Coursera is an online learning platform that has thousands of different courses in a wide variety of different subjects.
You can learn whatever you want from the comfort of your home and study anytime and from anywhere on your route to gaining a qualification or new skill.
Coursera has courses on several different levels, from easy courses you can complete in an afternoon to more involved courses that will take years to complete.
You can even study for accredited qualifications such as an MBA (Master of Business Administration.)
If you’re looking to study for an MBA but don’t have the time or opportunity to study for one in person, then Coursera can be what you’re looking for. (See ‘How To Use Coursera For Business?‘)
Coursera offers several different MBA courses and in this article, we will introduce the best Coursera MBA courses available.
Let’s get started!
What Is An MBA?
MBA stands for Masters of Business Administration and it is a graduate-level degree that focuses on business operations management.
You will learn and develop your managerial and leadership skills as part of this degree and this can be invaluable for advancing your career.
Whether you’re already in business and are looking to advance your career or are in a different industry and want to make the change, an MBA can help.
These Coursera courses can support you as you start your own business, transition to a different field, or work through the ranks of your current company.
There are many different types of MBA courses available and the best one for you will depend on your goals and lifestyle.
Luckily, Coursera has so many different options for you to choose from so you can pick the best program for you.
The MBAs offered by Coursera require you to already have a bachelor’s degree, like a business degree. Some have strict grade requirements and others need business management experience as well.
Make sure you check the entry requirements before you try to enroll in any course.
Most institutions offer financial support as well so if the prices are too high, check to see if any aid is available to you.
Best Coursera MBA Courses
Now, let’s look at the online MBA courses available on Coursera. There are several options for you to choose from so take a look and see which one suits you the best.
Master Of Business Administration (iMBA)
- Offered By: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Approximate Duration: 24 – 36 months
- Cost: $23,040 (US dollars)
This MBA from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the same as the one they offer in person. It’s 100 percent online so you can complete the course from the comfort of your own home.
Entry Requirements
To qualify for this course, you will need to meet the entry requirements. These include already holding a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a grade point average of 3.0.
If your GPA is lower than this you may still be accepted if you have enough work experience and references.
You will also need to have at least three years of work experience in an operational or managerial capacity. You will be required to submit a personal statement, resume, and references. (Check out ‘Can You Put Your Coursera Certificate On Your Resume?‘)
About The Course
The course itself aims to help you learn how to solve business problems using both creative and abstract thinking.
You will learn several important leadership skills and how these can be applied to improving existing business processes.
The course is designed to be hands-on and to give you practical skills and business fundamentals you can apply to your career
You will study through live classroom sessions and have the chance to interact with other students and your tutors.
At the end of the course, you will be expected to complete a project to apply your knowledge to a real-world scenario.
Global Master Of Business Administration (GMBA)
- Offered By: Macquarie University
- Approximate Duration: 14-32 months
- Cost: $40,800 (Australian dollars)
Coursera is available worldwide and this means that you’re not just restricted to courses offered by American institutions.
This GMBA is offered by Macquarie University, which is based out of Sydney, Australia.
The course is 100 percent online so you can study for this qualification regardless of where you are in the world.
Entry Requirements
To qualify for this course, you will need to have an undergraduate degree.
Australian degrees use a different system for grading compared to the United States, but as a guideline, they will expect a GPA of at least 2.7 for this course. You should also have at least three years of experience in a supervisory role.
When applying for the course, you will need to submit a resume, proof of your academic qualifications, and two references.
About The Course
This is a course that is based on capabilities and “soft skills.”
It focuses on the 16 future-focused skills that were identified by the World Economic Forum so you can be certain that the course will be relevant to any business in any country.
The course is divided into the following six key capabilities:
- Leading
- Strategizing
- Analyzing
- Influencing
- Adapting
- Problem-Solving
Each of these capabilities has four units of study and you need to complete every unit under every capability to graduate.
The final capability, Problem-Solving, also includes working on real-world projects to display their learning and application of the skills they’ve developed.
MBA In Business Analytics
- Offered By: O.P. Jindal Global University
- Approximate Duration: 24 – 36 months
- Cost: $6,500 (US dollars)
This course focuses on both business management and business analytics.
You will learn how to apply data and analytics to your decision-making in a variety of different sectors, such as digital marketing, management, and corporate finance.
Entry Requirements
To qualify for this course, you need an undergraduate degree from an accredited university. There are no specifications about necessary grades or GPA, however.
You will need to submit some academic transcripts, your resume, and also a video essay about yourself and your professional journey.
