Fact Check: “Is Harvard launching free college courses on basic U.S. government understanding and “how to recognize a dictatorship” or a “dictatorship takeover” in response to recent actions from the Trump administration? No, that’s not true: According to a Harvard spokesperson the “edX” program has existed since 2012 and it takes about 12 to 18 months to create a new course, so none have been created in response to recent events. The course catalog also doesn’t feature any courses with the word “dictatorship” in the title or description, contrary to viral online messages. One example of the viral message could be found in this Facebook post (archived here) published on May 26, 2025 with a description that read:

Link to the free classes: https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free
Link to government courses, including free: https://pll.harvard.edu/subject/government?page=0
Phone: 617.495.1000
The current catalog of FREE COURSES at Harvard is being expanded, check their website to see which new courses are being added.

Free courses that Are Available At Harvard

See also Trump vs. Harvard – Inside the president’s battle with the university.