Free Online Degrees

Free Business Education Online-10 Places Part 3

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9. Financial Management Training Center Courses (exinfm.com)

The Financial Management Training Center provides 20 free downloadable business courses for people who need to learn the finer points of financial management. All courses can be taken online. They include full exams as well as evaluation forms for people seeking Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits.

10. State of Maine - Small Business Development Center (mainesbdc.org)

Overview of Small Business Courses

The State of Maine's Small Business Development Centers offer a few free online workshops that are great for current small business owners as well as for would-be entrepreneurs. The workshops include Starting Your Small Business, Developing Your Business Plan, and Marketing for Small Business. Each workshop takes a few hours to complete and results in a Certificate of Completion.

Earn Real Credit from Free Courses

While the free courses above don't award credit directly, there are two widely recognized and affordable options for students to gain real college credit.

Option #1: Pass a CLEP Exam

Learn About CLEP Exams

The College Board's 33 CLEP exams allow you to test out of your general education requirements. Credit is accepted at 2/3 of colleges and universities in the U.S.

Option #2: Prepare a Portfolio

Learn About Prior Learning Assessment

LearningCounts.org helps you prepare a portfolio that proves your knowledge. A faculty expert then recommends how much credit should be awarded. The process is call 'prior learning assessment'.

Free Business Education Online-10 Places Part 2

2011-12-12T05:07:00.000-08:00

6. University of California Irvine (uci.edu)

The University of California Irvine offers several free business courses in English and Spanish through their OpenCourseWare site. Courses are broken down into lessons, and include optional reading lists for students who want to dig deeper into the course subjects.

7. Kutztown University - Small Business Development Center (kutztownsbdc.org)

Strategic Planning and Execution Course

The Small Business Development Center at Kutztown Univeristy of Pennsylvania offers an online business course that can take less than one week to complete. The course presents strategies for crafting and executing business visions, mission statements and goals. The SBDC also provides strategic planning software free to all course participants.

8. University of California Berkeley

The University of California Berkeley offers a new selection of business courses each semester. Courses are lecture-based and typically include either audio or video or both.

SEE PART I HERE

Free Business Education Online-10 Places Part 1

2011-12-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

Getting a business education doesn't have to be expensive. An increasing number of colleges, universities and even nonprofit organizations offer free business courses online. Find out how you can sign up for these courses and what you can get from them.

1. MIT OpenCourseWare - Sloan School of Management (mit.edu)

MIT OpenCourseWare might be the next best thing to getting an MIT education for free. Through this free online publication you can find bachelor-level business courses, as well as master-level courses, offered by MIT's Sloan School of Management. The curriculum includes lecture notes, videos, labs demonstrations and more. No registration is required and more than 50 courses are available.

2. The U.S. Small Business Administration (sba.gov)

The Small Business Administration has one of the best selections of business courses on the web. Topics include everything from starting a business and business management to government contracting and international trade. Most courses take only 30 minutes to complete.

3. The Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA Program (managementhelp.org)

Complete Nonprofit Management Learning Coursework

Free Management Library's Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA(SM) Program is a great resource for students wishing to learn more about nonprofit management. Completion of this program will not result in an MBA degree, but enrollment is free. The amount of time it takes to complete the program will depend on how fast you learn, but you may expect to spend at least 200 hours on coursework.

4. London School of Business and Finance

LSBF Global MBA

This internationally renowned business school is offering its entire online MBA program for free. Anyone can sign up for their Facebook application to gain access to all of the course content from the program, including hundreds of hours of videos, lessons, assignments and educational resources. Students who would like to earn the degree can apply to LSBF and pay tuition retroactively at the end.

5. My Own Business - (myownbusiness.com)

Overview of the 14 Sessions on Starting a Small Business

Nonprofit organization My Own Business, Inc. offers a free online business administration course that would be beneficial to new managers and to anyone who is interested in starting a business. This comprehensive course is split up into 14 sessions covering topics like business plans, accounting, marketing, insurance, e-commerce and international trade. For under $100, students can also acquire the accompanying textbook and a certificate of completion.

SEE PART 2 HERE

20 Free Online Financial Courses Part4

2011-12-12T04:51:00.001-08:00

16. Free Credit Education Webcasts

Money Management International has a collection of free online webcasts that cover topics on credit and debt. Each of these webcasts are relatively short and will allow you to digest the important topics in small pieces. Most webcasts run around 10 minutes in length and cover everything from credit scores to comparative shopping.

17. Principles of Macroeconomics at MIT

This course provides an overview of the following macroeconomic issues: the determination of output, employment, unemployment, interest rates, and inflation. Monetary and fiscal policies are discussed, as are public debt and international economic issues. This course also introduces basic models of macroeconomics and illustrates principles with the experience of the United States and other economies.

18. Principles of Microeconomics at MIT

This introductory course teaches the fundamentals of microeconomics. Topics include consumer theory, producer theory, the behavior of firms, market equilibrium, monopoly, and the role of the government in the economy.

19. Free Online Tax Course

Our home study online income tax course will teach you everything you need to know to become a tax professional. Our online income tax course will give you the skills you need to prepare tax returns professionally, even with no previous experience. If you want to earn extra income as a tax professional our online income tax course is for you. It makes learning tax preparation easy and fun!

20. Planning for a Secure Retirement at Purdue

The objective of this course is to help you with your planning for retirement. Each module provides information that can be valuable in answering the questions you need to consider as you make your plans. The modules include specific goals for the module, activities to complete, and sources for more information.

