14 Free Online MBA Courses in 2022

If you are considering enrolling for an online MBA, then this free online MBA course- is the first step in earning an online MBA degree.

Read on to know:

• What is MBA 
• What is an online MBA course?
• The best free online MBA courses in 2022

What is MBA

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration. It is an internationally recognized degree created to develop the skills required for careers in business and management. The value of the MBA can be used in the business world, and also be useful for those pursuing a managerial career in government, the public sector, private industry, and other areas.

Most MBA programs include a “core” curriculum of subjects, such as economics, accounting, marketing, and operations. There are also elective courses that give participants the freedom to pursue their own personal or professional interests. Currently, the MBA is the most popular professional degree program in the world as there are now over 2,500 MBA programs offered in English worldwide.

What is an online MBA course?

Online MBA programs are courses that focus on helping people develop the knowledge and skills necessary for careers in business. MBA students learn the core aspects of business management, strategic decision-making, and big-picture thinking. 

The major coursework for an MBA includes finance, accounting, marketing, management, economics, and business law. Other specializations may include entrepreneurship, business analytics, international business, management information systems, and real estate. Before entering an MBA program, students typically acquire 2-5 years of work experience, and graduates commonly work in areas like marketing, consulting, operations, and finance.

14 Best Free Online MBA courses in 2022

1. Accounting – University of Maryland, College Park

Course Name: Financial Accounting

Business School: Robert H. Smith School of Business

This free online MBA course in Accounting is offered by the University of Maryland. It teaches how to understand, make use of, and communicate financial information.

Students who complete this free online Financial Accounting course will learn how to interpret the financial statements which include the cash flow statement, the income statement, and the balance sheet. Students learn to use this data to grow businesses and surpass competitors. 

The University of Maryland has more than 37,000 students and 250 academic programs. USMC was developed by the University System of Maryland to oversee online learning. USMC offers completely online degree and certificate programs, MOOCs, and hybrid courses. Other additional free online courses offered include Product Management Fundamentals, Digital Transformation in Business, and Modern Product Leadership. 

2. Business Analytics – Columbia University

Course Name: Data, Models, and Decisions in Business Analytics

Business School: Columbia Business School

This free online MBA course on Business Analytics is offered by Columbia University through the edX platform. The course covers Data, Models, and Decisions and is 12 weeks long, requiring eight to ten hours per week of effort. 

The class is free to enroll in. You can enroll for free or purchase a verified certificate. After completing this course, students are exposed to areas like stochastic modeling and probability.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Columbia Business School number eight and it is certified through the AACSB. It is the only Ivy League business school in New York City. Many additional free online MBA courses are provided by Columbia University through the edX platform.

3. Business Law – University of Chicago

Course Name: Internet Giants: The Law and Economics of Media Platforms

Business School: Booth School of Business

This Business law free online MBA course is offered by The University of Chicago and focuses on how the law relates to technology. 

There are seven topics this free online MBA course focuses on. This includes; the development of the personal computer and the internet, Google and its relationship with government regulations, smartphones and how they began to replace desktop computers, nondiscrimination, and net neutrality, the relationship between music and the internet, the emergence of digital video, and finally, the rise of the ebook. This free online MBA class can be completed in forty-six-hour courses at your own pace, and you will have a better understanding of Law, Intellectual Property Law, Competition Law, and Market Economics. 

In addition to the Business Law course, there are several open enrollment programs available for executives. These programs include the Chicago Booth Approach to Finance, Leading with Data and Analytics, and Mergers and Acquisitions.

4. Business Writing – University of California, Berkeley

Course Name: Writing for Social Media

Business School: Haas School of Business

This free online MBA course in Business Writing is offered by The University of California, Berkeley, and teaches students how to produce the most impactful writing for social media platforms. 

This course lasts for four weeks and requires a three to five-hour commitment each week and. A verified certificate in Business Writing can also be purchased. Upon completing this course, students will learn the methods for writing on social media. This includes how to develop content, hone in on purpose, how target an audience, and use social media platforms to get out a message effectively

Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is certified by the AACSB. The school offers a Full-Time MBA, Evening & Weekend MBA, and an MBA for Executives, in addition to a Master of Financial Engineering. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is ranked as the seventh-best in the U.S, according to U.S. News & World Report. Through edX, Berkeley offers many other free online MBA classes which include Creativity & Entrepreneurship, Marketing Analytics, and Introduction to the Music Business.

