Quick Facts | |
---|---|
Online | Yes |
Format | Instructor-led |
Course Fee | $1,975 |
CEUs | 3.5 |
Course Availability | |
Approximately 8 times per year | |
Time to Complete | |
8 weeks | |
Prerequisites | |
None |
Purdue University’s online Project Management Essentials certificate provides students with fundamental knowledge and skills and a strong start on the path toward becoming a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)® through the Project Management Institute (PMI). It also fulfills PMI’s 35 hours of project management education requirement for taking the PMP® exam. Our students typically are project managers in the early stages of their careers who want to perfect their skills and are considering or planning to take the PMP exam, but any professional can benefit if efficient and effective project management is among their responsibilities.
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Course Overview
The eight-week Project Management Essentials course is 100% online and instructor-led. PME instructors use an array of Purdue-developed learning tools, including award-winning videos, to engage students in a stimulating range of activities that include:
- Directed study of the PMBOK® Guide (A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Seventh Edition)
- Viewing recorded lecture videos
- Completing workbooks that both facilitate learning and serve as a handy professional resource
- Completing four written assignments that translate directly to the workplace
- Participating in asynchronous online threaded discussion forums
- Taking self-tests and quizzes
Instructors participate in online discussions and welcome the opportunity to provide assistance to interested students on an individual basis via email or phone appointment. The online format enables you to do your work where and when you want, but there are assignments and quizzes that must be completed by weekly deadlines. Students typically spend five to seven hours on coursework each week.
All course materials, except the text book, are presented in Brightspace. Students are responsible for purchasing their own PMBOK® Guide.
“Purdue’s online Project Management Essentials course was developed to reflect how we conceptually teach project management. We don’t just mirror the PMBOK Guide® verbatim. We make it easier for learners to understand how to implement project management best practice into their careers and their projects.”
Susan Vaughn, PMP & PME course Instructor

Course Outcomes
The online Project Management Essentials course prepares students to advance their project management careers by putting knowledge and skills into practice. In addition to familiarizing students with PMI’s PMBOK® Guide and basic project management concepts and terms, the course equips students to define and apply the following:
- Basic project management concepts and terms
- Project integration management tools, techniques, and processes
- Project scope and procurement management tools, techniques, and processes
- Project time management tools, techniques, and processes
- Project cost and risk management tools, techniques, and processes
- Project stakeholder, communications, and human resource management tools, techniques, and processes
- Project quality management and change control tools, techniques, and processes
- Tools, techniques and processes to manage project performance
- Tools, techniques and processes to close a project or phase
Certification
Only individuals who pass PMI’s PMP certification exam are officially certified as a Project Management Professional®. A certificate of achievement from Purdue University, however, is awarded to students who successfully complete Project Management Essentials.