We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Have you been searching for the best Electrical Engineering courses all over the internet but come up empty? Don’t worry. You’ve come to the right place!
We’ve put together a list of the best Electrical Engineering courses available online. The certified courses on our list include Specialized courses designed for electrical engineering students interested in learning about specific parts of electrical engineering, such as its relation to the environment and energy production, and batteries and their management systems. We’ve also included beginner-level courses for students interested in pursuing electrical engineering after completing high school.
We have ranked the following courses based on the highest number of 5-star ratings, student reviews, and instructor quality.
Easy Navigation
The Best Electrical Engineering Course Online
1. Power Electronic Specialization (Coursera, conducted by University of Colorado, Boulder)
This Power Electronics Specialization is the best option for electrical engineers online!
We have ranked this Coursera Specialization at #1 because of the detailed and extensive amount of content covered, its self-paced nature, and several positive student reviews.
This certified intermediate-level Specialization consists of the best four courses for electrical engineers. It is perfect for undergraduate engineering students looking to further a career in engineering and specialize in electrical engineering.
Conducted by the University of Colorado, Boulder, this Specialization has seen over 13,000 people. Students have praised the instructor’s concise, clear, and comprehensive teaching style and the challenging but practical and well-designed assignments. It is self-paced, four months long, and requires about 4-5 hours of study per week. This Specialization also has a 4.8-star rating on Coursera.
Please note that while you can sign up for this Specialization separately, it is also a part of the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree program conducted by the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The Specialization consists of four courses:
- Introduction to Power Electronics
- Converter Circuits
- Converter Control
- Magnetics for Power Electronic Converters
Please note that while you can audit any of the courses in the Specialization for free, you can also sign up for Coursera Plus and receive a shareable certificate of completion once you have finished all of the courses. The shareable Certificate of Completion is available only with Coursera Plus. Coursera Plus costs $399 a year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you purchase the certificate, you will gain access to all the course materials and graded assignments. Once you have completed the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page, where you can print or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Dr. Robert Erickson teaches this Specialization. He has been a member of the faculty of electrical, computer, and energy engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, since 1982.
Review by Beili L:
I thought this course was an informative introduction to an important class of electronics. The lecturer was easy to follow, except during certain topics. However, that is more due to the difficult nature of the subject than the professor’s fault. I found myself pausing and rewatching some portions to understand better, but I don’t have any problems with that. There is a good balance between more generalized overviews of key circuit concepts and more detailed analyses of specific circuit topologies. You may have to do some outside research to understand all details fully, and I know that may turn some people off. I believe it is fine, and it is a good way to learn how to find information on your own. I did not have to do this more than a few times (that would be annoying). Lastly, the assignments were just challenging enough to force me to actually grasp the material without making it seem like it was impossible to complete.
2. Algorithms for Battery Management Systems Specialization (Coursera)
We recommend this certified Specialization to learners with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Computer engineering. The courses within this Specialization are for learners with an intermediate level of knowledge. This Specialization is ideal for learners interested in the functions that need to be performed by a battery management system and how to model the behaviors of a lithium-ion battery mathematically.
Dr. Gregory Plett teaches the courses within the Specialization. Dr. Plett is a Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering at the University of Colorado. His research is focused on the theory of control systems as applied to the management and control of high-capacity battery systems, such as found in hybrid and electric vehicles.
The courses within the Specialization include:
- Introduction to Battery-Management Systems
- Equivalent Circuit Cell Model Simulation
- Battery State-of-Charge (SOC) Estimation
- Battery State-of-Health (SOH) Estimation
- Battery Pack Balancing and Power Estimation
Features of the Specialization:
- Eight months long
- Requires about 4-6 hours of study per week
- Certificate of completion available
- Subtitled available in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, Spanish
Please note that while you can audit any of the courses in the Specialization for free, you can also sign up for Coursera Plus and receive a shareable certificate of completion once you have finished all of the courses. The shareable Certificate of Completion is available only with Coursera Plus. Coursera Plus costs $399 a year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you purchase the certificate, you will gain unlimited access to all the course materials and graded assignments. Once you have completed the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page, where you can print or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to design equivalent-circuit models for lithium-ion battery cells
- How to implement state-of-charge (SOC) estimators for lithium-ion battery cells
- H
ow to implement state-of-health (SOH) estimators for lithium-ion battery cells - H
ow to design balancers and power-limits estimators for lithium-ion battery packs
Over 12,000 students have enrolled in this Specialization, and it has a 4.8-star rating on Coursera.
