NextGenU

NextGenU.org is a free online course platform for health sciences. Its home page calls it "the world's first free, health science learning platform" and says it provides "free, high-quality medical, nursing, and public health education to students, professionals, and institutions worldwide." The footer explains who runs it: "NextGenU is a program operated by The Frank Foundation", the Ulrich & Ruth Frank Foundation for International Health, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The site's promise to learners is blunt: "Every course and resource is 100% free. No tuition. No hidden fees."

The platform has three kinds of user. Individual learners take courses and earn certificates. Universities and other institutions adopt courses into their own programs. Educators join a community to teach with the material. The courses page says learners "from more than 15,000 universities and institutions" use its free health science certificate courses.

What a learner gets

The catalog

Courses are grouped into public health, medicine, nursing, foundations of health sciences and professional development, and the full catalog can be viewed or downloaded as a single PDF.

• Public health: biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, global health, global mental health, health economics, health policy and management, health promotion, outbreak investigation, pandemic preparedness and response, public health nutrition, research methods, rural health and aging, substance use, climate change and health (including versions for health professionals and for the Caribbean general public), and war and public health.
• Medicine: adult cardiovascular disease prevention, breast health, community oriented primary care, didactic emergency medicine, lifestyle medicine, management of mental health disorders in primary care, obstetrics and gynecologic and psychiatric clerkships for medical students, tobacco cessation and screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment.
• Nursing: health assessment, leadership and management in nursing, maternal health, medical-surgical nursing, mental health nursing, fundamentals of nursing, a nurse's aide course, nutrition, oncology nursing, two levels of pediatric nursing, pediatric oncology and population and community health.
• Sciences: biochemistry, biology, general and organic chemistry, physics, algebra and trigonometry, statistics, sociology, psychology, anatomy and physiology, speech language pathology and writing for health sciences.

The professional development list is the widest. It covers refugee health, human rights, health equity, mpox, injury prevention, preventing maternal and child mortality, workplace wellness, buprenorphine and naloxone training for opioid use disorder and overdose, vaping prevention, disaster management, SPSS, Excel and RStudio, global health informatics, medical ethics, patient safety, Indigenous health, and counseling for alcohol use and depression. A humanitarian response series runs from an introduction to humanitarian action through protection, gender-based violence, child safeguarding and accountability to affected populations, ending with courses on well-being in humanitarian work and using AI tools safely. A few courses are in Spanish, such as a tobacco cessation course for health professionals, and one humanitarian course is marked "Multilanguage". The main menu also lists MCAT Prep under academic programs.

How courses work

The FAQ is clear on format: "All NextGenU.org courses are self-paced and fully online. You can study whenever it fits your schedule. Course materials include readings, videos, quizzes, and other activities that you can complete at your own pace." There are no live classes. Some courses open with a pre-test and a survey before the first lesson becomes available, and each unit opens once the earlier lessons, quizzes and activities are complete.

Discussion is part of the work, not an extra. The FAQ says forum activities are "required to finish the course and receive your certificate": learners post their own response and reply to at least one other participant. Some assignments, such as a case study in a mental health course, are submitted as forum posts.

Certificates

"Complete a course and earn a certificate, all for free," the home page says. To receive the certificate, a learner passes the final exam and completes a course evaluation and a self-evaluation. Exam attempts are limited; a learner who runs out may be granted one final attempt after a short wait, or must retake the course. The FAQ adds that certificates "do not include university affiliations" but "display the logos of the course's sponsors and collaborators", and that they do not list continuing education hours, although the estimated course length appears on each course's homepage. On request, NextGenU can supply syllabi, course outlines or confirmation letters, with up to two weeks for preparation.

On recognition, the FAQ says the certificates "are often recognized by employers and educational institutions as proof of professional development or continuing education", while advising learners to confirm with their employer, institution or licensing board. Two programs carry professional development accreditation: the FAQ names HPass for the humanitarian courses and NADAAC (The Association for Addiction Professionals) for the Addiction Training Program for Health Professionals. When a university adopts a course into its own program, the FAQ explains, the course falls under that institution's accreditation and its students can earn academic credit.

Registration is free and asks for name, email, username, password, country, profession and age. Courses are open to "anyone, anywhere in the world", and the FAQ recommends Google Chrome.

The free MPH curriculum

The Master's of Public Health curriculum is a suite of courses "designed to form the foundation of an MPH program": epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, health policy and management, health economics, health promotion, social and behavioral health, research methods and a dozen others. The FAQ says it aligns with Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) competencies. There is no application process, and a learner can start any MPH course immediately. The page is explicit that "Completing this curriculum independently does not result in an MPH degree." Individuals pay nothing; for institutions the page lists "Low-cost options available for course and program transfer and adoption."

For a degree, the FAQ points to Public Health U, a separate Frank Foundation program that runs a low-cost online MPH with EUCLID University, priced at USD $70 per course for learners from low- and middle-income countries and USD $300 per course for high-income learners. Courses from the free curriculum do not count toward that degree.

For institutions and educators

Institutions can apply to the University Network to integrate courses into their programs, and the courses page invites them to get in touch to put the content on their own platform. The Faculty Circle is "a community for instructors, faculty, and teaching assistants who use NextGenU courses", and the home page lists one-on-one instructional design and certification support among its benefits. DO MedEd Connect, led by Dr. Robyn Phillips-Madson, DO, MPH, is a hub for osteopathic medical education with downloadable courseware programs can adapt and a case scenario library. An Ambassador's Program recruits people to represent NextGenU locally, and volunteers help design and review courses.

The community page quotes Dr. Erica Wheeler of the World Health Organization: "The World Health Organization was not only the first to fund NextGenU.org's free learning platform, but one of its first users."

Who it suits

NextGenU.org suits health students and working professionals who want free, structured courses with a certificate: nurses refreshing clinical skills, doctors in primary care, public health workers building toward graduate study, and humanitarian staff. The free MPH curriculum gives a full grounding in public health at no cost, and universities, NGOs and health employers can adopt the courses for their own students and staff.

Learners should note that a certificate is not a degree and does not list CE hours, and that the required forum posts and final exam make each course a commitment rather than a quick watch.