Top Schools with Online Accounting Courses

For the purpose of this article, we've selected some of the top schools from around the nation that offer free online accounting courses to the general public.

1. University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is one of the largest public schools in the U.S. Unsurprisingly, it also has one of the most expansive Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offerings out there.

This school offers its many online courses through Coursera. Various courses are available, including several in accounting.

You can choose from the following accounting courses:

• Fundamentals of Accounting
• Accounting Data Analytics
• U.S. Federal Taxation

2. University of Virginia

The University of Virginia has been around since 1819 and was founded by Thomas Jefferson. This public university offers more than 40 open education resource (OER) courses, some of which deal with accounting.

The courses are offered through Coursera. You can browse a list of courses, many of which deal with business topics.

The school offers the following accounting courses:

• Managerial Accounting Fundamentals
• Financial Accounting Fundamentals

3. Rice University

Rice University is a private school located in Houston, TX. This school offers a handful of free online courses.

The school's Pre–MBA Quantitative Skills: Accounting course is available for free through Coursera. The course requires about 17 hours of study to complete, and you can learn on your own time.

All coursework is completed online, and you receive a certificate upon course completion.

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is not an Ivy League school, but it is known for having highly advanced coursework.

What you may not know is that the school offers a wide variety of open learning, or 'MITx', courses.

Courses are available through MITx Online as well as the edX platform. These courses are available to anyone anywhere in the world and can be completed for free.

Two accounting courses are available:

• Financial Accounting
• Management in Engineering: Accounting and Planning

5. Babson College

Babson College is a private school located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. It is unique among the other colleges on this list in that it focuses on business education, particularly entrepreneurship.

Babson offers a course titled Financial Accounting Made Fun: Eliminating Your Fears through the edX platform. This free, self–paced course is typically completed in four weeks.

Topics covered in the course include:

• financial statement preparation
• cash vs. profits
• calculating performance ratios

6. University of California Irvine

The University of California Irvine is a large public school and part of the University of California System. It offers a variety of Massive Open Online Courses through Coursera.

A few of these courses cover accounting topics. All of the courses are completed entirely online and cost nothing to complete.

Available accounting courses include:

• What Is Financial Accounting?
• Completing the Accounting Cycle
• Recording in Journals and Posting in Ledgers

7. West Virginia University

West Virginia University is a public school with campuses located throughout West Virginia. The school also offers online learning options, including free public courses.

One accounting course is available through Coursera: Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination.

This course teaches you how to deal with business fraud, including ways to identify and prevent it.

The course takes about six hours to complete and is self–paced, so you can study when it's convenient for you.

8. Purdue Global

Purdue Global is a public school in Indiana that also comprises a large online learning platform known as Purdue Global. In addition to degree programs, free online courses are also available.

These free online courses are generally available via edX. If you are interested in accounting, consider enrolling in the Business Accounting Basics course.

This instructor–paced course takes five weeks to complete and requires a minimum weekly time commitment. It teaches you accounting fundamentals that will come in handy if you are starting your own business or want to build upon your existing accounting knowledge.

9. University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the oldest and largest school in the state, and it offers a variety of Massive Open Online Courses.

The school's Accounting for Decision Making course is available through Coursera. This free intermediate course takes about 29 hours to complete and is taken entirely online.

Topics covered include:

• balance sheets and income statements
• building inventory
• making sales

10. Southern New Hampshire University

Southern New Hampshire University is a private school with an expansive online offering. In addition to a variety of degree programs, many free online courses are also available.

This school offers a Financial Accounting Fundamentals course through edX. The course is self–paced but typically requires eight to 10 hours per week over a period of about 16 weeks.

Topics covered in this course include:

• financial record keeping
• preparing financial statements
• analyzing and reporting financial information