Back to School: 12 Online HR Courses to Check Out

Written by Neelie Verlinden
7 minutes read

September means it’s time to go back to school. Now more than ever before that means going back to school for everyone who works too. Including HR professionals. Since we know you’re busy people, we created a list of 12 online HR courses to check out. Not only does that save you time searching, but you can also do the course you like from the comfort of your own office (or home, or any other spot you prefer).

Here goes (in alphabetical order).

  1. Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR)
  2. Alison
  3. Coursera
  4. eCornell
  5. Josh Bersin Academy
  6. LinkedIn Learning
  7. Kokoroe
  8. myHRfuture
  9. OpenLearn
  10. Oxford Home Study Centre
  11. Udemy
  12. Wharton Online

Please note that this list is compiled based on publicly available information. We have not tried the courses ourselves, with the exception of AIHR’s courses.


1. Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR)

Kicking off with our very own AIHR Academy (after all, it starts with an A). The courses are globally accredited online HR courses. They allow HR professionals to work on real-world projects and case studies. Each course has a flexible, bite-sized structure which means you can literally learn anywhere and anytime.

AIHR courses are made by practitioners for practitioners while having a deep academic foundation at the same time. One of the most valuable features of following an online HR course at AIHR is probably the fact that you get access to their global practitioners’ community where you can share experiences and discuss best practices.

What’s the offering like?
There are two main offerings, a People Analytics offering, and a Digital HR offering. Courses include:

  • HR Analytics Leader
  • HR Data Analyst
  • Strategic HR Metrics
  • Digital HR Certificate Program
  • Digital HR Strategy

These courses are in-depth and practical. Learning time per course averages around 16-20 hours.

Price*
All you can learn (18 months unlimited access to all courses): $1697, Digital HR Certificate Program: $797, HR Analytics leader: $597.

What students say about AIHR:

2. Alison

Alison is a platform that offers free online courses from the world’s leading experts on all sorts of topics, including HR. Their online HR courses are designed to teach managers of any business team the effective HR management skills that can help them achieve organization-wide success. 

What’s the offering like?
Alison offers a whole range of courses for HR, all with a certificate or diploma in the end. Courses include:

  • Introduction to Modern Human Resource Management
  • Diploma in Human Resources
  • Human Resources Management – Discipline in Organizations
Alison's online HR course

Price*
Alison’s online HR courses are free.

3. Coursera

Coursera offers 100% online learning from the world’s best universities and companies. Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes, and projects. Of course, there is an official recognition for your work at the end of every course.

What’s the offering like?
Coursera’s HR offering groups together HR courses from universities like Stanford, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, ESSEC Business School and many more. Courses include:

  • Human Resource Management: HR for People Managers
  • Preparing to Manage Human Resources
  • Diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Price*
Many of the online HR courses you can follow at Coursera are free and there are paid options for additional material.

Coursera HR courses online

4. eCornell

Online university eCornell has human resource certificate programs developed by faculty from Cornell University’s ILR School. The courses within these programs bring together the insights and work of leading academic researchers with instruction grounded in practice and focused on real-world application.

What’s the offering like?
Cornell has a professional certificate to match the career objectives of HR professionals whether they are new to HR, an accomplished HR practitioner, or an HR leader or business partner. Programs include:

  • Human Resources Management Certificate
  • Human Resources Essentials Certificate
  • Diversity and Inclusion for HR Certificate

Price*
Prices vary per course. For the Human Resources Management Certificate, for example, it’s $5.400 or $650 per month and for the Human Resources Essentials Certificate, it’s $3.600 or $650 per month.

5. Josh Bersin Academy

Josh Bersin, known from Bersin by Deloitte, has moved since and launched the Josh Bersin Academy. The Academy is a global community of HR professionals and its mission is to prepare the HR community for the radical disruptions already happening in the workplace.

What’s the offering like?
The Josh Bersin Academy features engaging and thought-provoking short online programs that cover the most important issues facing HR. Learners go through programs in teams of 30 to 50 fellow HR professionals, collaborating to tackle challenges. Programs include:

  • The Agile Learning Organization
  • The HR Tech Workshop
  • HR in the Age of AI
  • People as a Competitive Advantage

The courses are introductory with a learning time of approximately 4 hours per course.

Price*
The Josh Bersin Academy offers three different plans. Professional, for individual HR professionals, is $40 per month per learner. Teams, for HR teams of 5 to 100 people is $40 per month per learner. Enterprise, for large HR organizations of 100 people or more with prices available on request.

Online HR courses by the Josh Bersin Academy

6. LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is a subsidiary of LinkedIn. It’s a platform that offers video courses taught by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills including HR. It was first founded by Lynda Weinman in 1995 as lynda.com and then acquired by LinkedIn in 2015.

What’s the offering like?
LinkedIn Learning’s online HR courses vary in length and topic. Courses include:

  • Anticipating the future needs of HR
  • 10 tips to have efficient interviews
  • Measure the performance of the HR department
  • The digital transformation of HR

Courses are introductory level with learning time of around 1.5 hours per course.

