diff --git a/courses/admin.py b/courses/admin.py
index e6c9683ebc..a389ff9076 100644
--- a/courses/admin.py
+++ b/courses/admin.py
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ class CourseAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
 
     model = Course
     search_fields = ["title", "departments__name", "readable_id"]
+    ordering = ("id",)
     list_display = (
         "id",
         "title",
diff --git a/courses/migrations/0058_alter_course_options.py b/courses/migrations/0058_alter_course_options.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eff007f289
--- /dev/null
+++ b/courses/migrations/0058_alter_course_options.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2.18 on 2025-02-06 18:17
+
+from django.db import migrations
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("courses", "0057_alter_program_end_date_alter_program_start_date"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterModelOptions(
+            name="course",
+            options={"ordering": ["readable_id"]},
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/courses/models.py b/courses/models.py
index 5378dcf4f5..108e2320c4 100644
--- a/courses/models.py
+++ b/courses/models.py
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ class Course(TimestampedModel, ValidateOnSaveMixin):
     """Model for a course"""
 
     class Meta:
-        ordering = ["id"]
+        ordering = ["readable_id"]
 
     objects = CourseQuerySet.as_manager()
     title = models.CharField(max_length=255)