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Free Finance Courses for Beginners
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Are you looking forward to knowing more about Finance but aren’t sure where to begin? Check out these free beginner courses on financial literacy that we have handpicked just for you. With these, you will know the history, key theories and ways to make an informed financial decision. They are best to understand finance, however, certificates for some are only available with a fee.
20 Free Finance Courses for Beginners
MIT Open Courseware offers Finance Theory I. This is an introductory course to the theory of modern financial economics and analysis, and financial management. It also focuses on capital markets and investments. They have video lectures (with transcription), lecture notes, assignments and an exam for assessment.
The video lectures last 1.5 hours and you can watch 2 per week. 20 different topics are covered before the final exam, which requires the learner to acquire a minimum of 25% to pass the assessment.
Duration – 2 weeks
Assessment – No
Certificate – No
Coursera offers a course on Financial Markets taught by Robert Shiller, the great economist who won a Nobel Prize. He is a fellow at Yale University and the university offers free courses on various subjects. Financial markets will be covering risk management, enterprise and the ideas, methods and institutions that are related to it. It will prepare its learners to understand the technical terms of finance and the functioning of securities, investments and banking.
Duration – 3 days
Assessment – Quizzes after completion of each module
Certificate – Yes (paid)
Coursera offers The Global Financial Crisis for free provided by Yale University. The instructor is Andrew Metrick. The course is 24 hours long and covers all topics related to the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2009 that hit the US and other Western nations.
Duration – 1 week
Assessment – Quizzes after completion of each module
Certificate – Yes (paid)
The Corporate Finance Institute offers this free course. It covers the basics of financial planning and the wealth management industry. Introduction to Wealth Management also covers ways and means of investing wealth. This 3-hour course will help its learners prepare for careers in finance, say, financial advisor or private banker. The material is elementary and hence perfect for beginners.
Duration – 3 hours
Assessment – Exams
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is again offered by the Corporate Finance Institute. It covers the working of cryptocurrencies, blockchain and the technology surrounding them. This 3-hour course is perfect for someone who does not know anything more about cryptocurrency than the word itself.
Duration – 2 hours
Assessment – Exams
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is available on Coursera. It will help learners understand the language of finance, the intricate functions of money, how local finance correlates to national and global finance. There are 4 courses under this covering Decisions, Markets, Value and Debt.
Duration – 4 to 6 months approximately
Assessment – Quizzes
Certificate – Yes (Paid)
edX offers a free course on Introduction to Corporate Finance. This course is mandatorily taken by first-year MBA students of Columbia Business School, so needless to say, it is excellent. Learners will gain knowledge on financial rules, concepts and their application to bonds and stocks.
Duration – 6 weeks
Assessment – Quiz
Certificate – Yes (paid)
This course is provided through Alison. It quickly touches upon the most important thinkers and times in the history of corporate finance. Learners will understand some key concepts such as risk, markets, mergers and acquisitions.
Duration – 3 hours approximately
Assessment – Quiz
Certificate – Yes (paid)
If your job requires you to read the financial statements but those jargons go right over your head, this course will save you from the trouble. Reading Financial Statements is offered by Corporate Finance Institute and using a company’s financial statements and reports to teach the financial strength of the company. This will help you make more informed decisions that will benefit the company.
Duration – 1.5 hours
Assessment – Exams
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is available for free on Coursera. It will help first-time learners of finance to understand the fundamentals of corporate finance. The 9-hour course ensures preparing its learners with risk-management and assessment skills.
Duration – 1.5 weeks
Assessment – Quiz
Certificate – Yes (Paid)
This course is offered through India’s national website for MOOCs. The course aims to teach you concepts of corporate finance and its application in real life in a managerial decision-making context. Any undergraduate or postgraduate can take up this course. It will be useful to have knowledge of UG level economics and some basic information on statistics, financial accounting and markets. The course is taught by Prof. Abhijeet Chandra who is currently an assistant professor in IIT Kharagpur.
Duration – 8 weeks
Assessment – Proctored exam (paid)
Certificate – Yes (paid)
This course is offered by Great Learning. It will help you familiarize yourself with some common accounting and finance terms. These are important in order to interpret any business formal notification and statements which will, in turn, assist in making a better financial decision that is sustainable for the company. You can also learn how to read balance sheets, profit and loss statements etc.
Duration – 2 hours approximately
Assessment – Quiz
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is another good course offered by Great Learning. It touches upon the fundamental overview of valuation, capital raising and budgeting techniques, mergers and acquisitions, all of which are crucial when it comes to making decisions.
Duration – 3 hours approximately
Assessment – Quiz
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is curated by MoneyCoach.io and offered for free through Udemy for those who want to learn how to manage personal finance better. You will learn how to manage debts, different sources of expenditure and how to use them, navigate through financial difficulties, set financial goals and plan well for a financially secure future
Duration – 3 hours approximately
Assessment – None
Certificate – No
This course is made by and offered through HP Life, through this, you can learn the basic concepts of finance, know how to calculate expenses and figure out how to make a profit. It also teaches you how to use a spreadsheet to make these calculations faster and more effectively.
Duration – 4 hours approximately
Assessment – None
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is offered by Educba for free. It is a concise course that explains how to study financial statements, income statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets for a beginner. No prior knowledge is assumed. You will be getting lifetime access after you enroll here.
Duration – 2.5 hours approximately
Assessment – None
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is offered by WallStreetMojo, it will enlighten you on financial jargon and concepts right from the start. It also sheds light on accounting so that you can understand complex domains in a very easy way. If you’re a beginner looking forward to know finance, this course is just the one for you.
Duration – 3 hours
Assessment – None
Elearnmarkets is offering a finance course that is suitable for every learner but especially those who come from a non-finance background. This course provides a comprehensive idea of what careers in finance look like so if you’re looking forward to a career change, you will gain a lot of insight from this. Apart from that, you will learn some terminologies exclusive to economics and commerce which helps a lot in the long run.
Duration – 1.5 hours
Assessment – No
Certificate – No
This finance course is offered by Great Learning Academy. This will enrich you with the most important concepts of financial accounting, the functions of balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements. This will help you get a clear idea of the processes involved in a business.
Duration – 1 hour
Assessment – None
Certificate – Yes (Free)
This course is offered by Udemy. Instructor Nishant Verma walks you through the history of finance and complex financial topics and how to interpret terms. It also covers some basics of what the stock market is and how it works. This proves to be very helpful for learners from a non-finance background.
Duration – 3.5 hours
Assessment – No
Certificate – No
Disclaimer: This blog is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy through those links, you won’t pay anything extra and I’ll also receive a small commission on a purchase.
