What is the Best Online Calculus Course - Distance Calculus

There are many online Calculus course options on the internet currently. They basically separate into the following 3 categories:

Free MOOC Courses
These are courses that are offered for free (or nearly so), but they do not offer academic credit for the courses. Some of these courses are awesome and are an excellent resource for the student enrolled in a for-credit online Calculus course.
Publisher Courseware
Many academic textbook publishers offer multiple-choice based "course systems" where you take the Calculus course by getting a login to their system (which is the same for multiple schools, but the logos at the top are different), and you engage the course via endless multiple choice quizzes - reading their online textbook, doing problems by hand, choosing multiple choice options.
If you like this kind of course, then you have many options in taking such courses. We, personally, feel these course systems are cold, boring, and monotonous.
Mastery Learning & Human Interation & Computer Algebra Software
These types of courses are our favorites, of course, because that's what Distance Calculus is modeled on. Other great courses using this type of system are NetMath from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Here are some videos to explore our Calculus courses from Distance Calculus @ Roger Williams University. We will leave it up to you to decide which online calculus course is best!

Freshman Mathematics Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

STEM Calculus I 44
STEM Calculus II 44

Honors STEM Calculus I 55
Honors STEM Calculus II 55
Honors Calculus I+II for Data Science 55

Sophomore Mathematics Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

Differential Equations + Linear Algebra 55

General Mathematics Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

Discrete Mathematics 44

Number Theory 44
Non-Euclidean Geometry 44

Mathematics Major Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

Computational Abstract Algebra 44

Computational Differential Geometry 44

Is Distance Calculus For You?

How Fast Can You Complete a Distance Calculus Course?

After AP Calculus for High School Students

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Distance Calculus - Student Reviews

Jorgen M.★★★★★

Posted: Apr 13, 2020

Courses Completed: Calculus I

I really enjoyed this course, much more than I thought I would. I needed to finish this course very fast before starting my graduate degree program @ Kellogg. I was able to finish in 3 weeks. I liked the video lectures and the homework process. I highly recommend this course.

Transferred Credits To: Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern Univ

Mark Neiberg ★★★★★

Posted: Jan 12, 2020

Courses Completed: Calculus I, Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus

Curriculum was high quality and allowed student to experiment with concepts which resulted in an enjoyable experience. Assignment Feedback was timely and meaningful.

Abdul J.★★★★★

Posted: Jun 21, 2020

Courses Completed: Applied Calculus

This was the best class! So much more interesting doing the computer math than a boring lecture class. Diane was so responsive and helpful. I recommend this course.

Transferred Credits To: Villanova University

Ryan★★★★★

Posted: Aug 28, 2026

Courses Completed: Finite Math

I will preface this review by saying that if you are looking to take the easiest course possible, cheat through it, and learn as little as possible, this is not the course for you. Below, I will provide my uncensored opinions to this course:

First, this course uses software called LiveMath. This software can be a little bit challenging to get the hang of, but once you do get the hang of it, it's super easy. Remember that for all new things, it takes a bit to get used to it. Overall, I was highly satisfied with this course. I thought that the instructions were extremely detailed, including a video and a textbook explaining every different concept. In addition, this course offered exposure to a lot of different aspects of finite math. I think that many would agree with me on the following, that, you know, when a teacher is passionate about what they are teaching, it is so much more enjoyable, and you can definitely see that in this course. This course can be challenging at times. Maybe it'll be easy for you, maybe it'll be hard, but I think it's important to remember that the things that challenge us are, you know, the things that make us learn and the things that make us better. There's also a math chat option for if you need help or if you have any questions. Overall, I would recommend this course. I actually initially went into this course looking for an easy course to just help me get the credit requirements, but it ended up being an amazing learning experience and completely shifted my perspective on math overall. And another thing that I thought was great in this course is throughout so many different lectures, the professor would explain how each different thing can be applicable in life. And I think that, you know, that is a lot of what people think about when they are learning something. They're like, will I ever use this? Do I need to learn this? And a lot of this actually is really applicable. And I think that even if, you know, you may not be doing these math equations in your future, I think that, you know, the psychology behind these and the rules can be applied to so many different fuacets of life.

Transferred Credits To: GWU

Aiden B.★★★★★

Posted: Jul 29, 2026

Courses Completed: Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra

After completing all the math offered by my highschool, I switched over to Roger Williams for Calculus II and onward. Overall, it has been a pretty great way to understand the topics online, with transferrable college credits. The exams are not terrible, and the courses cover the vast majority (if not all) of topics covered by traditional courses, with some unique ones added to. So far, I have taken four courses, with another one or two before I graduate.

The only problem with the course is the lack of pen and paper work. This shouldn't come as a crazy surprise with an online course, but there is not much emphasis on symbolic computation. Mathematica or other software does most of the heavy computation for you. The lectures usually show how to solve the problems through paper, but those skills are rarely put into practice. Literacy Sheets act as a way to do some of that (especially with the Calculus II & III course).

All in all, this isn't a huge issue. I just memorize and practice things like double integration, Laplace, ODE solving, matrix diagonalized form, row operations, etc. With a little outside work, this resolves itself. Without Roger WIlliams, I probably would not have been able to take any of these math courses in highschool.

So overall, a great choice for highschool advanced math, especially with transferrable credits.

Email: abarger@protonmail.com

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