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MBA is a highly demanded course in India and abroad for careers in business, management, or corporate firms. But pursuing a full-time course in MBA from universities in India can be quite expensive and unaffordable for many students. To overcome this, various universities and business schools now provide online MBA degree courses and distance MBA degree courses. But there are no free MBA degree courses in India. Instead, there are certificate MBA courses in the online mode for free or very nominal rates to students or working professionals. These are short-term courses conducted over 5 to 15 weeks in India or overseas.
7 Best Free Online MBA Courses with Certificates in India
Full-time MBA courses, whether in offline or online mode, cost no less than INR 1,00,000 to 4,00,000. Spending such an amount in addition to often putting a break in one’s career or professional engagements can make it tough for interested individuals to pursue their higher education. Many students can’t afford such high costs of education due to financial constraints or other concerns. Many students may be genuinely interested in learning about the world of business administration and management but are unable to do so due to high costs.
So, an alternative you can look out for is to pursue short-term courses offered by well-reputed universities over online platforms, in the form of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These are short-term online courses that can be pursued within a period of a few weeks by students through self-paced learning.
Currently, in India, there are top management universities offering online MBA programs offered as Certificate Programs for the short term. One can either pursue these online courses completely free of cost (if you are interested in only gaining the relevant knowledge and skills) or add a nominal fee to the course in order to obtain a verified certificate that can be shared and cited.
Top management universities such as the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) etc. provide these MBA courses with certificates at platforms such as Coursera, edX etc.
Given below are the details for the top free MBA courses with certificates available in India for students and professionals.
Top free online MBA Certificate Courses in India 2024
Some of the best free certificate courses in MBA and business administration in India available online for students to pursue are listed below:
#1 Marketing Management
This course is offered by the prestigious IIM Bangalore over a period of 9 weeks. The course covers the basics of marketing and principles in the marketing of businesses and corporate organizations. The course is ideal for those seeking to grow their careers in marketing and business development. Some of the details of the course are given below:
| Course | Marketing Management |
| Institution | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) |
| Platform | edX |
| Duration | Approximately 9 Weeks |
| Mode | Online |
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| Language of Communication | English |
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#2 Operations Management
This course is also offered by IIM Bangalore over a period of 7 weeks. It is offered on the platform edX and is a suitable course for students and professionals interested in operations and chain management systems. The details of the course are given below:
| Course | Operations Management |
| Institution | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) |
| Platform | edX |
| Duration | Approximately 7 Weeks |
| Mode | Online |
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| Language of Communication | English |
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#3 Corporate Finance
Offered by IIM Bangalore, this course is completed over a period of about 5 weeks on the platform edX. It is for professionals and students interested in the domain of financing and accounts in corporate sectors. Some of the details of the course are listed below:
| Course | Corporate Finance |
| Institution | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) |
| Platform | edX |
| Duration | Approximately 5 Weeks |
| Mode | Online |
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| Language of Communication | English |
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#4 Accounting and Finance
This course has been designed by faculty from IIM Bangalore for students and working professionals interested to gain more insights into the world of financial management and accounts in the corporate and business world. This is a highly relevant field of specialization for a course since no organization or business can sustain itself without financial management. The details of the course are listed below:
| Course | Accounting and Finance |
| Institution | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) |
| Platform | edX |
| Duration | Approximately 11 Weeks |
| Mode | Online |
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| Language of Communication | English |
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#5 People Management
This is a course offered by IIM Bangalore that taps on the area of management of people in organizations over a period of 6 weeks and is ideal for individuals who are interested in learning about management of people in organizational and group settings. The details of the course are given below:
| Course | People Management |
| Institution | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) |
| Platform | edX |
| Duration | Approximately 6 Weeks |
| Mode | Online |
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| Language of Communication | English |
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#6 Strategic Management
This is a course offered by IIM Bangalore through edX over a period of 5 weeks. The details are provided below:
| Course | Strategic Management |
| Institution | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) |
| Platform | edX |
| Duration | Approximately 5 Weeks |
| Mode | Online |
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| Language of Communication | English |
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#7 Financial Accounting
This is a management course that is offered by IGNOU via the Swayam platform over a period of 16 weeks and covers areas such as accounting, financial statements, consignments, etc. The course details are provided below:
| Course | Financial Accounting |
| Institution | Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) |
| Platform | Swayam |
| Duration | Approximately 16 Weeks |
| Mode | Online |
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| Language of Communication | English |
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Visit the Swayam portal: https://swayam.gov.in/
Some other useful management and online MBA certification programs also include:
| Course | Educational Institution | Platform |
| Marketing Essentials | IIMB | edX |
| Customer Relation Management | IIMB | edX |
| Brand Management | IIMB | edX |
| Quantitative Marketing Research | IIMB | edX |
| Advanced Corporate Strategy | IIMB | edX |
| Platform Business Models | IIMB | edX |
| Consumer Behaviour | IIMB | edX |
| Predictive Analytics | IIMB | edX |
| Foundations of Data Science | IIMB | edX |
| Advanced Corporate Strategy | IIMB | Swayam |
| Principles of Marketing | IGNOU | Swayam |
| Blockchain | AICTE | Swayam |
| Corporate Finance | IIT Kharagpur | Swayam |
Free Online MBA Course Eligibility Criteria
Since these courses are completed mainly online and are short-term certification courses, there are no stringent eligibility criteria for these courses. Anyone can attend or enroll themselves in these courses.
