Coursera Calculus versus Distance Calculus

Coursera is a consortium of various universities (University of Pennsylvania, University of Sydney, et al) where their various online course offerings are presented together in one central location for students to find courses to take online.

One Calculus I course from Coursera is from University of Pennsylvania - it is a set of lectures from one of their professors, which receives great reviews as shown on that page.

Can you get academic credits for this Coursera Calculus I ? It is free - definitely cheaper than Distance Calculus @ Roger Williams University $1732 tuition fee.

This question is quite simply: no. But they mention this big "maybe" compare coursera to distance calculus

A "certificate" of any form like this is not the same as accredited, transferable academic credits!

As far as we can tell, you cannot earn real, transferable academic credits by taking an Coursera Calculus course.

Earning Real Academic Credits for Calculus

Applied Calculus vs Calculus I

Distance Calculus - Student Reviews

Date Posted: May 17, 2025
Review by: Quinn M.
Courses Completed: Linear Algebra
Review: Online learning for math is certainly a different way of learning than most are used to in school - However, Distance Calculus does a great job of providing valuable feedback and tips on each assignment, and the professor is always available for detailed instruction and help. Tools like Mathematica provide an environment for learning with a lot more freedom and opportunity for exploration of concepts than the regular classroom setting.
Transferred Credits to: Chaminade University of Honolulu

Date Posted: Feb 25, 2020
Review by: Jessica M.
Courses Completed: Applied Calculus
Review: I highly recommend this course. I started the Kennedy School at Harvard with a last-minute admission, but my application required the Liberal Arts calculus course, so I had to finish the course in 3 weeks. Diane was an awesome instructor! The class was surprisingly interesting. If you need to take calculus fast, this is the program to use.
Transferred Credits to: Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Date Posted: Jan 12, 2020
Review by:
Courses Completed: Calculus I, Calculus II
Review: I needed to brush up on my high school calculus and finally take Calc II before starting a graduate program that needed them as prereqs. This was perfect choice to fit in that summer. Got done at fast pace that I wanted and needed. Also had added bonus of one on one feedback and help when needed. Video lessons were better than many on campus instructors in large lecture settings. Recommend for anyone needing to satisfy prereqs at home institution.
Transferred Credits to: University of Michigan

Distance Calculus - Curriculum Exploration

Systems of Equations

P10: Systems of Equations:

P10.1: Systems of Linear 2D Equations

P10.2: Matrices

P10.3: Systems of Linear 3D Equations

P10.4: Non-Linear Systems

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Distance Calculus - Student Reviews

Karen N.★★★★★

Posted: Feb 28, 2020

Courses Completed: Calculus I, Calculus II

Awesome classes! I was really weak with Calculus, so I retook Calc 1 and kept going into Calc 2. I feel like I finally understood Calculus. The finals were pretty thorough, but not nearly as stressful as the blue book exams. I highly recommend these courses!

Transferred Credits To: Various

Anonymous☆☆☆☆☆

Posted: Dec 31, 1969

Anonymous☆☆☆☆☆

Posted: Dec 31, 1969

Jenny Zuercher★★★★☆

Posted: May 18, 2025

Courses Completed: Precalculus, Calculus II

Dr. Curtis's courses are very difficult, but they are definitely worth it! I took Calculus 2 from Dr. Curtis in my senior year of high school and went into a combined Calculus 2 and Calculus 3 course my first year of college. This course prepared me, and I found that I already knew much of the Calculus 3 coursework. The most difficult part of these courses, in my opinion, is pacing yourself. If you can keep yourself on track, then you are all good to go!

Email: jenz2.home@icloud.com

Transferred Credits To: University of Iowa

John ★★★★★

Posted: Nov 20, 2025

Courses Completed: Precalculus, Applied Calculus

Great course. Professor Curtis and the TAs graded quickly and gave really helpful feedback that made the class feel smooth and manageable. Definitely recommend it.

Transferred Credits To: Binghamton University (School of Managment)

Lucas L.★★★★★

Posted: Jun 25, 2026

Courses Completed: Multivariable Calculus

The professor as well as the TAs give great feedback when you need help with problems and the videos are great at explaining concepts. Return time on work is good and the work is not too much to handle.

Transferred Credits To: University of Wisconsin

Hari K.★★★★☆

Posted: Jun 24, 2026

Courses Completed: Linear Algebra

This course gives a perspective on Linear algebra that no traditional course does. I’d say i gained much more intuition for this subject from the DC course than my friends who took traditional courses elsewhere. As a cs major, this version of learning with visualization has helped me a lot in understand ML models. However the course doesn’t have videos for the last 2 chapers so i had to self learn with the mathematica notebooks. Response times are a little slow but since it’s a remote class, i guess it’s justified. Overall amazing course and definitely take this over traditional lin alg classes.

Julia★★★★★

Posted: Jun 24, 2026

Courses Completed: Calculus I

As a full-time business owner completing an Executive MBA, I needed to satisfy a calculus prerequisite without putting my work on hold. Distance Calculus made that possible. The fully self-paced structure let me work early mornings and weekends around an unpredictable schedule, which a fixed-semester classroom course never would have allowed.
The course covered the core business calculus material thoroughly — derivatives, optimization, integration techniques including u-substitution, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, improper integrals, and numerical methods. The LiveMath computer algebra environment was central to the experience: it forced me to build each step explicitly rather than just arriving at an answer, which actually deepened my understanding of the mechanics.
Communication through the student portal was responsive when I had questions. For working professionals who need a rigorous, accredited calculus course on a flexible timeline, I'd recommend it.

Transferred Credits To: MIT Ebma