5 Free Online Data Analysis Courses In 2024

For the next four years, big data analytics is expected to be one of the core drivers of economic growth, according to projections by the World Economic Forum’s Future Of Jobs report 2023. Analytical thinking leads the way in being the number one skill on the rise, increasing in demand this year, as per the findings of the same report, while data analysis appears sixth in LinkedIn top 10 Most In-Demand Skills of 2024 report.

Organizations have many priorities which make data analytics a worthwhile skill to learn, with AI (artificial intelligence), big data, and a strong focus on data-driven decision-making and business strategy being a few of them.

This is further evidenced by the fact that the job demand for data scientists is predicted to continue soaring until 2032 at least, to as much as 35%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—that’s much faster than the average job growth rate in North America.

Thanks to the demand, data analysis careers pay exceptionally well, leading to six figure incomes, with data scientists making as much as over $119,000 per year on average, as evidenced by current average salary figures on Salary.com

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Why Work In Data Analysis?

As if all of the above are not enough, here are two more excellent reasons to pursue data analytics as a career:

First, data analysis is a highly transferable skill, and is a function that is needed in every industry globally, similar to careers such as project management, which also shares the same characteristic of global demand and transferability across industries. You could work in a wide range of sectors, from healthcare, to finance, to e-commerce, to marketing, and of course, technology.

Second, now is a great time to learn data analysis, because of the acceleration and advancement of AI (artificial intelligence), which provides a helpful boost in augmenting your work and ensuring accuracy. Your work within data can come at a critical time when an organization is seeking to prepare its data for use in its internal AI tools and processes.

Free Online Courses On Data Analytics

Whether you’re seeking to reskill or upskill, you may not have much spare cash to invest in a course or to pursue a degree within this field. However, there may be some free courses that can help:

1. MIT’s How To Process, Analyze And Visualize Data

OpenCourseWare is a an online platform that hosts courses from many of the world’s leading universities, including Ivy League schools, for free, using a Creative Commons Licence. One such course, from the world-renowned MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has lectures and course materials on How To Process, Analyze, And Visualize Data.

2. Google Advanced Data Analytics Professional Certificate

This free online course, provided through Coursera, comes with an extra advantage—a professional certificate. Google career certificates are widely recognized by employers around the world, and undertaking one is an excellent way to fast-track your career development and be invited to job interviews. The advanced version teaches Python, machine learning, Jupyter Notebook, and Tableau software, amongst other skills, all of which you can add to your resume’s skills section, thus improving your chances of being hired.

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3. Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate

This course is aimed at guiding you through data analysis at the beginner level, and is a great introduction and starting point for further studies, such as the advanced course mentioned above. As with all Google Career certificates offered via Coursera, you have the option to apply for financial aid to cover the cost of your course, subject to eligibility.

4. HarvardX’s Data Science Professional Certificate

Harvard University has partnered with edX to provide free courses to learners on the edX platform. Although you need to pay for the entire training with the certificate, if you click into each module (course) within the certificate program on edX, it does provide you with the option to learn the course materials for free. To get the certificate, you would need to upgrade.

5. AWS Data Analytics

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a range of online certifications and ongoing professional development training, tailored to specific technical career paths. Once of these learning paths is their data analytics training. They provide this through free virtual training webinars, and individual courses that you can study on their own or as part of their data analytics learning plan, such as Data Analytics Fundamentals, or Best Practices for Data Warehousing.

Overall, choosing to pursue a career in data analysis is a decision you will not regret. If you commit to ongoing professional development and exploring new training opportunities, you too, can experience the lucrative salaries, remote work opportunities, flexibility, and diverse opportunities that others within this profession are already enjoying.