Why is there a 30 minute minimum limit for courses?

[ReeceGunnin215]

I have put a lot of time into creating a course that makes it easy for my students to learn the skill I teach. My course is 19 minutes long and that's all it needs to be. I have covered everything that needs to be covered. Making the course longer defeats the point of my course being the fastest and easiest method to learn.  

Why is there a minimum limit that is so high?

Can you make exceptions if my course content is good? If not why?

[DavidV.]

Hi @ReeceGunnin215,

Thanks for reaching out and sharing your opinion. 

To be approved for the Udemy marketplace, courses must contain a minimum of five lectures and at least thirty minutes of video content. Our quality team set those requirements because we feel that this way you will be able to cover everything necessary for your course to be successful, it is not only about what the student will learn but many other factors.

For more information, please click here to view our Udemy Course Quality Guidelines (in PDF format).

Please let us know if you have any additional questions and we'll be here to help.

David V.

Community Moderator

[DavidSenn451]

what if you have a 3min video but it contains great information, i recently created a course but its only 3 mins, is that the reason why i cannot submit for review?

[FrankKane]

A 3-minute video is not a "course."  You need at least 30 minutes of video and at least 5 lessons for Udemy to consider it a "course".

Webster defines a course as "a number of lectures or other matter dealing with a subject" or " a series of such courses constituting a curriculum"

I suppose you could make the case such a thing makes sense in the context of "micro-learning" in a subscription offering like personal plan or UB, but at that point there is nothing differentiating Udemy from YouTube. Maybe you're offering some simple but valuable tip or trick, but that would probably perform better on social media. A great idea would be to create a larger course that includes this 3 minute video, and then use that 3 minute video as a sample to draw people in from social media and YouTube.

At any rate, nobody is going to pay $15 for a 3 minute video when that same money can buy a multi-hour, more comprehensive course on the same topic. And in a subscription setting, you wouldn't make anything since you are paid by the minute.

YouTube or social media channels are probably more appropriate places for such content.

[EliF1]

In my opinion, one video can amazingly cover a topic. But that's not a course. Of course, nobody is going to pay $15 for just a one video. But how about watching it for free?

As for 20 min course with a few videos, why not? Definitely, for free.

How about adding a single educational video feature on Udemy? Of course, there is YouTube and a lot of other platforms for this. But, I think, it could attract more learners and more instructors. Besides, Udemy specializes in the education, so it's more credible.

[FrankKane]

I think the short answer is that it costs Udemy money to host free content, so it's not something they want to encourage. They aren't running ads on free videos to cover that cost. And if they did, then they would be YouTube.

[EliF1]

Oh, I see. To be honestly, it was some kind of jock. 

[Robin_Slee]

I will assume this is not a joke and is a very real question.  With that in mind, and I speak from my own opinion and do not speak for Udemy. So, please like and comment if you agree. It all helps the algorithms, and gets these types of question and answers to the right people looking for them.

Udemy has a 30-minute minimum course length requirement to ensure that the courses offered on its platform provide substantial value and comprehensive content to the learners. This minimum length is set to encourage instructors to develop courses that are detailed and thorough, rather than offering short, superficial content that might not fully cover a topic or provide the learners with enough knowledge or skills.

By setting a minimum length, Udemy aims to maintain a standard of quality and consistency across its courses, ensuring that learners can expect a certain level of depth and engagement from any course they choose to enroll in. This approach helps Udemy establish itself as a reliable and credible platform for online learning, where users can find courses that are worth their time and investment.

Kind regards, Robin.