Price*
After a free trial, prices start 29.74 EUR (around $33) per month. Annual subscriptions come down to 19.83 EUR ($22) per month. For HR teams, prices are available on request.

LinkedIn Learning's online HR courses

7. Kokoroe

This is one of my personal favorites. Kokoroe has created a platform full of content that allows people to develop the skills of tomorrow in a simple and fun way. Think of soft skills as well as professional and technological skills, things you can’t learn using methods of the past.

What’s the offering like?
While the courses from Kokoroe aren’t just for HR professionals, many of them are very relevant for HR since they cover themes that affect the world of work in general. Think of courses such as:

  • Inclusion: Why it matters
  • Giving good feedback at work
  • How to deal with conflict?
  • How to make work-life balance work?
  • How to avoid stereotypes?

Price*
Kokoroe has two plans. The Free plan, available to all users, offering them open access to the complete training catalog and part of the platform’s training content. The Premium plan is 6.50 EUR (around $7) per month and offers access to all of the training content and provides learners with a certificate of achievement.

Online courses from Kokoroe

8. myHRfuture

The myHRfuture academy is a learning experience platform for HR professionals looking to invest in their careers. The platform gives you access to on-demand courses from industry experts to help you become more knowledgeable in both data-driven and digital HR.

What’s the offering like?
myHRfuture has an offering that covers topics such as People Analytics, Digital HR and HR technology, Design Thinking, Workforce Planning and more. Courses include:

  • An Introduction to People Analytics
  • Incorporating Design Thinking into HR
  • Introduction to AI in HR and the Future of Work
  • How to Use Assessments for Talent Identification

Courses are introductory level with learning time of around 1.5 hours per course.

Price*
An annual subscription giving 12 months of unlimited access costs 300 GBP per year, a single course costs 178.80 GBP.

9. OpenLearn from The Open University

OpenLearn is an initiative from the Open University and they are on a mission to break down barriers to education. They want to achieve this by reaching millions of learners each year, through free educational resources.

Learners can take free courses and earn a digital badge or statement of participation as evidence of their learning.

What’s the offer like?
In terms of online HR courses, OpenLearn has a free course called Human resources: recruitment and selection. The aim of the course is to guide HR professionals through the recruitment and selection process from writing job descriptions to assessing who to appoint. Other courses include:

  • Developing your skills as an HR professional

Price*
As per their philosophy, OpenLearn courses are free.

Online HR courses from OpenLearn

10. Oxford Home Study Centre (OHSC)

OHSC is the leading specials provider of distance learning professional courses in the UK. The institute provides accredited home study courses across the world and is set up by a team of professionals with over ten years of experience in delivering home-based study programs.

What’s the offer like?
Oxfords’ HR course is an entry-level program providing an overview of the basics of both HR as a concept and the role of the HR manager. The course is suited to existing HR professionals and newcomers to the industry.

Price*
Oxford’s HR course is free.

OHSC online HR course

11. Udemy

Udemy has the world’s largest selection of course including online HR and recruitment courses. Learners can benefit from lifetime access both on the website and app and are taught by top instructors from around the world.

What’s the offering like?
Udemy has a large choice of online HR courses categorized in ‘Most popular’ and ‘Trending’. Courses included:

  • World-Class HR: 21st Century Talent Management
  • Recruitment Interviewing Essentials: Interviewing Made Easy
  • Administrative Human Resources (HR) for Beginners
  • Understanding Unconscious Bias

Price*
Prices vary depending on the course. World-Class HR, for example, is 49.99 EUR (around $55) and Recruitment Interviewing Essentials is 109.99 EUR (around $122).

Online HR courses from Udemy

12. Wharton Online

Wharton Online is part of the Wharton University of Pennsylvania. The platform offers courses to millions of learners who use them to advance their careers. Wharton Online courses are taught by the same world-renowned thought leaders and scholars who teach in Wharton’s on-campus programs.

What’s the offering like?
Wharton has a tow-month online certificate program called HR Management and Analytics: Unlock the Value of Human Capital. During this program, you’ll dive into topics that will help you become a more strategic HR partner by gaining a holistic understanding of how HR management and data analytics intersect.

Wharton also has online courses for organizations, for example on People Analytics.

Price*
The price for the HR Management and Analytics program is $2.800.

Wharton Online HR course

*All prices are indicative and susceptible to change. Always check the latest, up-to-date pricing on the website of the course provider.

Before you go

That’s a wrap! As always though, if you feel we missed out on an online HR course please do share them with us in the comment section below so we can take them into account for the next update of this article.

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Neelie Verlinden

Neelie Verlinden is the host of the popular All About HR talk-show/podcast and co-founder of AIHR, the Academy to Innovate HR. She’s an expert on all things digital in HR and has written hundreds of articles on innovative HR practices. She's also an instructor on several popular HR certifications. Connect with Neelie via LinkedIn.

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