In recent years, the Internet has become dominated by MOOCs, or “massively open online courses.” These courses offers students the chance to study everything from Starbucks coffee to serious banking topics, and they’re a great resource for aspiring business students who are looking to brush up on basic or unconventional topics during their time in academia.

Great Courses in All Kinds of Topics

Whether it’s the basics of marketing or the fundamentals of irrational economic decision, business students and other professionals have never had a better selection of online coursework to choose from. With some of the best names in American higher education offering these exciting courses, students have nothing to lose and a vast amount of unique knowledge to gain.

With plenty of options available, business students owe it to themselves to pick the most intriguing or helpful options available. From statistics to artificial intelligence, ten online courses stand out as among the best possible options for today’s business professionals and students. Here are the Top 10 Free Classes Available Online For International Business Majors.

1. Coursera’s An Introduction to Accounting

Few names are as respected in the business world as the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. There’s good reason for that: Over the course of Wharton’s existence, it’d produced an unparalleled number of high-ranking executives that run corporations in the United States and all around the world. It should come as no surprise, then, that Penn’s online course introducing financial accounting remains a major draw. The general goal of this course is teach the very basic elements of accounting, including creating and reading a balance sheet, distinguishing between profits and losses, and learning the basics of ethics in the profession.

Accounting is a central piece of any business education, whether in high school, college, or graduate school. Wharton’s non-credit online program is the perfect way for students to get in on the ground floor, learning the basics that will help their classroom endeavors at every level of their future business education.

For Coursera’s Free Online An Introduction to Accounting Course, go here.

2. Udacity’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Lots of courses are equipped to tell students about where business has been and why that matters, but precious few are willing to take a guess at where business will end up in the future. That’s where this course in artificial intelligence breaks from the mold and becomes a real asset to aspiring business professionals. Taught by a former NASA scientist and Google’s head of research, the course looks at existing and future implementations of artificial intelligence.

A central focus is placed on how AI will automate everything from basic business transactions to consumer relationships, and a great deal of emphasis is placed on how artificial intelligence might make it easier to create and maintain a successful organization. For sci-fi geeks and those who simply want a good idea of where the future is headed, this course is indispensible.
For Udacity’s Free Online Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Course, go here.

3. Coursera’s A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior

Offered through Duke University, this class might easily be the most provocative class that any aspiring businessperson takes. That’s because it focuses on economic theory without resorting to the boring passages of a standard macroeconomics textbook. The class focuses on economic decisions considered “rational” or “normal,” and then showcases people who made decisions counter to those metrics.

The idea of the course is to highlight how people can go about making perfectly irrational decisions that actually benefit their business in the long run. Students learn how to think outside the box in terms of making fiscal policy decisions, examining and analyzing their market, and taking on real risk. The course has been called a life-changer and a career-changer by those who have completed it, largely because it enables them to think in entirely new ways about how their business should proceed within its nice and with its given set of resources.

For Coursera’s Free Online A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior Course, go here.

4. Coursera’s An Introduction to Marketing

The successful business is one that knows how to craft, communicate, and stick to a strict messaging protocol. That means knowing marketing inside and out, and it’s something that the University of Pennsylvania is prepared to help with. The school offers an introductory marketing course online through Coursera that is easily the top-ranked of any online marketing education program. That’s largely because it’s taught by three of the biggest names in the field, all of whom work within Wharton to teach students both online and off.

Students will learn how to analyze markets and interact with consumers. They’ll create marketing plans and they’ll learn about the best ways to actually sell their products through clever persuasion and presentation. Considering Penn’s marketing program itself is ranked among the top in the entire world, this is a class that will give students a great foundation for future growth in whatever profession they choose.

For Coursera’s Free Online Introduction To Marketing Course, go here.

