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Yale University Offering Free Class On 'Happiness' To The World

NEW HAVEN, CT (CBS Local) - The hefty tuition for going to Yale University may bring some students (and their parents) to tears. However, the Ivy League school is trying to give everyone a reason to smile by offering a new class on "happiness."

The Details:

  • Yale University is offering a free online class about happiness
  • The campus lecture was reportedly the most popular in school history
  • 100,000 people have signed up for the class

Yale has started a free online lecture, which looks at how people can be happier in their daily lives. The online course is based off of psychology professor Laurie Santos' class "Psychology and the Good Life." Her final lecture on April 26 was the most popular class in Yale history, according to a school news report.

"I was getting emailed by coaches, CEOs, moms, high school teachers, everyone really wanted this content, so we thought, why don't we just make it available for free to everyone," Santos said, via WFSB.

Using the website Coursera, Yale is bringing "The Science of Well-Being" to students everywhere in the form of five-hour long lectures, covering topics such as "misconceptions about happiness," "why our expectations are so bad," and "what stuff really increases happiness?" Since Yale has put the course online, over 100,000 people in 160 countries have reportedly signed up to find the secret to happiness.

"I think the secret can be boiled down into three sets of things. One is practices that bump up our social connection, taking time to be with others, expressing your gratitude to other people, just doing nice things," Professor Santos added.

Yale's decision to put this class on the internet is a relief to many who simply don't have the cash to enter the Ivy League campus. According to the university's website, Yale's tuition will cost students $49,550 in 2018. After fees, room and board, and a mandatory health care package are added in, students will have to pay $72,814 for a year at Yale.

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