McGill Is Offering A Free Personal Finance Course & It's Available To Everyone

A complete McGill education might be rather pricey, but the university's free and self-paced personal finance class literally couldn't be cheaper — and it's available to anyone, McGill student or not. For the low, low price of zero dollars, you can learn from some real professors and lecturers about topics including how to budget, investing 101 and real estate strategies.

The class, developed in collaboration with The Globe and Mail and RBC Future Launch, is taught by professors from McGill's Desautels Faculty of Management. The course doesn't count for credit towards any McGill "program, degree, diploma or certificate" and it also doesn't go on your transcript. Upon completing every module of the course, you'll receive a "McGill Personal Finance Essentials attestation of completion," which is useful perhaps nowhere, but it does serve as a nice reminder of your newly-increased financial literacy.

The class promises to help its students "take charge of [their] personal finances" through only a few hours of programming. To register for the course, simply visit McGill's dedicated website and sign up for free. That will give you access to the class materials and lectures, which are now completed at your own pace.

Previously, the course had to be completed during set sessions, which provided deadlines for registrants to adhere to. Now, the course is fully self-guided, with seven modules of 15-20 minutes in length comprised of videos and instructional materials covering a range of financial subjects.

The modules need to be completed in order, like how most classes work, but you can do them at your own pace and take as long as you want to finish them. To pass each module, you'll need to get 80% or higher on a combination of multiple-choice, true or false, and fill-in-the-blank questions. No writing, though!

The course's teachers include seven Desautels professors and lecturers, but you won't be able to ask them any questions during the course itself, since it's, y'know, pre-recorded.

Keep in mind that this course is intended to teach about Canadian finances specifically, and it's intended for those near the beginning of their financial literacy journey. If you're only visiting Canada or on a temporary stay, some information about taxes, savings accounts and retirement benefits might not apply to you.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.