5. MIT’s Introduction to Microeconomics

MIT is one of the leading sources of online education, especially when it comes to massively open online courses that can be used for business or technological purposes. The university’s microeconomics course is taught by Jonathan Gruber, the influential Massachusetts economist who frequently makes appearances on cable television and in the New York Times. In fact, Gruber actually helped design Massachusetts’ healthcare reform legislation eventually became the blueprint for the wider American health insurance industry. His economic credentials are real and impressive.

The course does require at least a high school understanding of calculus, but everything else will be gone over extensively as the course winds from start to finish. Students will enjoy a unique perspective on microeconomics, learning how to make crucial decisions in smaller environments when both time and resources are relatively scarce. This understanding will go a long way toward making businesses more successful, especially for those with a more entrepreneurial streak.

For MIT’s Free Online Introduction to Microeconomics Course, go here.

6. Udacity’s How To Build A Startup

Building a business from the ground up is no easy task, and it’s one that has seen many people simply give up and seek more traditional employment instead. The best way to avoid that outcome is to take this course, taught by a successful entrepreneur who built a large company from virtually nothing. Students will learn everything from basic marketing to time management and niche analysis. It’s a great way to quickly acquire the skills needed to create a sustainable business that sticks around for the long-term.

For Udacity’s Free Online How To Build A Startup Course, go here.

7. Coursera’s Health Policy And Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, has been controversial since it was first drafted in 2009. That said, it’s now the law of the land and it’s having a major impact on how people buy, compare, and issue insurance policies from coast to coast. The impact of the law will continue to transform over the next few years, with the health care industry focusing on greater efficiency, easier access, and universal coverage of all Americans under a strict government mandate.

This course helps students learn how the ACA will affect their business, their benefits, and the course of their healthcare services over the next several years. Offered through the University of Pennsylvania, this introduction to the future of healthcare policy is an instrumental way for people of all backgrounds to understand why the legislation was needed and why it’s a critical component of America’s economic future.

For Coursera’s Free Online Health Policy And Affordable Care Act Course, go here.

8. Coursera’s Economics of Money And Banking

The banking industry is a controversial one, loved by those who do the banking but loathed by virtually everyone else. Business students will likely spend more time working in, or interacting with, the banking industry than roughly any other profession. For this reason, it’s worth understanding how economics affect banking and how banking itself can have a major sway on the economy.

Columbia University offers this course as a showcase of the ways that banking and economics come together to forge a single economy that, in an ideal world, serves the needs of people at all levels of society. Studies in things like banking ethics and regulation are also included for good measure, giving students insight into exactly how this industry gets the job done on a daily basis.

For Coursera’s Free Online Economics of Money And Banking Course, go here.

9. Udacity’s Introduction to Statistics

The Udacity platform is full of great courses that span from basic to relatively unique, and the platform’s Introduction to Statistics class lies roughly toward the basic end of the spectrum. That’s not a bad thing, however. As most people know, or should know, statistics lies at the center of virtually every major business decision. Whether it’s analyzing a product’s success, turning sales numbers into strategy, or deciding whether to entire an entirely new market, the ability to analyze numbers and come to a logical conclusion is a must-have skill.

That’s exactly what students learn through this course, taught by a number of leading statisticians. The course requires only a basic understanding of algebra and serves as a fundamental building block for both undergraduate and graduate-level study in a business-related field.

For Udacity’s Free Online Introduction to Statistics Course, go here.

10. EdX Software As A Service

Anyone who has used the web-based version of Microsoft Outlook or Apple iWork has experienced software as a service. What goes into this software, and how does it affect business? That’s exactly what this online course from UC Berkeley is interested in teaching. Students must have a background in programming, and they must be willing to learn even more programming methods associated with created web-based applications before enrolling.

Throughout the course of this online program, students will learn what SaaS is, how it works, and how it’s transforming today’s routine business and personal tasks. They’ll learn how to put their own stamp on SaaS setups as well, giving them solid footing for future growth in a high-tech world.

For EdX’s Free Online Software As A Service Course, go here here.