Cycle
  • Project Management – Quality, Risk, Procurement and Project Closeout

4. Foundational courses (introductory)

PMI
  • PMI Kickoff™
  • Business Continuity
  • Basics of Disciplined Agile™
  • Taming Bias
  • The Basics of Scrum
  • Free Introduction: PMI® Authorized On-demand PMP® Exam Prep

Study Project Management for Free

Managing projects effectively requires extensive business skills and knowledge. We've listed specialised project management courses which are fully online and free.

You may also want to study free online courses on topics such as leading teams, business planning, and finance. These and many other business fields are relevant to project management.

Types of courses

Uni style

University-style courses are online versions of the kinds of project management units you can study at university. They may have start and end dates. Providers such as Coursera and edX deliver free PM courses from institutions such as the University of Adelaide and University of Virginia.

Online tutorials

Online tutorials explore topics such as project planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing. The courses are typically self-paced and may include video lectures, interactive quizzes, and hands-on projects or case studies. They can be a great way to develop or enhance project management skills and knowledge.

Free short courses

Free short courses are a good option for quickly picking up some practical PM skills. They are self paced and allow you to quickly learn what you need to know. ALISON has several specialist project management courses.

Introductory courses

These are free teaser courses introducing basic concepts. While offering a good starting point, they're promotional and typically lead to more in-depth, paid courses. Ideal for beginners, but may have limited depth.

How to use Coursera

Coursera offers two main ways of studying for free: Audit Only and Full Course, No Certificate. Many courses offer at least one of these options, especially the audit option.

With Audit Only, you get access to most of the course materials for free. While you can read course materials, you won't be able to submit certain assignments or receive grades for your work.

For the Full Course, No Certificate option, you get access to all course materials, submit required assessments, and receive a final grade, all for free. When browsing courses, these programs are the ones with a "Free" label.

Cost Comparison for Australia

The cost of accredited PM courses in Australia varies widely depending on the level of qualification. Here's a brief overview of what you might expect to pay for each type.

  • Certificate IV: Average cost is $4,106, with state-based government subsidies reducing the cost to zero for some students.
  • Diploma: Average cost is $5,743, also potentially free with government subsidies.
  • Graduate Certificate: Costs around $15,000 for the entire program.
  • Graduate Diploma: Estimated at $30,000 for the complete course.
  • Master's Degree: Approximately $45,000 in total tuition fees.

FEE-HELP loans for postgraduate courses mean that fees only need to be paid gradually based on annual income.

Further details: Project Management Course Cost Comparison