Free/cheap Computer Science degree online?

I would recommend a channel 9 series called "C# for absolute beginners". It's free, and really helps you get to the level of programming something. Then I would try to build websites using Spring and Node, or ASP.net and Node. Once you have some proof of concepts, you can try looking for an entry level job and learn on the job. Just try to make sure you question why you're doing something and if there's a better way when you code. Like Modulo, or a switch statement being the common hang ups.

Be careful with C++, Python or other languages. You're going to want to solely learn Javascript and C# or Java. Those are where the entry level no degree jobs are. And where alot of enterprise tech is. It's not fancy, but it's good to get your foot in the door.

So you aren't looking for an online degree, you're looking for university-level learning resources? Many universities have their curricula online, that's how you find out what to cover. And some of them have full lectures and textbook lists which are your learning materials. For example:

Stanford CS Curriculum: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zfw8nPvJeewxcFUBpKUK...

MIT Computer Science: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/find-by-topic/#cat=engineering&s...

There are also some good curated lists online like https://teachyourselfcs.com/.

https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

I personally used the free book "Think Python: how to think like a computer scientist" to learn to code, before going into an engineering degree.

Greenteapress.com

Good luck!

Hit the nail right on the head. I feel like there’s so many services which are wildly successful in the online learning space. But they seem to all miss this. Sometimes people don’t know what path they need to take/where they should be exploring. This IMO is the largest benefit of traditional schools for the majority of people… some people need a path, or simply don’t have the time to seek their own path and traditional school can give you all the foundations you need to know how to find or build a path.

It's not a great program, but it is as cheap or cheaper than a community college if you put the work in and you get a lot of industry certifications along the way.

Some very knowledgeable and dedicated people have gone from no / little college credit to a full Bachelors or even in one case a Masters degree in a single semester.

Their process is 1 course at a time, you can test out based on competency or previously attained college credits or certifications, and you can go through the courses as quickly as you feel competent in the subject.

For general background for the autodidact there is: https://teachyourselfcs.com/