Peer 2 Peer University announced a second round of free and open online courses last week. They offer 14 online classes ranging from physics to transformational art. P2PU is run by the P2P2U council, a group of community members who volunteer to design and run specific courses. The community is made up of writers, teachers, designers, grad students, copywriters, and scientists, among others, who all want to learn from each other.

P2PU’s mission is to “leverage the power of the Internet and social software to enable communities of people to support learning for each other.” And since P2PU is NOT an accredited school, any feedback on coursework is given by other fellow students. After completing a course, an online certificate is given to the students. Students cannot receive formal credit for studying at P2PU.

This is an opportunity solely for people who want to learn for the sake of learning. P2PU is a good community for people to discuss and share knowledge on subjects with their peers. P2PU cannot however, provide students who have “graduated” a degree to display the training, skills, and material they have studied and worked towards. We imagine that most employers would not consider an online completion certificate from P2PU seriously, since the community is established by volunteers – some knowledgeable, and some not.

And while P2PU seems to be a great resource to take classes in a variety of different subjects, where is the accreditation and value of this learning? We are not saying that P2PU seems like a waste of time, but at the end of the day, credit is what matters for schools and employers. You need a degree that will actually put some leverage on your resume. If you are looking to expand your current job skills, need more training, or want to go back to school to learn a different trade, why not consider an accredited online degree program which can help you jumpstart your career?

Answer a few basic questions and let OnlineDegreeFinder help match you to an online degree program today!