Don't Pay for Your MBA

Laurie Pickard is the founder of the No-Pay MBA website and is part of the executive team at Class Central, a search and review website for massive open online courses (MOOCs). She previously worked as an international development professional specializing in entrepreneurship, business development and public-private partnerships. She also worked as a business development specialist for USAID and as a business development consultant with the International Finance Corporation. She is a graduate of Temple University and Oberlin College and has earned the equivalent of an MBA by taking multiple online courses from several business schools.

The average cost of a two-year, traditional MBA program at many universities in the United States now tops $150,000. Highly ranked MBA programs like Wharton will set you back almost $250,000 taking into account tuition, living expenses and opportunity costs. So is it worth burying yourself under a mountain of student debt to get an MBA? The reality is there's a revolution going on in the world of education just like in many other fields. In particular, elite universities are now offering massive open online courses (MOOCs). These are short training courses where world-class experts and top-ranked academics teach for free to anyone with a laptop and an Internet connection.

As a result business education has gone viral. MOOCs make it feasible for anyone and everyone to set up their own MBA program. You can now tailor a self-directed MBA which will not only be the equivalent of a top-notch full-time program but demonstrably better because it's focused on your industry.

You can now get a world-class business education for free.