best online finance courses

Best Online Finance Courses

Finance is one of the most crucial aspects of the modern world. Even if you are not a finance professional, you still deal with the principles of finance in your everyday life, simply in terms of how you navigate your monthly budget. The following are some of the best online courses for finance. The level of each course is different and most of them are free once you sign up for the platform but to add a certificate, there is an extra charge.

Top 8 Best Online Finance Courses

Let’s take an in-depth look at the very best online courses for finance and find the perfect one for you.

Finance for Non-Finance Professionals — Rice University

best online courses for financeFinance for Non-Finance Professionals is a great course offered by Rice University. It is one of the best online courses for finance, especially for those who come to the discipline without any prior knowledge. The course is short but it takes you through all the necessary basics. All the topics that would be covered in a semester of an MBA-level finance course. The course covers the basics of topics like financial valuation, compounding returns, time value of money, discounting the future, etc. The course will also push you towards the area of finance education you should pursue and is the perfect opportunity for somebody interested in pursuing an MBA to get a taste of what the program may look like.

This is a beginner-level course that takes approximately 20 hours to complete. By the end of the course, you will have a clearer understanding of how professionals arrive at financial decisions.

Sign up for the course here.


Introduction to Corporate Finance — Wharton Online

Introduction to Corporate Finance is a course offered by Wharton Online at the University of Pennsylvania. This, again, is one of the best online courses for finance. The course offers the fundamental concepts of corporate finance through real-life examples. The course is designed such that the concepts you learn in class are not abstract but can be applied to the real-life world of corporate finance. Some of the key concepts you will be familiarized with include time value of money, risk-return tradeoff, interest rates, retirement savings, asset valuation, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, etc.

This is the fourth course in the six-part Wharton Business Foundation Specialization program. It takes approximately 10 hours to complete.

Sign up for the course here.


Behavioral Finance — Duke University

Behavioral Finance is a course offered by Duke University. It is another good example of some of the best online courses for finance. This is a unique course as it not only delves into the basics of finance but also has an element of psychoanalysis. Why do we make some of the financial decisions we do? How do we pick between so many choices almost instinctively? An analysis of these behavioral patterns and predictable decisions can allow us to make better financial decisions. By tracking the predictability of these behaviors, you can iron out a fair few financial decision-making errors. Behavioral finance is a study of biases that leads to certain predictable decisions. This is a course that is useful for anyone, not just professionals. If you are interested in the psychology and behavioral science aspect of finance, this is a great course to get you started.

Sign up for the course here.


Corporate Finance Essentials — IESE Business School

Corporate Finance Essentials is an online course offered by IESE Business School. This is a course that is meant to clear all fundamental concepts related to corporate finance. The course will deal with companies, investors and what constitutes an interaction between them in the capital markets. By the end of the course, you will be well versed with the vocabulary of finance professionals. You will also have a much superior understanding of financial risk, evaluation and investment.

This is a beginner-level course that can be completed in approximately 15 hours. It does not require any prior knowledge of financial concepts.

Sign up for the course here.


Corporate Finance — University of Maryland

Corporate Finance is a course offered by the University of Maryland. The course is meant to take you through the basics of corporate finance and introduce you to the concepts that lead to successful financial decisions. A good business leader is someone who can maximize the value of a company’s resources, whether they be financial, human or material.

You will become familiar with the structure of financial markets, the vocabulary of corporate finance and what creates value for shareholders, among other things. This is an advanced-level course that takes approximately 7 weeks to complete.

Sign up for the course here.


Finance Essentials — Imperial College, London

Finance Essentials is an online course offered by the Imperial College, London. This is the ideal course for someone who wants to pursue an MBA and would like to get a sense of what the program might entail. This is a great refresher course that will prepare anyone for studying finance in the MBA program and also to apply the concepts to the real world.

The course also has a ‘supported learning’ model which allows you to enlist the support of an expert online tutor. This is a beginner-level course that does not require any prior knowledge. You can complete the course in approximately six weeks.

Sign up for the course here.


Documentation in Project Finance — New York Institute of Finance

Documentation in Project Finance is a course offered by the New York Institute of Finance. The course looks at project documents — both overview and types. It covers finance, security and support documents in the initial leg of the course, followed by cover rating agencies. The course will also look at the process of loan syndication and then at the end of the course you will be presented with a distressed project, but with your newly acquired skills, you can rectify the damage. The course costs $13,522 and is part of New York Institute of Finance’s popular Project Finance and the Public Private Partnership Professional Certificate program.

The course takes approximately 3 weeks to complete.

Sign up for the course here.


Corporate Finance — IIMBx

Corporate Finance is a course offered by the Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru. The course deals with the basics of corporate finance and attempts to answer the questions about good investment, the value of assets and projects that create value. The course imparts crucial skills and techniques that help finance professionals make decisions which in turn create value for their organizations.

This is an intermediate-level course that can be completed in approximately 5 weeks.

Sign up for the course here.


Final Thoughts

The courses that have been mentioned above are some of the best in the market. They cover a range of aspects of finance, from corporate finance to behavioral finance. You are required to be a member of either Coursera or edX to be able to access these courses. But once you sign up for the platform, the courses are generally free.

If you want to discover more learning opportunities, then be sure to take a look at our list of the best online courses. Thanks for reading and as always, have a great day!

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