Free college HR courses: No cost, no credit, just wisdom

You don’t need to enroll in college to take undergraduate and graduate HR courses that enhance your knowledge and career.

Universities and other sources offer free online courses through OpenCourseWare websites. The courses are the same that professors teach on campuses and include most of the original content and materials.

The bad news: College credit isn’t available. The good news: They’re free.

Here is a rundown of some sources and HR courses:

• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ocw.mit.edu) offers three graduate-level courses. Strategic HR Management covers performance management, training, reward plans and more. Urban Labor Markets and Employment Policy explores employment patterns, the job market and training strategies. Work, Employment and Industrial Relations Theory covers history and policy in the field. Most courses includes lecture notes, readings, exams and a syllabus.

• University of California – Irvine (ocw.uci.edu). Training and Human Resources Development consists of 10 lessons that include specific readings, discussion points, self-assessment quizzes, assignments and exercises.

• The New Jersey Institute of Technology (ocw.njit.edu) offers lessons on organizational behavior, job satisfaction, motivation, leadership and communication. Human Resources Management covers basics such as HR planning, HRIS, staffing strategy, performance management and appraisal. The courses includes 26 lecture videos.

• Saylor.org (www.saylor.org). Introduction to Human Resources Management targets HR generalists and covers the employee life cycle. Lectures, quizzes, assessments and a final exam are included.

• The Open University (openlearn.open.ac.uk). Human Resources: Recruitment and Selection focuses on finding, screening, interviewing and hiring job candidates. Choosing a Human Resources Consultant explores how to choose the right person, evaluate the risks and set fees. Several learning activities and readings are included.