5. Decision Making – Arizona State University

This Arizona State University course teaches students how to analyze data and make effective decisions based on data. This free online MBA course is offered through edX 

This course covers how to examine data and make decisions on a global scale, digital ecosystems within a company, and relevant topics which include artificial intelligence, Blockchain, augmented reality, and how these tools move data through an organization’s hierarchy. 

Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business offers lots of other MBA and Master’s programs. It is also ranked #35 by U.S. News. ASU offers multiple other free online MBA classes through the edX platform. This includes Global Leadership and Personal Development,  Microeconomic Principles, and States Markets in the Global Economy.

6. Economics – University of Pennsylvania

Course Name: Microeconomics: When Markets Fail

Business School: The Wharton School

This free online MBA course offered by the University of Pennsylvania explores the flaws in markets and potential fixes for those flaws.

Microeconomics: When Markets Fail’ is the topic covered in this free online MBA class. Microeconomics focuses on economic systems on a small scale while Macroeconomics focuses entirely on economies and examines countries. 

The class starts with a basic understanding that there are no perfect markets and that markets do not always withstand the test of time. After that, it goes into the potential causes of market failures and possible ways to overcome them. 

Enrolling in this course will equip students with an understanding of the importance of the microeconomic perspective of examining economics from the bottom. This perspective is vital to the study of Macroeconomics and understanding economies as a whole. 

U.S. News & World Report rates the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School as the number one business school in the country. Since its beginning, Wharton counts more than 135 years and offers a variety of MBA degrees that range from traditional and Executive MBAs to several joint MBA degrees, such as its MBA/JD. Wharton provides more than one hundred online programs and certificates in areas that include Technology, Leadership, Industry-Specific courses, and Business Strategy Courses. The courses are free with a paid certificate option.

7. Entrepreneurship – Babson College

Course Name: Entrepreneurial Operations: Launching a Startup

Business School: F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business

Entrepreneurship means starting a business while taking on financial risk and expenses and hoping for a profit. This free online MBA course is offered by Babson College through the edX platform.

Topics covered throughout this free online MBA class include the role of operations in launching a start-up, the operational risks involved, and how to start a start-up successfully. For those who do not wish to purchase a verified certificate, this course is free. 

According to U.S. News & World Report, Babson College is the number one rated MBA for entrepreneurship in the U.S. Babson college has a network of more than 42,000 alumni in 120 countries and every state in the U.S. Its entrepreneurial spirit runs can be found in all its MBA programs, and it is a highly respected college. There are also other full-time and part-time courses t including an MBA, an MS in Management in Entrepreneurial Leadership, MS in Finance, and an MS in Business Analytics. Other free online MBA courses offered through the edX program include Analytics for Decision Making, Financial Accounting Made Fun, Customer-Centric Marketing for Entrepreneurs, and Rise to Leadership: Become a CEO.

8. Ethics – University of Virginia

Course Name: Ethical Leadership Through Giving Voice to Values

Business School: Darden School of Business

This MBA course is offered by the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. It focuses on ethics, and it covers ways for students to effectively act on their values.

This free online MBA course is about ethics. The course is titled Ethical Leadership Through Giving Voice to Values and takes 11 hours and four weeks to complete. Students can purchase a certificate which may be attached to a LinkedIn profile or printed out. 

Since its beginning in 1955, the University of West Virginia’s Darden School of Business’s goal is to inspire leadership and responsibility in its students. It is ranked the #11 best in the country by U.S. News & World Report. This MBA is a small part of Darden’s online courses, and there are currently more than two million online learners. In addition to the MBA ethics course, Darden students may also pursue an MS in Business Analytics and a Ph.D. 

9. Behavioral Finance – Duke University

Course Name: Behavioral Finance

Business School: Fuqua School of Business

This free online MBA course covers decision-making errors, and it teaches students how to overcome them and make more productive financial decisions. Duke University offers this course and has approximately 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

Behavioral Finance is a free online MBA course that aims to aid students in making better financial choices, even when they think outside the box. The course takes three weeks to complete, requires a five-hour investment, and is taught by Emma Rasiel. There are more than 50,000 learners and 23,000 alumni at the Duke business school, and the Fuqua School of Business. The school maintains seven non-degree programs and eleven-degree programs and offers many worldwide learning opportunities. The U.S. News & World Report honored the Fuqua School of Business as the #12 Business school in the country as it offers a hybrid Global Executive MBA program. Students of Duke’s business school may also pursue other in-person and online executive learning programs.