However, what is important to keep in mind is that one’s educational level and understanding of the course is at par with the level of teaching in the course. Since most of these courses focus and emphasize on areas related to business management at the postgraduate level (MBA), the ideal criteria one should fulfill to benefit the most from these courses are:
- One should at least be a graduate in these courses, i.e. have a Bachelor’s degree in any stream
- One should have some relevant work experience or professional exposure. This ensures that the students are able to apply the learned principles to their work settings and relate their experiences with the curriculum.
Are the Free Online MBA Courses Valid?
The MBA courses offered are not full-time degrees that are offered to you. These are short-term certification programmes specific to MBA domains. Since the courses mentioned here are being provided by accredited and recognized bodies such as the UGC, AICTE, NAAC, NIRF etc. the certificates obtained after completion of these courses are completely valid and accepted.
Also Read | Online Master of Business Administration Guide
What Is the Value of a Free Online MBA course?
The free online MBA courses offered to students are certification programmes that are short-term. These certificates will be identified in professional spheres. They are especially useful for enhancing one’s knowledge and skills and upskill oneself while continuing one’s career. These courses additionally provide you with a certificate after completion of the course which is shareable and citable.
The certification courses however are not the equivalent or replacement for a degree MBA. An online MBA programs is identified as a full-time postgraduate level course in the professional world. It is offered by universities in both online and distance mode and in some cases, a blended mode. It is highly valued by companies and helps to advance one’s career in the business and management spheres.
Foreign Universities offering Free Online MBA Courses
Some of the well-reputed international universities that also offer free online MBA certificate courses to students worldwide are:
| Online Certification Course | Best Online MBA University Abroad |
| Business Analytics | Columbia University |
| Accounting | University of Maryland |
| Business Writing | University of California |
| Economics | University of Pennsylvania |
| Ethics | University of Virginia |
| Finance | Duke University |
Full-Time Online/Distance MBA Universities
If what you are looking for is full-time MBA courses offered online or distance mode, then here are some accredited universities that you can consider applying to:
| University | Accreditation | Mode |
| NMIMS Online University | UGC-DEB, NAAC (A++) | Distance |
| D. Y. Patil University Centre for Online Learning (DPU-COL) | UGC-DEB, AIU, NAAC, NIRF, AICTE | Online |
| Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning | UGC, AICTE | Distance |
| Manipal Online University | UGC, AICTE, NIRF | Online |
| BITS Pilani WILP | UGC | Distance Blended |
Also Read | 10 Best 2-Year Online MBA Colleges In India
Career Prospects After Doing An Online MBA
Some of the sectors that one can explore after completion of certification MBA programmes include:
| Job | Average Salary (INR) |
| Financial Analyst | 4,00,000 PA |
| People Manager | 10,50,000 PA |
| Data Scientist | 11,00,000 PA |
| Business Analyst | 8,00,000 PA |
| Production Analyst | 4,80,000 PA |
| Quality Manager | 8,10,000 PA |
| Distribution Manager | 11,00,000 PA |
Also Read | What to Do After MBA
