Course Hero is an online learning platform where students can access study materials and get homework help. It was founded in 2006 by Andrew Grauer. The site offers course-specific notes, practice problems, and 24/7 tutoring support to help students learn. In this article, we review Course Hero’s features and costs, examine user feedback, and compare it to similar services. Our goal is to help students and parents decide if Course Hero is worth it.
Central to Course Hero’s offerings is the AI course assistant, which utilizes the extensive Course Hero library to curate and present the most relevant information directly within students’ documents. This feature not only provides instant, AI-powered answers to challenging questions but also facilitates deeper understanding by highlighting and defining key concepts within the study material. Additionally, the platform matches practice problems and related materials to ensure comprehensive topic mastery.
The integration of AI is complemented by Course Hero’s access to verified expert tutors, enhancing the platform’s capability to offer 24/7 personalized support. These tutors, part of a global network of over 2,600 subject-matter experts, undergo a thorough vetting process to ensure they can deliver precise and comprehensive answers.
Course Hero’s AI-driven solutions represent a significant leap forward in the way educational content is personalized and delivered, making it a valuable resource for students seeking to enrich their learning experience with the latest in artificial intelligence technology.
- AI-powered homework assistance for instant answers and explanations.
- AI assistant curates relevant study material information.
- Quick solutions and concept highlighting via AI.
- 24/7 expert tutor support for personalized help.
- Global network of vetted subject-matter experts.
How Course Hero works
Course Hero features four ways to help you study:
24/7 Homework Help
Post a question and get a detailed, step-by-step answer from a Course Hero subject expert in as little as 15 minutes. The service automatically matches you to a tutor by subject, from accounting and math to biology, engineering, history, physics, psychology and writing.
Study Resources
Course Hero puts more than 40 million study materials at your fingertips, including study guides, class notes, essays, infographics and answered tutor questions.
The service is unique in that you’re able to get documents specific to the classes you’re taking right now. Select your school, department and course to find the study resources you need.
You can also search for literature study guides by title and author, plus browse literature infographics that visually break down plot points, characters and themes.
Course Hero additionally offers subject study guides, which are essentially mini courses that cover subjects like business and accounting, humanities, social sciences and STEM.
Textbook Solutions
Get educator-verified, step-by-step solutions for more than 1,000 popular college textbooks in subjects like biology, chemistry, physics, math, accounting, psychology and statistics and probability.
Unlike some services that simply give the answers, Course Hero lets you try to solve problems on your own first. You can check your answers and get hints and videos if you get stuck. Hit the “show the answer” button at any time to see a detailed explanation.
Practice Problems
Still in beta, Course Hero’s practice problems help you prepare for exams and pop quizzes. Questions are derived from real-world, course-specific study documents, so they mimic what you’ll find on actual tests.
Course Hero currently offers multiple choice practice problems for biology, accounting, microeconomics and macroeconomics.
Additional info:
- All Course Hero content is community-rated (thumbs-up/thumbs-down), which lends insight into a given solution’s accuracy
- Course Hero offers a better grades guarantee: improve your GPA or get a full refund. To be eligible, you’ll need to unlock at least six study resources and ask three tutor questions over the past six months
- You need to purchase (or earn) unlocks to view most resources (see below)
- The service is accessible online and via Android and iOS apps
Is Course Hero worth it
For Students
Students create a free Course Hero account and get two free Questions for tutor help (valid 30 days). They can then browse the library of millions of study resources or ask their own homework questions. To ask a question, students use their available Questions (from the free trial or subscription). A qualified tutor in that subject will answer it, typically within hours. There is no appointment or scheduling needed; the 24/7 help is on-demand. Students pay using either a paid membership (which grants a bundle of questions) or by buying extra Questions ($3 each).
For Tutors
To become a tutor on Course Hero, you sign up here. You fill in your profile, list the subjects you can tutor, and upload an ID and academic credentials. Course Hero reviews your application (often in a few days). Once approved, you start seeing student questions in your subjects. Tutors answer questions in writing (no voice or video needed) at any time they are available. Each answered question earns a small fee. Course Hero claims top tutors can earn up to $1,500 per month, but pay is per question (around $1–$4 each).
Course Hero price
Course Hero has three premium pricing tiers:
Annual
- $9.95/month ($119.40 upfront)
- Textbook solutions
- 30 study resource unlocks/downloads per month
- 40 tutor questions
Quarterly
- $19.95/month ($59.85 upfront)
- Textbook solutions
- 30 study resource unlocks/downloads per month
- 20 tutor questions
Monthly
- $39.95/month
- Textbook solutions
- 30 study resource unlocks/downloads per month
- 10 tutor questions
All unlocks expire in 30 days and do not carry over to the next month, but you can purchase additional unlocks and tutor questions a la carte if you run out.
How to access Course Hero for free
Course Hero does offer a free basic membership, which grants access to literature infographics and allows you to browse (but not unlock) study resources. You can also pay-per tutor question if you don’t want to spring for a full membership.
In addition, you can earn free tutor questions, textbook solutions and access to study resources by submitting your own documents (study guides, past exams and other materials):
- Upload 10 documents and receive 5 free unlocks, OR
- Upload 10 documents and receive 3 free tutor questions
You can also get free unlocks when other students view or rate your uploaded materials:
- 1 free unlock when other students unlock 5 of your documents
- 1 free unlock when 5 other students give your documents a thumbs-up
You can earn unlocks by rating others’ content as well:
- 1 free unlock when you rate 5 documents or questions
- 1 free unlock when you review 5 documents
Finally, you can earn free access when you refer others to Course Hero: 8 free tutor questions for each friend who joins, plus 20% off for them to sweeten the deal.
Conclusion
Course Hero offers a massive library of study materials and 24/7 help, which can be very useful for students. However, it also has notable drawbacks: high cost, uneven content quality, and poor customer service. College students and families should weigh these factors carefully. .
