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Inside a Harvard Business School classroom.
Maybe you have entrepreneurial aspirations but are lacking a financial background. Or maybe you realize that after years as a professional you still don't know how to best manage your finances.
Whatever your situation, there are plenty of excellent free online courses available this fall. We've gathered some of the best below:
University of Pennsylvania Wharton School
"An Introduction to Financial Accounting"
Current session: Sept. 5 - Nov. 17
Time commitment: 6-8 hrs/week
What you'll learn: The course covers everything you need to know to understand an income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.
"An Introduction to Operations Management"
Next session: Sept. 29 - Nov. 24
Time commitment: 5-7 hrs/week
What you'll learn: How to analyze and improve business processes by studying approaches like lean operations, Six Sigma, and the Toyota production system.
"An Introduction to Marketing"
Next session: Oct. 14 - Dec. 26
Time commitment: 5-6 hrs/week
What you'll learn: Wharton has one of the highest ranked marketing departments in the world. This course is broken into three parts: branding, customer centricity, and fundamental marketing strategies.
Beck Diefenbach/Reuters
Stanford University
Beck Diefenbach/Reuters
"Scaling Up Your Venture Without Screwing Up"
Next session: Sept. 15 - Oct. 19
Time commitment: 4-6 hrs/week
What you'll learn: How to give your company big, meaningful growth, learning which risks to take and which to avoid.
"Entrepreneurship Through the Lens of Venture Capital"
Next session: Self-paced
What you'll learn: The basics of starting a company that will give investors that essential "fear of missing out" that will make them want to invest in you.
Columbia University
"The Age of Sustainable Development"
Next session: Sept. 9 - Dec. 5
Time commitment: 5-7 hrs/week
What you'll learn: How businesses are finding ways to grow while limiting their impact on the environment and providing fair wages to outsourced labor.
IESE Business School
"Corporate Finance Essentials"
Next session: Sept. 29 - Nov. 10
Time commitment: 2-3 hrs/week
What you'll learn: This is the course to take if you need to build up your financial vocabulary and basic understanding of the relationship between companies and investors in capital markets.
University of Michigan
"Successful Negotiation"
Next session: Oct. 6 - Dec. 12
Time commitment: 2-3 hrs/week
What you'll learn: This is a comprehensive look at how to dominate negotiations. Learn things like your reservation price and stretch goal, psychological techniques to avoid getting trapped, and the four essential contract law questions you need to ask.
Justin Sullivan/Getty
A Google employee works at the corporate offices.
Northwestern University
Justin Sullivan/Getty
A Google employee works at the corporate offices.
"Understanding Media by Understanding Google"
Next session: Oct. 6 - Nov. 24
Time commitment: 4-6 hrs/week
What you'll learn: Think of this as an extensive Google case study, learning how the media, politicians, marketers, and technologists work with the tech industry along the way.
"Power Onboarding"
Next session: Oct. 12 - Nov. 29
Time commitment: 3-4 hrs/week
What you'll learn: How to develop an onboarding plan that will allow you to quickly begin making an influence after transitioning to a new job. It also covers techniques that you can use to rise up the corporate hierarchy.
University of Florida
"Personal & Family Financial Planning"
Current session: Aug. 20 - Oct. 15
Time commitment: 5-7 hrs/week
What you'll learn: How to invest in your retirement, build your credit, and manage your taxes in this Personal Finance 101 course.
Khan Academy
Sal Khan, founder of online learning resource Khan Academy.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy
Sal Khan, founder of online learning resource Khan Academy.
"Interviews with Entrepreneurs"
Next session: Self-paced
What you'll learn: Valuable management advice from some of the world's greatest entrepreneurs, like Elon Musk and Richard Branson.