Review by Shradhdha S:
I believed that I had a good knowledge of battery basics and terminologies such as SOC, SOH, etc., which I gathered from books and literature. After completing this course, I realized the physical meaning of all these terms, and they are different than the understanding I used to have. The content of the course and the quizzes made me think in an in-depth and practical manner. I wish I could give it more than five stars.
3. Energy Production, Distribution and Safety Specialization (Coursera)
The next item on our list is another certified Coursera Specialization providing learners with introductory-level knowledge about the energy industry through an overview of electric power systems, natural gas, safety practices, and the energy industry as a whole. If you are interested in working as a utility technician or in emerging green energy technologies and solutions, this Specialization is for you!
This Energy Production Specialization is offered by the University of Buffalo, one of the largest institutions of The State University of New York. UB is a research-intensive public university. Four instructors teach this course; they are:
- Dr. Ilya Grinberg who has 44 years of industrial and academic experience. He specializes in Electric Power Distribution Systems design and analysis.
- Tom Russo is an Energy and Environmental expert with extensive experience at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He is well versed in natural gas, LNG, oil and hydropower projects, environmental impact assessment, related markets, and physical/cybersecurity.
- Richard Stempniak, a faculty member at SUNY Buffalo for over 44. He is currently an Associate Professor of Engineering Technology in the Industrial Technology Program specializing in Safety Studies. Stempniak was also a co-author of The Safety Professionals Handbook published by the American Society of Safety Engineers First Edition (2008) and Second Edition (2012).
- Martin Casstevens, who is the Business Formation and Commercialization Manager in the Business and Entrepreneurial Partnerships (BEP) office, after eight years with a related position in the Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR) at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (University at Buffalo – UB).
The courses in the Specialization include:
- Electric Power Systems
- Natural Gas
- Safety in the Utility Industry
- Energy: The Enterprise
Features of the Specialization:
- Four months long
- Requires 4-6 hours of study per week
- Subtitles available in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, Spanish
- Applied learning project
- Certificate of completion available
Please note that while you can audit any of the courses in the Specialization for free, you can also sign up for Coursera Plus and receive a shareable certificate of completion once you have finished all of the courses. The shareable Certificate of Completion is available only with Coursera Plus. Coursera Plus costs $399 a year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you purchase the certificate, you will gain unlimited access to all the course materials and graded assignments. Once you have completed the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page, where you can print or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
What You’ll Learn:
- Standards and policies of the electric utility industry
- Characteristics and properties of natural gas
- Utility industry safety knowledge
- The evolving nature of energy
Over 35,000 students have signed up for this Specialization, and it has a 4.7-star rating on Coursera.
Review by Hannah KC:
“This was informative! Regardless of whether you’re looking for a career in the field, I think this is knowledge every human should have to know how things around them are powered and not take them for granted. The lessons at Week 4 took a serious and sententious turn that the supply is simply not meeting the demand, a piece of information that I’m grateful for and will make me more conscious and more involved in the dilemma of energy generation.”
4. Electric Industry Operations and Markets (Coursera)
We would like to recommend this course to learners interested in understanding how the electric industry brings electricity to customers and how electricity consumption feeds backs on the transmission and generation of electricity. This certified, beginner-level course has flexible deadlines and takes a concise amount of time to complete.
If you have been searching for a simple, short course introducing you to the electric industry, then this course is for you!
Lincoln Pratson teaches this course. He has been Chair of the Nicholas School of the Environment’s Division of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Director of the Duke University Energy Hub, Associate Director of the Gendell Center for Engineering, Energy & the Environment at Duke, and served on the Executive Committee for the Research Triangle Energy Consortium. He has also consulted for major oil companies and helped co-found an energy service company that provided state-of-the-art gravity data to explore offshore oil and gas reserves.
