Don't Pay for Your MBA: The Faster, Cheaper, Better Way to Get the Business Education You Need

Who needs a mountain of debt? Each year, the nation's top business schools are flooded with applications from people eager to pursue their MBA dreams. But those aspirations come at a steep price. According to U.S. News and World Report, the average debt load for graduates of NYU's Stern School of Business, MIT's Sloan School of Management, and other top business schools exceeds $100,000. Like most, author Laurie Pickard couldn't shoulder that. But she faced a dilemma: despite two degrees and a Peace Corps stint, she needed a business education to land her dream job in international development. She decided to take her education into her own hands, and found that some of those same prestigious business schools offer MOOCs (massive online open courses) for low or even no cost. By picking the right classes from the best schools, she gained the skills-without all the debt. In Don't Pay for Your MBA, Pickard shows self-starters, career changers, and budding entrepreneurs how to navigate the expanding universe of online education. Building on her popular No-Pay MBA blog, Pickard reveals how to: Define your goals and tailor a curriculum that works for you * Master the language of business * Build a strong network * Choose a concentration and deepen your expertise * Showcase your nontraditional education in a way that attracts offers Self-directed learning fills gaps in your training, positions you for promotions, and opens up new opportunities. Why pay exorbitant tuition when you can MOOC your way to success?**Book DescriptionWho needs a mountain of debt? Each year, the nation’s top business schools are flooded with applications from people eager to pursue their MBA dreams. But those aspirations come at a steep price. According to U.S. News and World Report, the average debt load for graduates of NYU’s Stern School of Business, MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and other top business schools exceeds $100,000. Like most, author Laurie Pickard couldn’t shoulder that. But she faced a dilemma: despite two degrees and a Peace Corps stint, she needed a business education to land her dream job in international development. She decided to take her education into her own hands, and found that some of those same prestigious business schools offer MOOCs (massive online open courses) for low or even no cost. By picking the right classes from the best schools, she gained the skills—without all the debt. In Don’t Pay for Your MBA, Pickard shows self-starters, career changers, and budding entrepreneurs how to navigate the expanding universe of online education. Building on her popular No-Pay MBA blog, Pickard reveals how to: Define your goals and tailor a curriculum that works for you • Master the language of business • Build a strong network • Choose a concentration and deepen your expertise • Showcase your nontraditional education in a way that attracts offers Self-directed learning fills gaps in your training, positions you for promotions, and opens up new opportunities. Why pay exorbitant tuition when you can MOOC your way to success? From the Back CoverWhile an MBA can accelerate your career, the cost is formidable: for traditional business schools, two years of lost salary and $100,000 in tuition. Few people can shoulder that load. Fortunately, no one needs to anymore—not when schools such as Wharton, MIT, and Stanford offer courses online for 1/100 of the cost. Don’t Pay for Your MBA shows you how to get a world-class business education by tapping into these no-cost and low-cost MOOCs, or massive open online courses. Author Laurie Pickard is a pioneer in online education. Her quest to piece together a business education while working abroad has been featured in national media—and inspired enthusiasm among people seeking MBA-level schooling, but without the six-figure price tag. In this helpful, insightful guide, Pickard delivers hard-won lessons for successfully navigating the vast array of offerings, selecting the best options, and filling gaps in your nontraditional education. Packed with stories of self-directed learners in every field, the book reveals how to: Define your goals and chart a career course • Build fluency in the language of business • Develop a core curriculum, with a focus on skills • Choose a concentration and deepen your expertise • Create a strong in-person and online network • Showcase your education to attract job offers • And much more. An MBA degree is notoriously expensive, with very few free rides. Whether you want to prepare for your next career move or tackle a complete MBA curriculum from scratch, Don’t Pay for Your MBA opens up valuable online alternatives—at a fraction of the cost.













Laurie Pickard founded the No-Pay MBA website, which has been featured in Fortune, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney, Financial Times, and Bloomberg Business. She also works as a business and entrepreneurship development consultant, most recently at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Rwanda.