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10 Best Engineering Principles Courses for Beginners

We compared 10 Engineering Principles courses currently listed on Coursera, Udemy and edX, priced from $19.99 to $199.99. 7 of them teach the subject directly and 3 are built around a certification exam. 4 come from a named university or institution, including Georgia Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Delft University of Technology. They are ordered by our CourseAsk score, which is built from how thoroughly each course describes what it teaches, whether it comes from a named institution, and how it compares on price — not from star ratings, which our course data does not include.

Courses compared
10
Price range
$19.99 – $199.99
Providers
Coursera, Udemy, edX
Last updated
18 Sep 2026
How these 10 courses were chosen

Every course below is a real, currently listed course from Coursera, Udemy, edX, matched to "engineering principles" by our catalog and ordered by our CourseAsk score. Courses whose own title names the topic rank above those only tagged with it.

The grade on each entry scores how much the provider publishes about the course before you pay — the length and detail of the description, whether it lists learning outcomes and objectives — and whether a named university or institution stands behind it. A is fully documented and institution-backed; E is little more than a title and a price. Courses with almost nothing published are left ungraded rather than marked down, because an unknown course and a poor one are not the same thing.

There are no star ratings on this page — the course feeds we license do not include them, and we would rather leave a column out than fill it with a number we cannot stand behind. What we do have is price: these range from $19.99 to $199.99, as listed by the provider when we last updated the page.

  1. 1
    Coursera MOOC / Non-credit Grade A University-backed

    Mechanics of Materials I: Fundamentals of Stress & Strain and Axial Loading

    Offered by Georgia Institute of Technology

    This course explores the topic of solid objects subjected to stress and strain. The methods taught in the course are used to predict the response of engineering structures to various types of loading, and to analyze the...

    $49.00
    listed price
  2. 2
    Coursera MOOC / Non-credit Grade A University-backed

    Introduction to Product Design

    Offered by Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

    By the end of this course, you will be able to take a product from a real user need to a tested, working prototype using a structured, user-centred design process. You will learn to conduct user research with both qualit...

    $49.00
    listed price
  3. 3
    Udemy Certificate Grade B

    How to Read a Pipeline Alignment Sheet for Beginners

    Pipeline alignment drawing is a critical component of pipeline design and construction, requiring a blend of technical skill, precision, and the right tools. As technology continues to advance, the methods and tools used...

    $39.99
    listed price
  4. 4
    Coursera MOOC / Non-credit Grade B

    Fundamentals of waves and vibrations

    Offered by École Polytechnique

    See our course teaser on http://goo.gl/SU25sF Waves are everywhere. On water of course, but also in the air as you hear a plane, and under your feet during an earthquake certainly. Vibrations, too, are everywhere In your...

    $49.00
    listed price
  5. 5
    Coursera MOOC / Non-credit Grade C

    Physics Fundamentals: Mechanics

    Offered by Universitat Politècnica de València

    The study of the physical universe is approached by analyzing objects in motion. All physical quantities and laws that allow the geometric and causal description of the motion of bodies represented as a point are defined...

    $49.00
    listed price
  6. 6
    Udemy MOOC / Non-credit Grade C

    Introduction to Radio Frequency (RF)

    Radio Frequency (RF) covers the spectrum from 3 kHz up to 300 GHz. RF work has gained a reputation of being something of a “black art”. It is a fact that, in general, RF products will need to be tuned as simulation tools...

    $174.99
    listed price
  7. 7
    edX MOOC / Non-credit University-backed

    Introduction to Aerospace Structures and Materials

    Offered by Delft University of Technology

    Explore the structural and material design of aircraft and spacecraft from the viewpoint of an aerospace engineer.

    $185.00
    listed price
  8. 8
    Udemy MOOC / Non-credit Certification prep Grade A University-backed

    NE101: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering

    Offered by North Carolina State University

    My name is William Roysdon Murray, and welcome to Nuclear Engineering 101! There's not many online resources available online for getting started with Nuclear Engineering, so I made my own! I first learned abou...

    $149.99
    listed price
  9. 9
    Udemy MOOC / Non-credit Certification prep Grade B Lowest price here

    Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering - FE Civil Exam

    In this course, you are going to have full preparation for the FE Civil Exam covering the topic of "Geotechnical Engineering"This course will be your only studying source as it is the most comprehensive available course...

    $19.99
    listed price
  10. 10
    Udemy Certificate Certification prep Grade C

    Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam Review

    Learn about the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, how to prepare for it, and dive into the many broad subjects that are included on the test.  Passing the exam is the step before becoming a professional licensed eng...

    $199.99
    listed price

Best Engineering Principles Courses for Beginners compared

# Course Provider Offered by Price
1 Mechanics of Materials I: Fundamentals of Stress & Strain and Axial Lo... Coursera Georgia Institute of Technology $49.00 View →
2 Introduction to Product Design Coursera Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati $49.00 View →
3 How to Read a Pipeline Alignment Sheet for Beginners Udemy $39.99 View →
4 Fundamentals of waves and vibrations Coursera École Polytechnique $49.00 View →
5 Physics Fundamentals: Mechanics Coursera Universitat Politècnica de València $49.00 View →
6 Introduction to Radio Frequency (RF) Udemy $174.99 View →
7 Introduction to Aerospace Structures and Materials edX Delft University of Technology $185.00 View →
8 NE101: Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering Udemy North Carolina State University $149.99 View →
9 Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering - FE Civil Exam Udemy $19.99 View →
10 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam Review Udemy $199.99 View →

Prices shown are the provider's listed price when we last updated this page. Confirm on their site before enrolling.

What the prices here tell you

The 10 priced courses on this page run from $19.99 to $199.99, with the middle of the range around $49.00 — a spread of $180.00. That is a wide gap for one subject. A higher price on this page usually reflects who is behind the course rather than how much material it contains, so it is worth opening two or three at different price points and comparing their syllabus before deciding.

Who is behind these courses

These courses come from Coursera, Udemy and edX. The platforms differ in how they sell: some charge once per course, others expect a subscription, and the listed price is not always what you pay at checkout after a promotion. 4 of these are produced by a named university or institution, including Georgia Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Delft University of Technology — which usually means a fixed syllabus and a recognised certificate, rather than an individual instructor’s own course.

Courses versus exam preparation

3 of the entries here are built around a certification exam rather than teaching Engineering Principles from scratch. They are the right choice only if you already know the material and want to pass a specific exam; if you are starting out, pick one of the taught courses first and come back to exam preparation afterwards.

Before you enrol

Open the provider’s own page and check three things this comparison cannot tell you: when the course was last updated, what the syllabus actually covers in its later sections, and what recent learners say. Prices shown here are the provider’s listed price when we last rebuilt this page on 18 September 2026 — they change often, and a promotion can move them substantially. We earn a commission if you enrol through our links, which costs you nothing and never affects the order courses appear in.

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