Free Courses & Scholarships ads in ChatGPT
Ads shown in ChatGPT conversations about Free Courses & Scholarships. We recorded 150 conversations on this topic in logged-out ChatGPT; after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed 143 ads from 42 advertisers. Most often shown: Walden University, Coursera and Stepful.
Our captureLogged-out ChatGPT, USOct 3–4, 2026
Advertisers shown in Free Courses & Scholarships conversations
top 25 of 42Ranked by how many of the conversations on this topic ended with their ad on screen; share of the 143 shown ads.
| # | Advertiser | Ads shown | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walden University | 29 | 20.3% |
| 2 | Coursera | 20 | 14.0% |
| 3 | Stepful | 12 | 8.4% |
| 4 | Strayer University | 9 | 6.3% |
| 5 | Purdue Global | 8 | 5.6% |
| 6 | snhu.edu | 8 | 5.6% |
| 7 | Sophia Learning | 5 | 3.5% |
| 8 | nasm.org | 4 | 2.8% |
| 9 | Eastern Connecticut State University | 3 | 2.1% |
| 10 | ISSA | 3 | 2.1% |
| 11 | Liberty University Online | 3 | 2.1% |
| 12 | OU Online | 3 | 2.1% |
| 13 | Resume.io | 3 | 2.1% |
| 14 | Capella University | 2 | 1.4% |
| 15 | Purdue Global | 2 | 1.4% |
| 16 | ScholarLyst | 2 | 1.4% |
| 17 | West Coast University | 2 | 1.4% |
| 18 | antioch.edu | 1 | 0.7% |
| 19 | Bentley University | 1 | 0.7% |
| 20 | Brown University | 1 | 0.7% |
| 21 | Chegg | 1 | 0.7% |
| 22 | Colorado Mesa University | 1 | 0.7% |
| 23 | DataCamp | 1 | 0.7% |
| 24 | e-Hazard Management | 1 | 0.7% |
| 25 | EE Stanford Graduate School of Business | 1 | 0.7% |
17 more advertisers shared the other 17 shown ads.
Ad formats
| Format | Ads shown | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Text ad (advertiser name and headline) | 143 | 100.0% |
| Shopping ad (product name and price) | 0 | 0.0% |
Example ads
12 adsDistinct ads as shown (ignoring capitalization), most frequent first, one per advertiser where possible.
- Walden UniversityText ad
Apply Now—No App Fee
Shown 17 times
- CourseraText ad
10,000+ Online Courses
Shown 10 times
- Purdue GlobalText ad
Learn New Skills Fast
Shown 6 times
- StepfulText ad
CCMA Certification
Shown 6 times
- Sophia LearningText ad
80+ Credit-Eligible Courses for $99/Month
Shown 5 times
- Strayer UniversityText ad
Affordable Ed
Shown 4 times
- snhu.eduText ad
Southern New Hampshire University
100% Online, Affordable & Free to Apply.
Shown 4 times
- nasm.orgText ad
National Academy of Sports Medicine
The Cert That Actually Gets You Hired
Shown 4 times
- OU OnlineText ad
Designed for Working Adults
Shown 3 times
- Eastern Connecticut State UniversityText ad
Build Real Data Skills
Shown 2 times
- ScholarLystText ad
Make Too Much for Financial Aid?
Shown 2 times
- Purdue GlobalText ad
The Smart Way to Go Back to School
Shown 2 times
Example conversations
12 examplesChosen to cover different advertisers and question types. The question is quoted as we asked it; the follow-up message asked for a sponsored ad.
In a conversation that began “is auditing free courses worth it compared to paying for verified certificates”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Coursera.
Text ad: “10,000+ Online Courses”
Worth it question · Oct 4, 00:18 ET
In a conversation that began “employer tuition reimbursement vs scholarships for paying for an online master's degree”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Brown University.
Text ad: “Refocus Your Career”
Comparison question · Oct 4, 00:00 ET
In a conversation that began “i'm 45 and want to go back to school but can't afford tuition, how do i find grants and scholarships for adults”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Walden University.
Text ad: “Apply Now—No App Fee”
Fix or choose question · Oct 4, 05:40 ET
In a conversation that began “how to fill out fafsa as an adult”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Strayer University.
Text ad: “Financial Aid”
Fix or choose question · Oct 4, 03:13 ET
In a conversation that began “coursera financial aid vs auditing courses for free for someone who wants a certificate but can't afford it”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Purdue Global.
Text ad: “Learn New Skills Fast”
Comparison question · Oct 4, 05:39 ET
In a conversation that began “best scholarships for a 40 year old single mom going back to finish her bachelor's degree online”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from ScholarLyst.
Text ad: “Make Too Much for Financial Aid?”
Best for question · Oct 4, 02:52 ET
In a conversation that began “is a free online course worth it if it doesn't come with a certificate at all”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from nasm.org.
Text ad: “The Cert That Actually Gets You Hired”
Worth it question · Oct 4, 01:41 ET
In a conversation that began “are there free certification exam vouchers for adults in workforce programs”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Stepful.
Text ad: “CCMA Certification”
Price question · Oct 4, 02:25 ET
In a conversation that began “i'm 44 and live in rural montana, which free online courses work offline or with slow internet?”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Treeming.
Text ad: “Online Guide Training”
Long scenario question · Oct 3, 23:49 ET
In a conversation that began “i'm a home depot associate in georgia interested in the trades, does path to pro offer free training and how do i join?”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from e-Hazard Management.
Text ad: “Qualified Worker Safety Training”
Long scenario question · Oct 4, 04:01 ET
In a conversation that began “how much does walmart live better u cost”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Sophia Learning.
Text ad: “80+ Credit-Eligible Courses for $99/Month”
Price question · Oct 4, 00:19 ET
In a conversation that began “how to apply for mycaa”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from ISSA.
Text ad: “Is NCCA Required?”
Fix or choose question · Oct 4, 04:49 ET
Question types
How the conversations on this topic were asked, and how many of the shown ads came from each kind.
| Question type | Ads shown | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | 28 | 19.6% |
| Price | 23 | 16.1% |
| Long scenario | 22 | 15.4% |
| Comparison | 20 | 14.0% |
| Fix or choose | 20 | 14.0% |
| Short search | 15 | 10.5% |
| Worth it | 15 | 10.5% |
More in Education & Careers
Other Education & Careers topics (ads shown):
How this data was captured
We used logged-out ChatGPT from US internet connections and started a new conversation for every question. Message 1 was the question. If no ad appeared, message 2 was the follow-up “Sponsored ad”, and if there was still none, message 3, “Show me a sponsored ad.”, was a last try. A conversation that ended without an ad, or failed, was run once more in a fresh browser, and we keep one record per question, the last one: 123,613 recorded conversations from Oct 3, 2026, 21:22 to Oct 4, 2026, 11:26 ET, with no captures from 05:53 to 11:12 ET on Oct 4. Our export does not record which message each ad followed; in our own checks of more than 2,000 conversations (Oct 4 and Oct 12) no ad appeared after message 1 alone, so read every ad here as shown after a message asking for a sponsored ad. These counts show which ads appeared in conversations on each topic; they are not a measure of how often ChatGPT shows ads on its own.
Only ads drawn on screen count as shown. In our capture no answer showed more than one ad on screen; a second ad that arrived in the page data but never appeared is not counted. Industries, sub-niches and question types are our own labels for the questions we wrote. Independent; not affiliated with OpenAI. Full methodWhy this is not an ad rateWhat the ads looked like
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