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20 Free Online Financial Courses Part 3

2011-12-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

11. Taxes and Business Strategy at MIT

Traditional finance and other business courses analyze a broad spectrum of factors affecting business decision-making but typically give little systematic consideration to the role of taxes. In contrast, traditional tax accounting courses concentrate on administrative issues while ignoring the richness of the context in which tax factors operate. The objective of the course is to bridge this gap by providing a framework for recognizing tax planning opportunities and applying basic principles of tax strategy.

12. Entrepreneurial Finance at MIT

This class examines the elements of entrepreneurial finance, focusing on technology-based start-up ventures, and the early stages of company development. It addresses key questions which challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised; when should it be raised and from whom; what is a reasonable valuation of the company; and how funding should be structured. The subject aims to prepare students for these decisions, both as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

13. Economics at Carnegie Mellon University

The Introductory Economics course is a collection of online experiments and related on-line workbooks which can be used by individual learners or to supplement an instructor lead course. In each experiment a student is an active participant attempting to make deals with other traders in a market. After each experiment, the data the students generated is stored and the student will use this data to complete an online workbook. The workbook guides the student through the analysis and much of the economic theory needed to understand the related experiment. In these experiments the student is both a participant and an observer.

14. Finance Theory II at MIT

The objective of this course is to learn the financial tools needed to make good business decisions. The course presents the basic insights of corporate finance theory, but emphasizes the application of theory to real business decisions. Each session involves class discussion, some centered on lectures and others around business cases.

15. Behavioral Economics and Finance

This course surveys research which incorporates psychological evidence into economics. Topics include: prospect theory, biases in probabilistic judgment, self-control and mental accounting with implications for consumption and savings, fairness, altruism, and public goods contributions, financial market anomalies and theories, impact of markets, learning, and incentives, and memory, attention, categorization, and the thinking process.

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20 Free Online Financial Courses Part 2

2011-12-12T04:48:00.001-08:00

6. Introduction to Economics at Utah State

Introduction to Economics is designed to build an understanding of economic institutions, history, and principles. In addition, it will focus on relationship between private and public sectors of the U.S. economy. Also, it will analyze major economic institutions, such as property rights, markets, business organizations, labor unions, money and banking, trade, and taxation.

7. Investment Risk at Open University

A fair return on investment is defined as one that compensates the investor for the risk incurred in making the investment – neither more nor less. Conversely, an excess return is one that over-compensates the investor for the risk incurred. Investors want to avoid investments that pay less than a fair return, while borrowers want to avoid paying an excess return. Learn how to identify and manage different types of investment risk.

8. Investing in Your Future at Rutgers

This 11-unit home study course was developed by the Cooperative Extension system for beginning investors with small dollar amounts to invest at any one time. After exploring “the basics,” the course describes specific types of investments (e.g., stocks and bonds) in detail. You’ll begin to understand their characteristics, how they are purchased, and what it costs to purchase each investment. There are also units that focus specifically on tax-advantaged investments and investments that can be purchased with $1,000 or less.

9. Financial Security for All at Michigan State University

Financial Security for All has compiled in depth information to educate you on specific financial issues and strategies. Ranging from personal finance basics to estate planning, there are a number of resources here that can help you learn more about important financial issues that affect everyone.

10. Investments at MIT

The focus of this course is on financial theory and empirical evidence for making investment decisions. Topics include: portfolio theory; equilibrium models of security prices (including the capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory); the empirical behavior of security prices; market efficiency; performance evaluation; and behavioral finance.

20 Free Online Financial Courses Part 1

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1. Fundamentals of Personal Financial Planning at UC Irvine

The course was created to help those who cannot afford extensive planning assistance better understand how to define and reach their financial goals. It provides basic understanding so informed decisions can be made. The course can also be seen as a reference for individual topics that are part of personal financial planning. This is a great introductory course to help anyone gain a better understanding of personal finance.

2. Financial Markets ECON 252 at Yale University

The course strives to offer understanding of the theory of finance and its relation to the history, strengths and imperfections of such institutions as banking, insurance, securities, futures, and other derivatives markets, and the future of these institutions over the next century. This course is packed full of video and audio of the lectures by Professor Robert Schiller.

3. Family Finance from Utah State

Upon completion of this course you should be able to: 1. Identify personal/family values and establish appropriate financial goals. 2. Develop financial plans that reflect your values and goals. 3. Begin implementation of your plans to meet short and long term financial goals. 4. Evaluate options for providing financial security throughout your life. 5. Recall and apply specific fact concerning various financial topics, tools, and services.

4. Money 101 at CNN Money

CNN Money has put together a casual course of money basics. The course is broken down into 23 different lessons from creating a budget to estate planning. While not affiliated with any specific educational institution, there is a lot of information that’s easy to navigate through.

5. Personal Finance: Debt and Borrowing at Open University

Debt is regularly featured in the news media, with stories about how much some people are borrowing, how some extraordinarily high rates of interest are being charged, or with questions about whether debt is becoming an intolerable burden for some households. This unit is going to explore some of these issues in detail. Section 1 looks at evidence on the level of debt in the UK before going on to examine some of the changing social and economic context. Section 2 explores the costs of having debt, and Section 3 considers the relationship between debt and household finances. Finally, Section 4 investigates the borrowing process, and suggests that gathering information and making informed decisions about taking on debt is an important part of financial capability. While offered by and referring to the UK, the concepts can be applied in the U.S. as well.