You can get an MBA without ever putting on pants

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Mashable readers are very into online learning. You’re smart, motivated, and lead very busy lives, so the convenience of a course you can complete at your own pace is appealing. Sites like Udemy and Coursera offer classes in everything from programming to party tricks and are generally designed to be completed within a few hours to a few weeks. They’re quick and relatively inexpensive, and a fun way to stay productive in your free time.

If you’re looking for something a little more in depth, however, you can get the same convenience and cost-effectiveness in an online degree from Coursera. They’ve partnered with the University of Illinois to create flexible, interactive, online Master’s degree programs.

Coursera is unique in the online learning space for their “specializations,” bundles of courses in areas of study like Deep Learning and Graphic Design. These university courses go a step further by bundling specializations into a full degree program that can be completed at your own pace.

There are currently three degrees offered on Coursera from the University of Illinois — an MCS in Data Science, an MS in Accounting and an MBA. Coursera also partnered with HEC Paris, one of Europe’s top business schools, for a Master’s in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Each of these programs consists of between 20 and 32 courses and can be completed in two to three years (with the exception of the HEC degree, which takes an average of 10-16 months.)

Best of all, tuition for each of the programs is estimated to be $30,000 or less. To put that in perspective, the estimated tuition for a University of Illinois MBA student is $58,868 in-state, $83,276 out of state.

Graduates of the online degree programs are issued the same diplomas from the University as in-person students, with no mention of Coursera or that it’s an online degree. Once you complete the program, you have a Master’s degree, no asterisk.

You can request more info about each of the programs and apply for the 2018 cohort at the links below. If you’ve been thinking about going back to school but are held back by the cost or the time commitment, an online degree from Coursera is a great option…