About The Course
As we stated, this course focuses on two tracks which are business management and analytics. There are 13 different courses on business management and 8 for statistics and analytics.
You can also study from 5 electives and will need to complete a project. Some of the subjects covered include:
- Financial management
- Managing the supply chain
- The power of marketing
- How to manage organizations and people
- Analytic tools and techniques
- Business Analytics
- How to analyze data
You will also need to complete a capstone project that will take around 50 hours to complete over 10 weeks.
Master Of Science In Management (iMSM)
- Offered By: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Approximate Duration: 12 months
- Cost: $11,520 (US dollars)
This is another form of a degree in business management. It covers all aspects of business management including marketing, processes, business strategy, and strategic management.
You will also get a foundational education in other important aspects of business such as accounting and finance.
Entry Requirements
To qualify for this course, you will need to meet the entry requirements.
These include already holding a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a grade point average of 3.0.
If your GPA is lower than this you may still be accepted if you have enough work experience and references.
You will also need to submit your resume, a personal statement, and two letters of reference.
About The Course
The course is divided between the core business and management courses, and some elective courses. The core courses include topics such as:
- Leadership and teams
- Strategic management
- Marketing management
- Process management
- Accounting and finance
The course takes several different formats but it can be completed fully online. You will have online self-paced learning, self-paced lectures, live classes, and hands-on projects to complete.
Courses That Lead To An MBA
Regardless of whether you decide to study for an MBA at home or in person at an educational institute, it is a huge commitment.
You will need to dedicate several years of your life and thousands of dollars to complete the course. It may even require taking a career break or stepping back from other commitments.
Thankfully, several institutes that offer MBA programs also offer other courses that can be taken as an entry point into an MBA.
You can study one of the courses that make up the MBA without needing to commit to the full course.
This will give you the chance to see if the course is for you and if you do decide to continue with the full MBA, you can usually carry over the credits.
In some cases, simply doing one or two of these courses on Coursera will be all that you need.
If you’re only interested in, for example, leadership and other aspects such as strategic management are not important, you can pick what you need.
Let’s look at some of these courses.
Leading Teams: Developing As A Leader
- Offered By: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Approximate Duration: 14 hours
- Level: intermediate
The first graduate course we will introduce is part of both the Master of Science in Management (iMSM) and the Master of Business Administration (iMBA), both offered by the University of Illinois.
If you complete this course and decide to sign onto either of those degrees, the credits will carry over.
The course is split into the following four modules:
- Leadership defined
- Strategic self-Leadership
- Leading others
- Growing as a leader
This is an ideal course for anyone interested in developing their leadership skills as it addresses several core concepts that relate to becoming a better leader.
Storytelling And Influencing: Communicate With Impact
- Offered By: Macquarie University
- Approximate Duration: 18 hours
- Level: All
The course we will introduce is part of the Global Master of Business Administration (GMBA) offered by Macquarie University.
If you complete this course and decide to sign onto either of those degrees, the credits will carry over. It is split into six weeks of study which cover:
- Persuasive communication
- How to construct a dramatic narrative
- How to build a rapport
- How to impress and guide a group meeting
- How to deal with objections and resistance
- How to pitch ideas
This course is focused on communication.
An effective leader is also an effective communicator and if you sometimes struggle to communicate with others and successfully get your point across, then this course is for you.
Project Initiation And Planning
- Offered By: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Approximate Duration: 22 hours
- Level: All
This course is part of the Master of Business Administration (iMBA) offered by the University of Illinois. If you complete this course and decide to sign onto the iMBA degree, the credits will carry over.
The course is split into four modules. The first three are all concerned with the waterfall approach, which is a model commonly used for project management.
The final module deals with agile project management, which is used for projects that are not well-defined or frequently changed. The four modules are:
- The basics of the waterfall approach
- How to get your project started
- How to create a detailed plan for your project
- The basics of agile project management
As you can see from the modules and the name of this course, it is focused entirely on project management.
This is an important part of business and if you are likely to lead any projects in the future, this course is a great one to choose from.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we looked at the MBAs available on Coursera.
We introduced the best MBA courses you can study and saw that they all target slightly different aspects of business administration and leadership.
The best MBA for you will depend on your goals, time, and budget.
We also looked at some of the shorter courses available on Coursera that feed into the accredited MBAs.
These online courses are all worth studying in their own right and can also be counted as part of a linked MBA if you decide to continue with your studies.
We hope that the information in this article will help you choose whether an MBA through Coursera is right for you.
