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What people are saying about the No-Pay MBA

required-reading

The No-Pay MBA’s big media break came in January of 2014, when an article that first appeared on the site Poets and Quants was syndicated to a few other websites and went viral on LinkedIn. But since then, I’ve done several other interviews with the media, resulting in some very thoughtful articles and blog posts. I’d like to direct your attention to a few of them, as well as to the new Required Reading page on this site, where I’ll continue to add articles that come out about my project, as well as articles about how MOOCs are changing higher education.

Most recently, the British publication Management Today profiled me and two other people who are using online courses to get a business education in an unconventional way. The article, titled “MBAs the alternative way,” explains why online courses and executive MBA programs might be a more cost-effective option for people with career ambitions that don’t fall narrowly within the scope of what MBAs typically do after graduation.

Also within the last week, the MOOC aggregator SkilledUp published an interview with me about how I’ve designed the No-Pay MBA and how it’s gone so far.

Nashville blogger Addison Cash posted a thoughtful piece on the No-Pay MBA in his blog Cashville Skyline.

Earlier this year, marketer and social media strategist Kat Macaulay interviewed me for her blog on the website Takcam.

The print newspaper Crain’s Chicago Business did a short piece on my project as an example of “How to make MOOCs work for you.”

 

 

More MOOC MBAs

I’d like to introduce two more people who have reached out to me since the last time I posted about other people who are using MOOCs to create MBAs. If you’re reading this and you’re doing the same, I encourage you to share your story with me. The two women I’m profiling below are both mid-career professionals, lifelong learners who have been finding ways to continue their educations since long before MOOCs became a thing. Read on for more information about how these women are using MOOCs to meet their personal and professional goals.

 

chiaraName: Chiara Bersano

Country of origin: Switzerland

Lives in: California, USA

Age: 50

 

Chiara works in IT. She currently manages HR information systems for large corporations. She blogs at chiarabersano.blogspot.com.

“My life still doesn’t afford me the extra time to go back to school; and programs that I have evaluated tend to be exemplary for how they address other people’s need for development, but never seem to truly apply to me.”

“When I read an article about people using MOOC courses to build MBA-like programs at a fraction of the cost of a classic MBA [that’s this article about the No Pay MBA], I had an ah-ha moment. In fact, that was exactly what I had been doing all along, without thinking of formalizing it.”

“Here is my current, carefully culled list (but most likely not my final list… the great thing of such a plan is that it doesn’t have to stop!). Most of the time, I can’t manage more than two at the same time; but the most challenging part is toward the end, when deadlines multiply… I can add multiple courses, and drop out if it becomes too much - there is no penalty there.”

 

Courses Chiara has taken:

International Organizations Management, University of Geneva on Coursera
Globalization’s Winners and Losers, Georgetown University on EdX
Design Thinking for Business Innovation, University of Virginia on Coursera
Public Privacy, Universiteit Utrecht on Iversity
Designing and Executing information security strategies, University of Washington on Coursera

On-going course work:
Gamification, University of Pennsylvania on Coursera
Globalization of Business Enterprise, IESE Business School on Coursera
Wiretaps on Big Data, Cornell University on edX
The European Union in Global Governance, KU Leuven and Universität Passau on Iversity

Upcoming courses:
Introduction aux Droits de l’Homme, University of Geneva on Coursera
Organizational analysis, Stanford University on Coursera
Design Thinking, MHMK Macromedia University for Media and Communication on Iversity
The Changing Global Order, Universiteit Leiden on Coursera
Configuring the World, Universiteit Leiden on Coursera
La visione del mondo della Relatività, Università della Sapienza on Coursera
International Organizational Behaviour and Leadership, Università Bocconi on Coursera

 

photoName: Michelle Krumholz

Lives in: Chicago, USA

Age: 44

 

Michelle is a middle school science teacher for Chicago Public Schools, a position she has been in for 16 years and still loves.  She’s also a mom of two teenagers and has been married for 22 years. Michelle is working on building a startup business centered around a website for teachers. The site itself is still under construction, but in the meantime you can follow her on Twitter @evolvededucator.

“I’ve always worked to pursue learning opportunities for the least financial commitment. Most recently I earned a math endorsement (21 hours) for free from the University of Chicago and an ESL endorsement (21 hours) from an online university for minimal cost.  After I achieved five endorsements which directly improved my teaching skills, I decided it was time to broaden my scope of knowledge in order to build thinking skills for my students which will serve them during college and their careers.”

“When people ask why I’m pursuing an MBA, I reply why not? I’m learning about how our global economy works. I’m able to speak intelligently about business so I can communicate to my students what to expect and where to focus their thinking and efforts.  Also, I’m truly interested in business. Besides teachers, everyone I know is in business. I like to be able to intelligently participate in conversations. I have everything to gain from learning a new skill set. Now that I’m pursuing this start-up venture, pursing an no pay MBA is a win scenario from every angle.”

Currently taking (all from Coursera):

What’s Your Big Idea? through University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Financial Markets through Yale University and in about two weeks I’ll start

An Introduction to Operations Management through Wharton School of Business.

 

 

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