Features of the Course:
- Two weeks long
- Requires 2-3 hours of study per week
- Subtitles available in Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish
- Certificate of completion
Please note that while you can sign up for this course for free, you can also sign up for Coursera Plus and receive a shareable Certificate of Completion. The shareable Certificate of Completion is available only with Coursera Plus. Coursera Plus costs $399 a year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you purchase the certificate, you will gain unlimited access to all the course materials and graded assignments. Once you have completed the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page, where you can print or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
What You’ll Learn:
- What electricity is
- How electricity is generated, transmitted, and distributed
- Electricity is generated, transmitted, and distributed
- How the consumption of electric energy instantly feeds back on the transmission and generation of electricity
Over 23,000 students have signed up for this course, and it has a 4.8-star rating on Coursera.
Review by Chan T W:
“The course covers everything a learner needs to know about electricity, from physical properties, how it is produced, to how it is being dispatched and distributed to end users’ loads. Although the course would focus on US settings, it already gives an idea of how the electric industry generally works. I hope there will be a continuation of this course that provides a more in-depth discussion on the topics that were tackled in this course.”
5. XSeries Program in Circuits and Electronics (edX)
The next item on our list is this XSeries Program in Circuit and Electronics. An XSeries program consists of a group of courses that explore a particular topic in-depth and is conducted by a group of world-renowned professors and experts.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducts this series. We’ve included this Series for students already enrolled in electrical engineering or computer science degrees.
The instructors for this series include:
- Anant Agarwal, who is the CEO and founder of edX. Agarwal taught the first edition of this course on circuits and electronics from MIT, drawing over 155,000 students from 162 countries. He is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and computer science at MIT.
- Bonnie Lam, a graduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and computer science at MIT.
- Gerald Sussman, author of Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs and a Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT.
- Piotr Mitros, a former chief scientist at edX and a research scientist at MIT.
- Chris Terman, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Electrical Engineering with over four decades of teaching experience.
Features of the XSeries program:
- Includes three courses:
– Circuits and Electronics 1: Basic Circuit Analysis
– Circuits and Electronics 2: Amplification, Speed, and Delay
– Circuits and Electronics 3: Applications - Self-paced
- Four months long
- Requires 7-9 hours of study per week
The cost of this XSeries program is $456.30.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to design and analyze circuits using mathematical analysis and intuition
- How to construct and analyze filters and their frequency response using capacitors and inductors
- How to measure circuit variables using tools such as virtual oscilloscopes, virtual multimeters, virtual frequency analyzers, and virtual signal generators
- Compare the measurements of the circuit variables with the behavior predicted by mathematical models and explain the discrepancies.
Review by Keshav Gupta on classcentral.com:
“I am a high school student; the third part of the 6.002x has caught my interest. It builds upon material covered in part 1 (6.002.1x) and part 2 (6.002.2x), which by themselves are great courses. All the course materials, i.e., handouts, videos, practice problems, homework, etc., are of excellent quality. The free Textbook provided with the course “Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits,” co-authored by one of the course instructors, Dr. Anant Agarwal, provides excellent reading material. All credit goes to the instructors. The course emphasizes real-world applications. I have just completed the course with a final grade of 100% and had to work hard for it. I would suggest that you go for the course, as it will benefit you. As an extra benefit, it will help you to consolidate concepts of Maths and Physics. A must-do course!”
Click here to sign up.
6. Electric Circuits for Electrical Engineering and Electronics (Udemy)
We’ve included this bestselling course on Udemy for learners interested in a beginner-level course that will teach them about the fundamentals of electrical engineering and electronics.
Ricardo Romero teaches this course. Romero has both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is an electrical engineer with over eight years of experience in Power Systems. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer in multiple states in the United States of America, including Arizona, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Aside from basic knowledge of algebra, this course has no other prerequisites.
Features of the Course:
- Over five and a half hours of video footage
- 67 lectures
- One downloadable resource
- Access on mobile devices and television
- Certificate of completion
What You’ll Learn:
- What electrical circuits are
- Electric circuit analysis techniques needed for developing electronics with development boards such as the Arduino or Raspberry Pi
- Electric circuit analysis techniques used in different electrical engineering and electronics engineering fields, such as analog electronics, digital electronics, and power electronics
- Electronics and the fundamental quantities in circuits such as voltage and current
Over 1,000 students have taken this course, and it has a 4.4-star rating on Udemy.
Review by Jason Higgins:
“I am taking this course, along with several others, to get a better understanding of the electrical design aspect of my job. The course speed is excellent, and the examples have been great. I took basic circuits 25 yrs ago in college, which was meant to be a refresher for me. So far, it has done a great job of meeting my expectations.
