Innovation is a daily occurrence at GSU

For anyone who started college and stopped

Finish what you started, or build something new.

Life interrupts. A job, a family, money, a bad semester. None of it erased what you learned or what you can still do. This page helps you choose your next step, and every step it points to is free to begin.

You are far from alone: about 37.6 million working-age Americans have some college and no credential, and over a million of them went back in a single recent year.
Source: National Student Clearinghouse, June 2025.

What do you want next?

Choose the one that sounds most like you. There is no wrong answer, and you can change your mind.

Start where you are

If it has been years since you sat in a classroom, start here. These are free, private, and need no account.

Grade Level Check

A short, private check of your reading and math, so you know where to begin.

Take the check

Reading

Rebuild reading strength at your own pace, at any age.

Start reading

Writing

Clear sentences, strong paragraphs, the writing every college course expects.

Start writing

Math

From the basics up, without the fear.

Start math

Stuck on anything? Talk to GENO, our free AI tutor, in your own language.

Three roads forward

Road 1

Earn college credit by exam

Many colleges award credit for passing a CLEP exam: 34 exams in subjects like composition, American history, government, psychology and management. Pass, and you may skip the class. More than 2,900 colleges accept CLEP, and each college decides which exams and scores it accepts.

The best free route we know: Modern States, a nonprofit, offers free courses taught by college professors for the CLEP exams, and pays the exam fee for learners who complete the coursework.

  • First, check your college's CLEP policy.
  • If your reading or math is rusty, use the free GSU reading, writing and math pages first. That is what we are here for.
  • Then take the free Modern States course and request your exam voucher.
Modern States CLEP and college policies

Modern States' terms may change; check their site for current requirements.

Road 2

Learn a trade, and get paid while you learn

The trades are not a lesser road. They are the work every home, school and hospital depends on, and many are learned through an apprenticeship: three to five years of paid, on-the-job training with classroom instruction. You earn while you learn, instead of borrowing while you learn.

One example: electricians earned a median of $62,350 in May 2024, and the field is projected to grow 9% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than average. Most learn through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship.

Start the knowledge free, today, with GSU classes that end in a free certificate exam:

See all the trades

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook and apprenticeship data.

Road 3

Prove what you already know

Work and life teach a great deal that no transcript shows. GSU's free classes end in a free exam, and passing earns a serial-numbered Certificate of Comprehension that anyone can check online.

A GSU certificate is proof of knowledge, not college credit. Show it to an employer, add it to a résumé, or use it as a step toward the road above.

All certificates

What GSU is, and what it is not

Global Sovereign University is a tuition-free 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We teach, for free, and we will help you find your road.

GSU does not grant college credit and is not an accredited college. We do not run the CLEP exams, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board or Modern States. CLEP is a registered trademark of the College Board. Only a college can award its own credit, and only the testing program can score its exams. We promise honest help, never a shortcut.

Global Sovereign University: Different by Design. Better by Mission.