Key Takeaways
Upskill by learning new and more advanced skills within your role through online courses, certification programs, and workforce development offered by national experts and colleges.
People without nondegree credentials like certificates, certifications, and licenses in their field made 3.8% less than those who earned them.
Look for upskilling classes on edX or other online learning platforms and colleges. You can also take hundreds of classes for free through these platforms.
Upskilling is a way to advance your field experience through classes and training that can lead to certifications.
Upskilling classes can also be called "stackable credentials," offered by online learning platforms and online colleges, which build on each other's offerings. You can find courses at entry, intermediate, and advanced levels to match your expertise and build on your knowledge from past courses.
This guide covers what upskilling is, how it improves your career, where to find these courses, and how to pay for them (if at all).
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What Is Upskilling?
Upskilling is the process of learning more advanced skills within your field through:
Professional development courses
Work training classes
Online certification programs
Certificate programs
Whether you work in business, cybersecurity, engineering, teaching, mental health counseling, or medicine, you can benefit from upskilling.
A few professions automatically integrate it into your career track through conferences, programs, and workforce training. In North Carolina, for example, teachers are required to complete eight continuing education units, or 80 hours of professional development, every five years at colleges, local institutions, and classes approved by a local education agency.
Why Upskilling Is Important to Your Career
Upskilling makes you a more valuable prospect to employers, as it proves your competency in a subject through credentials like certificates and certifications. It also makes you more likely to get a salary bump.
Nondegree credential (NDC) holders earned a 1.8% premium over those without a credential, according to a 2025 Brookings study. That number jumped to 3.8% for people with an NDC in a field relevant to their job. People who earned more than one credential in their field earned 1% more for each one.
Your education and career stage also affect the premium you receive. If you don't have a college degree and have an NDC in your field, you'll make a 6.76% premium over those who don't have an NDC. Early career professionals with a career-relevant NDC also earned a slightly lower premium at 6.13%.
Skills-based hiring is also on the rise, with employers, especially in cybersecurity, preferring candidates with certifications over a degree alone. In 2025, an ISC2 report found that 90% of surveyed cybersecurity employers would only consider candidates with previous experience, and 89% said they would only consider hiring those with a cybersecurity certification.
Where to Find Upskilling Courses
You can find upskilling courses and certificate programs online through learning platforms like edX, Coursera, and Udemy, or directly through a college or university.
Online learning platforms let you search for entry-level, intermediate, and advanced courses within your subject area. These platforms also identify time commitments for each program and where the course is offered (typically by a college or university).
Industry giants also offer professional development and relevant skills courses on subjects such as computer science and leadership. Some providers include:
CompTIA
Microsoft
IBM
Samsung
Cisco
Citi
Amazon Web Services
Google
If you're looking to browse through new skills, Coursera and Udemy offer subscription services where you can access thousands of courses rather than paying for a single program.
Free Online Upskilling Courses
There are legitimate free online upskilling courses offered by reputable sites like edX, Coursera, and Udemy, which host courses from universities like Stanford University and Harvard University, and national tech brands like IBM and HP.
edX
edX offers nearly 4,000 free online courses from institutions like:
Harvard University
IBM
Microsoft
Stanford University
University of Cambridge
HP
You'll find courses on cybersecurity, coding, entrepreneurship, writing, justice, leadership, language, psychology and neuroscience, math, and more.
These courses are free to audit, but if you want a certificate at the end of your program, you'll need to pay for the program. Auditing a program allows you to take the entire course and complete the coursework without receiving credit at the end.
Coursera
Some of Coursera's most popular free courses cover workplace skills, such as creating spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel, building a website with WordPress, and using AI. You can also find professional development courses like graphic design, marketing design, project management, training video creation, and LinkedIn profile optimization and networking strategies.
Udemy
Udemy has over 450 free courses hosted by individual instructors who sign up to teach on the platform.
Learn business platforms like Adobe Illustrator, Amazon Web Services, creative platforms for gaming like Unity and Blender, programming languages, personal development workshops, and even piano.
Upskilling Through Workforce Training Programs
You can also upskill directly through your employer by exploring your benefits. Your company could have access to in-person or online trainings, seminars, conferences, and other ways to upskill.
How to Pay for Upskilling
You may be able to have your upskilling programs paid for through your employer or federal financial aid.
Your company could also pay for upskilling programs. Some companies offer tuition reimbursements for college degree programs and certificate courses relevant to your field.
Check in with your manager or human resources to see if your company will reimburse you for tuition or if it has benefits that directly pay for your education.
You also may qualify for up to $7,395 through the Pell Grant for workforce training programs as short as eight weeks due to new requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
However, because Workforce Pell is so new, only a few states have programs approved for the grants. Check on your state's requirements because it's up to states to determine specific program eligibility.
Frequently Asked Questions About Upskilling
Upskilling involves developing your skills within your field. Reskilling is transitioning from one skill to another. Both require training, but upskilling advances your career vertically while reskilling advances it horizontally towards another field or position.
