Overall, I'm also happy with the course. I was expecting a little more degree of difficulty and a little higher workload than what I've run into so far. If you're an experienced developer with a Github account, the first course can be completed in a couple of hours. The R Programming course was more along the lines of what I was expecting. So far, the third class is closer to the first than the second (in terms of difficulty...does require a bit more time).
Going into the course, I wasn't expecting to come out a "data scientist" ready to land a full-time job in the field. My experience so far confirms that expectation. But it's a fun course, a good way to get started in R, and a good way to spring-board your exploration into the field. It's nice to have deadlines as a motivation to keep on track and stay on a track for learning. I'm hoping by the end of the curriculum I feel confident enough to try and land some small free-lance projects.
I'm paying for the "official" certification. I'm not sure if it's really worth it, but at $50/class it's not putting a big dent in my finances.