10. Information Technology – University of Washington

Course Name: Strategic Applications of IT Project & Program Management

Business School: Michael G. Foster School of Business

Information Technology is all about using technology to overcome large-scale business or organizational challenges. This free online MBA course is offered by the University of Washington and lasts six weeks.

Strategic Applications of IT Project & Program Management is chosen from a variety of relevant free online MBA courses and provides an introduction to IT Project Management. It requires a small commitment of two to five hours per week to complete the course in six weeks. Two primary topics covered are; first, exposure to the most common project management methodologies used in IT and what makes these methodologies successful, and second, how to efficiently and measurably deliver IT projects through frameworks and accepted standards. 

The University of Washington offers this free online MBA course. The University of Washington Foster School of Business is accredited by AACSB and ranked #20 by U.S. News. There are more than 56,000 alumni from 77 different countries and the top employers of Foster alumni include Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, T-Mobile, and Starbucks. The Foster School of Business offers multiple MBA options that include Technology Management MBA, a Hybrid MBA, and a Global Executive MBA. Other free online MBA courses provided through the edX platform include PMO; Leadership and Management for PM Practitioners in IT, Portfolio Management, Governance, and Conducting an Informational Interview.

11. Creativity, Innovation, and Change (CIC) – Penn State

Innovation is the development of new products or the improvement of existing ones. This also applies to services or processes. It is a free online MBA course offered by Penn State

Creativity, Innovation, and Change (CIC) online MBA course takes about 28 hours to complete and can be completed in six weeks. Students learn the role that diversity plays in creativity, ways to boost their creativity, how to realize their ideas, how to create value from their ideas, and the processes of change. 

This free online MBA course by Penn State is offered through the Coursera platform. Since 1953, the Smeal College of Business, a part of Penn’s state program, uses its Executive Insights program to host streamable lecture series highlighting an array of accomplished executives. Smeal is involved in the Melvin Jacobs Retail Leadership, the Advance Realty Group Real Estate, and the G. Albert Shoemaker Program in Business Ethics. U.S. News & World Report ranks the Smeal College Business at number forty-one. Its online MBA is ranked number six. 

In addition to its online and traditional MBA programs, Smeal offers many other online master’s and graduate certificates. Online opportunities for Master’s students include Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics, Enterprise Architecture, and Business Transformation, and Supply Chain Management. Other available online MBA courses and certificates include Accounting Foundations, Business Sustainability Strategy, Management Consulting, and Strategic Leadership.

Course Name: Creativity, Innovation, and Change

Business School: Smeal College of Business

14. Marketing – University of California, Davis

Course Name: The Strategy of Content Marketing

Business School: Graduate School of Management

This free online MBA course on the Strategy of Content Marketing is offered on Coursera and is a joint effort of UC Davis Continuing, Copyblogger, and Professional Education.

The free online MBA course, The Strategy of Content Marketing, teaches students the main ways that content marketers get new customers and keep those customers. Upon completion of this course, students gain an understanding of vital concepts like how to develop, organize, gauge the strategy’s effectiveness, and implement a content marketing strategy. They are prepared to write compelling copy and gain the knowledge needed to use content marketing to create one’s brand. Marketing helps in understanding the customer and accurately taking stock of brand equity. It helps to link the consumer experience and teaches how to change people’s perceptions in a way that influences decision-making. 

there are more than 4,500 UC Davis’s Graduate School of Management alumni dispersed through a variety of industries worldwide.  A strong partnership with the employment industry is a core part of the school’s vision. The Graduate School of Management Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship provides links between students and experienced investors, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders. U.S. News & World Report ranked the Business School at #48.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will students learn in an online MBA?

Online MBA courses have a standard general knowledge curriculum that is meant to give students a solid foundation in business fundamentals. These classes often cover topics such as Marketing, Accounting, Finance, and Business Ethics. 

Conclusion

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration, and an internationally recognized degree created to develop the skills required for careers in business and management.

Online MBA programs help people develop the knowledge and skills necessary for careers in business in the core aspects of business management, strategic decision-making, and big-picture thinking. The major coursework for an MBA includes finance, accounting, marketing, management, economics, and business law. Other specializations may include entrepreneurship, business analytics, international business, management information systems, and real estate.