What's a program? How is a program different from a course?

• Read about programs on edX.org
• Search for programs
• How do I know if my course belongs to a program?
• Comparison: Course vs Program

On edX you have the option to enroll in single courses, or you can pursue multiple courses that are part of a series. After earning verified certificates in all of the courses in a series, you'll also automatically earn the program credential.

When you complete a course that belongs to a program, it'll display on your program record. Standalone courses that don't belong to any program credential don't appear on your program record.

Standalone courses on edX.org

Standalone courses are individual courses that aren't part of any series. These courses will cover one topic in depth, and you can earn a verified certificate of achievement in the course.

Boot Camps and Executive Education

Boot Camps and Executive Education courses are hosted on our partner sites. Credentials for these won't be issued through edX.org.

Program credentials issued on edX.org

XSeries Program

The XSeries Program is usually a group of 3 or more courses that explore a certain skill, topic, or field. These programs are typically offered by our university partners.

Professional Certificate Program

The Professional Certificate Program is a corporate-sponsored program that focuses on career development in areas such as programming, web development, data science, etc. The programs are usually groups 3 or more courses that become more advanced as you progress.

MicroBachelors Program

The MicroBachelors programs are a series of 3 to 5 courses with content designed to help you be job ready. Additionally, after completing these courses you can elect to earn undergraduate credit through our credit partner institutions.

MicroMasters Program

The MicroMasters Program is a series of 3 or more graduate level courses offered by major universities and are sponsored by well-known companies in the field. Some of the MicroMasters programs may also offer transferrable course credit if you do choose to continue into an on-campus Master's Degree program.

Online Master's Degrees

We also now offer fully online Masters programs from top rated universities. Instead of certificates awarded on edX, you'll earn a diploma that's identical to the diploma awarded to on campus students.

Search for programs

You can browse all of our programs in our course catalog at edX.org. You can filter your catalog search by:

• Subject (View all our course subjects and topics here)
• Partner (Browse all our partners here)
• Program (Browse all our programs here)
• Level (Introductory, Intermediate, or Advanced)
• Availability (Available Now, Upcoming, Archived)
• Language: Select a language to limit your search to only programs offered in that language.

If you click on a program in the catalog, you'll view the program introduction page.

The program introduction page

The program introduction page provides detailed information about one of our program credentials including:

1. The pacing type of the program's courses
2. The estimated length. This isn't a strict requirement or an indication of course end dates, but rather it's an estimation made by the offering partner of how long it takes to succeed in the program.
3. The price: The discounted price for purchasing the program bundle displays first, then the next displayed price with the strike-through is the price to upgrade the courses one by one.
4. Courses in this program.
   • Expand any of these courses listed to view more details, including dates and prerequisites, on the course introduction page by clicking the link View the course.

For Professional Certificate programs: Click Job Outlook to read more details about the job outlook from the relevant industry.

For MicroMasters programs: Click Certificate & Credit Pathways to learn more about leveraging the MicroMasters into a full Master's.

How do I know if my course belongs to a program?

View your Course Dashboard

If the course you've enrolled in belongs to a program, it will be indicated under the course on your dashboard after the text Related Programs.

View your Programs Dashboard

1. From your dashboard, select the Programs tab. If you're enrolled in a course that belongs to a program, some programs will be listed on the Programs dashboard.
2. Click the Program Details page to view which program course(s) you've enrolled in.

Before enrolling view the course introduction page

If you're viewing a course introduction page after finding it in the course catalog, click About then read under At a glance. If the course belongs to a program, it will be indicated after Associated programs.

Comparison: Course vs Program