Update – I finished this course, and I am very pleased with it. I have already signed up for another course offered by the instructor as I am sure it will be as informative and as well-paced as this course was.”
7. Ultimate Power Electronics for Electrical Power Engineering (Udemy)
We’ve included this next course for those of you interested in gaining a better understanding of power electronics, converters, and how rectifiers work. This course is a beginner-level course for electrical engineering students and those who want to learn more about AC choppers. This course will also be helpful for electrical engineers or electrical power engineers wishing to learn more about DC choppers and inverters in power electronics.
Ahmed Mahdy teaches this course. Mahdy is the founder of Khadija Academy, a website for electrical engineering courses. He is a published author, and in 2018, was awarded by Udemy for being in the top 10% of most engaging instructors.
Features of the Course:
- 17.5 hours of video footage
- 116 lectures
- Three articles
- Four downloadable resources
- Access on mobile devices and television
- Certificate of completion
What You’ll Learn:
- Different types of converters
- Difference between ideal and practical switch
- Latching and holding current of the thyristor
- Usage of freewheeling diode
- Understanding the biphase rectifier
Over 2,000 students have enrolled in this course, and it has a 4.2-star rating on Udemy.
Review by Chinmoy:
“Very lucid and to the point subject dissertation. Thank you. Helped me from a Mechanical Engineering background to understand and converse on Power Electronic topics.”
8. Complex Numbers for Electrical Engineering Students (Udemy)
This last item on our list is aimed at students either starting in electrical engineering or interested in a career in it. This course will provide you with the necessary mathematical background to help you with some courses within your degree.
To get through this course successfully, you will need to have a high school level of math and numbers, trigonometry, and a knowledge of electricity voltage and currents to understand how to apply complex numbers to electrical engineering.
Sasha Jakovljevic teaches this course. He is an electrical engineer and a graduate of Texas A&M University with over a decade of engineering experience.
Features of the Course:
- Over two and a half hours of video footage
- 26 lectures
- 21 downloadable resources
- Access on mobile devices and television
- Certificate of completion
What You’ll Learn:
- Definition and representation forms
- Imaginary unit “j” and its square & cube
- Converting rectangular to polar form
- Purely real & purely imaginary numbers
- Converting polar to rectangular form
- Modulus, magnitude, or amplitude
- Rules of calculations (no matter the form)
- Angle in radians and degrees
- Multiplication and division operations
- Addition and subtraction operations
- Application to phasors, voltages, currents, impedance, and complex power
- Complex conjugate and finding negative of a complex number
This course is one of the highest-rated courses on Udemy, and it has a 4.8-star rating.
Review by Taner Riffat:
I found Sasha’s teaching skills in this short course are excellent and 5 star. Sasha takes you on a journey from the definition of complex numbers to the derivation of formulae needed for A/C circuit calculations. This really is a must-do course for electrical engineering.
Here are some FAQs about Electrical Engineering
Is Electrical Engineering worth pursuing?
The answer to this question is relative, as every person’s experience within a particular field differs.
In a Quora discussion asking the same question, James Teener, an electrical engineer and graduate from Kansas State University, answers the question by saying:
“It depends on how you, as an electrical engineer, intend to earn your living. Generally speaking, anything affecting public safety will require a license. This is primarily the installation and operation of electric power systems, which is done by public and private utilities and the consulting, design, construction, and maintenance organizations that support those utilities. A PE is also required for electrical engineers working with or for industrial users of power systems. So, if you plan to be involved in the production, transmission, distribution, and control of electric power above 24v, you would do well to become licensed. I should note that, in all U.S. states and all Canadian provinces, EE’s MUST be licensed to sign drawings, specifications, calculations, etc., which are used in the design of electric power systems.”
Is there a lot of Math in Electrical Engineering?
The short answer is yes. You must be prepared to study linear algebra, complex variables, differential equations, and integral calculus during your undergraduate degree. The math classes you take in a bachelor’s degree program can range from probability and statistics to advanced mathematics. Your electrical engineering program could also include laboratory sciences classes in biology, physics, or chemistry as well as a part of science studies.
How much do Electrical Engineers make?
The average electrical engineer makes between $51,000 and $120,000 per year.
