There are plenty of reasons that you might want to take some basic courses in finance. Such information is valuable in many jobs, and may be particularly valuable if you envision starting your own business. Some of the principles of finance and economics can be complicated, and many people may be hesitant to delve in. But, you may not know that many of the things you want to learn about finance can be learned online – for free. Such classes help people who just want a better general understanding of how finance and economics works, those who want to understand finance meetings at work better and those who think they might want to start a career in finance. Regardless of your reasons for being interested in finance, here are 5 open courseware classes on finance, some offered by the best universities, that will cost you absolutely nothing.

1. Financial Management Training Center – This website offers twenty different short courses in finance topics you can use online. You can learn everything from managing cash flow and forecasting to mergers and acquisitions. There are longer versions of the courses you can download, too. You can even translate the courses into eight different languages.
2. MIT – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers finance classes you can take for free at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Courses include Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting, Financial Management Course, Corporate Finance and Financial Markets Course.
3. Yale – Yep, just like MIT, Yale offers some free courses for self learners. One of their best is their class on Financial Markets, taught by Yale professor Dr. Robert Schiller, an economics professor at the university. The course helps students understand the theory of finance and its relation to the history, strengths and imperfections of institutions like banking, insurance and securities.
4. Carnegie Mellon University – Carnegie Mellon, another world renowned university, offers an economics course that is a collection of online experiments in attempting to make deals with other traders in a market. These data from these experiments is then used to complete a workbook and complete the course. This can be used as a standalone market economics course or as a supplement to another course.
5. Economics USA from Learner.org – This video economics class is offered in 28 half hour segments. It teaches the fundamentals of economic history, theory and practice, including micro and macroeconomics.

The amount of free education available on the web today is truly amazing. Regardless of your need or interest, you can find free classes that can help you get a good start on your subject of choice.

So, if you’re interested in improving your savvy in finance for your current job or you think there are finance courses you may need to get started owning your own business, now is the time to get started. With top notch universities and other great websites offering such fantastic information on finance and economics, you’ve got no excuse not to learn all you need to know.

M. Ward writes about how to get an online accounting degree.

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