Coursera Plus Included & Excluded Courses – A Complete List (2025 Updated)

Coursera Plus is a subscription plan of Coursera that gives you unlimited access to thousands of courses, professional certificates, and specializations—covering everything from data science to business to personal development.

It’s one of the best ways to learn affordably on Coursera. But here’s the catch: not every course or certificate is included.

Coursera Plus can unlock 90% of Coursera’s catalog—but what about the other 10%? That small percentage can make a big difference when choosing what to learn next.

For these remaining 10% of courses, you’ll need to purchase them separately at their regular price.

In fact, I’ve come across several complaints from learners on Reddit who mentioned that after buying Coursera Plus (often during a discount offer), they later discovered that the specific programs they wanted weren’t included. As a result, they had to pay extra to enroll in those excluded courses.

In this guide, I’ve compiled a complete, updated list of what’s included (and what’s not) in Coursera Plus, so you can make the most of your subscription and avoid surprises.

How to Check if a Course Is Included in Coursera Plus:

Before we go through the list, here’s a quick way to find out whether a particular course or program is included in Coursera Plus:

1. Search for your desired course or program on the Coursera website.
2. Once you open the course page, look just below the “Enroll” button.
3. If the course is included, you’ll see a tag that says “Included with Coursera Plus.”
4. If you don’t see that tag, it means the course isn’t part of the Coursera Plus subscription.

(See the image below for reference.)

Don’t worry about searching around — I’ve already done the homework for you! I’ll show you exactly what’s included and excluded in Coursera Plus.

Let’s start with what’s not included in Coursera Plus — the list is pretty short compared to everything you actually get access to…

What’s Excluded in Coursera Plus:

1. Degree Programs:

All degree programs available on Coursera, offered by top universities and institutions worldwide, are not included in Coursera Plus.

These are full-fledged online degrees—such as bachelor’s and master’s programs—that require separate enrollment and payment.

If you’re interested in earning one, you’ll need to purchase them separately. They generally cost more and take longer to complete compared to professional certificates or specializations.

2. MasterTrack® and University Certificates

Similarly, MasterTrack® certificates and other university-branded graduate certificates are not part of Coursera Plus.

These programs are designed to provide graduate and post-graduate level learning and can even count as credit toward a full degree, which is why they come at a higher cost and require separate payment outside your Coursera Plus subscription.

3. Certain Professional Certificates & Specializations

Now, let’s talk about the professional certificates, specialization programs, and guided projects that are not included in Coursera Plus.

Instead of listing every excluded course individually, I’ve compiled a list of all institutions, companies, and universities whose programs are excluded—so you’ll know exactly which providers require separate payment to access their content.

For example, all programs/courses offered by DeepLearning.AI on Coursera are not included in a Coursera Plus subscription.

1. DeepLearning.AI
2. Standford University
3. Princeton University
4. Rice University
5. University of Virginia
6. Utrecht University
7. Yad Vashem (a few courses are not added)
8. Infosec
9. ISC2
10. IBM and ISC2 Programs
11. Goldman Sachs

So, if you’re planning to enroll in any of Coursera programs offered by the above universities and tech firms, you have to purchase them separately. No need to purchase Coursera Plus.

What’s Included in Coursera Plus:

Programs/Courses offered by Top Tech Companies and Institutes Included in Coursera Plus:

1. Google
2. Meta
3. IBM
4. Microsoft
5. Amazon Web Services
6. Codio
7. Simplilearn
8. LearnKartS
9. Coursera Project Network – All Guided projects are included
10. Coursera Instructor Network – All Guided projects are included
11. Whizlabs
12. SAS
13. CertNexus
14.  Packt – Course
15. Interactive Brokers
16. Institut Mines-Télécom
17. OLAY online programs
18. AI CERTs
19. EDUCBA
20. LearnQuest
21. Board Infinity
22. Pearson
23. Illinois Tech
24. Palo Alto Networks
25. EC-Council
26. Cisco Learning and Certifications
27. SkillUp
28. Edureka
29. Splunk Inc.
30. Salesforce
31. Develop with Dell
32. HubSpot Academy
33. SAP
34. EIT Digital
35. American Council on Exercise
36. Adobe programs
37. HRCI programs
38. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP)
39. Epic Games courses
40. Unilever courses
41. CVS Health programs
42. Voxy courses

Top Universities Whose Programs/Courses Are Included in Coursera Plus:

1. University of London
2. University of Pennsylvania
3. Michigan State University
4. Yale University
5. Macquarie University
6. University of Toronto
7. University of Michigan
8. University of Cambridge
9. London Business School
10. AI Business School
11. EDHEC Business School
12. Copenhagen Business School
13. Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
14. Arizona State University
15. Duke University
16. Emory University
17. University of Washington
18. University of California, Irvine
19. University of California, Davis
20. University of California, Santa Cruz
21. University of California San Diego
22. California Institute of the Arts
23. Northeastern University
24. Northwestern University
25. University of Minnesota
26. Wesleyan University
27. Kennesaw State University
28. National Taiwan University
29. University of Colorado Boulder
30. The University of Hong Kong
31. The University of Sydney
32. Vanderbilt University
33. Peking University
34. Corporate Finance Institute
35. Digital Marketing Institute
36. University of Maryland, College Park
37. Shanghai Jiao Tong University
38. Tsinghua University
39. Nanjing University
40. Clemson University
41. Yonsei University
42. Sungkyunkwan University
43. University of Copenhagen
44. The State University of New York
45. University of Pittsburgh
46. University of Cape Town
47. University of Glasgow
48. Columbia University
49. University of Geneva
50. University of Zurich
51. University of Amsterdam
52. Lund University
53. Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
54. IIMA – IIM Ahmedabad
55. O.P. Jindal Global University
56. Johns Hopkins University
57. National University of Singapore
58. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
59. Rutgers the State University of New Jersey
60. University of Colorado System
61. Technical University of Munich (TUM)
62. Tel Aviv University
63. Yad Vashem (some courses are added)
64. The University of Tokyo
65. Università di Napoli Federico II
66. The University of Edinburgh
67. University of North Texas
68. Emory University
69. University at Buffalo
70. West Virginia University

So, if you’re planning to enroll in any programs – whether professional certificates, specializations, or guided projects – offered by the universities, companies, or institutes mentioned above, you can go for Coursera Plus, a cost-effective option that unlocks access to all the programs you wish to pursue.

Is Coursera Plus Worth It? (My Honest Take)

From my personal experience, I’d say Coursera Plus is definitely worth it—as long as the programs you want to pursue are included.

With Coursera Plus, you unlock over 10,000 programs, including professional certificates and specialization courses offered by Google, IBM, Microsoft, and many other top universities and organizations. It covers nearly 90% of the entire Coursera catalog, which makes it one of the most cost-effective learning options available.

Having a Coursera Plus subscription not only gives you access to a huge range of programs but also helps you save significantly—especially if you buy it during promotional periods when Coursera offers big discounts throughout the year.

However, if the programs you’re interested in aren’t part of Coursera Plus, it’s better to skip the subscription and purchase those courses individually.

Overall, when it comes to cost, Coursera Plus is affordable, value-driven, and perfect for consistent learners—but before subscribing, always check whether your chosen programs are included.

The lists I’ve shared above cover all the universities, institutes, and companies whose programs are (and aren’t) included. Now it’s your turn to do a quick check and decide whether Coursera Plus is the right choice for you—or if buying a specific program separately makes more sense.

Coursera Plus – FAQs