FAQs

Purdue offers three online courses:

• Project Management Essentials
• Agile Certificate Online Course
• Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam Preparation

These are an excellent fit for professionals who want to expand their skills or for those who want to enter the project management field or are interested in pursuing PMI certification.

We recommend that learners take all three courses to gain a comprehensive understanding of both traditional and adaptive project management approaches, in addition to receiving thorough preparation for a career-boosting certification. The three-course option also offers the best value, as learners save 10% on total course fees.

Yes, if you enroll in all three courses, you will receive a 10% discount on the total fee for these courses. This option provides maximum value for your investment in professional development.

Your prepayment secures the discount while still giving you the freedom to take each course one at a time.

See our payment page for more information on registering for the three-course discount.

A certificate of achievement from Purdue University is awarded to learners who successfully complete any of our project management courses: Project Management Essentials, Agile Certificate Online Course or the Project Management Professional (PMP)^® Exam Preparation.

Our courses are strategically designed to align with the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) requirements for both the Project Management Professional (PMP)® and PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® certifications.

These courses help you earn the required contact hours for certification eligibility, deepen your understanding of project management concepts and familiarize you with exam formats and question types.

• The Project Management Essentials course provides a solid foundation in project management principles, covering key knowledge areas required for the PMP exam. For those interested in PMI-ACP® certification, this course offers valuable context on traditional project management approaches, which is important in understanding how Agile methodologies fit into the broader project management landscape.
• The Agile Certificate online course is aligned with the Agile Practice Guide of the Project Management Institute. It provides in-depth knowledge of Agile methodologies, tools and techniques, ensuring you’re equipped to handle Agile-related questions in both certifications. This course is particularly valuable because more than 50% of the questions on the current PMP exam focus on Agile or hybrid project management approaches.
• The PMP Exam Preparation course has the most direct connection to PMP certification. This course is built to comprehensively review all exam topics and familiarize you with the test structure and experience. It is fully aligned with the Project Management Institute’s PMP® Exam Prep content.

For more information about the Project Management Institute (PMI), including specific requirements for taking the PMP or PMI-ACP exam, please visit the PMI website.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are a standardized way of quantifying time spent in professional development and continuing education courses. Typically, one CEU represents ten hours of participation in an accredited program. CEUs are a way for professionals to show that they have added new skills that are keeping them updated in their field.

The Project Management Essentials and PMP Exam Preparation online courses are each certified for 3.5 CEUs (continuing education units) from Purdue University. The Agile Certificate Online Course is certified for 2.1 CEUs.

After you successfully complete a course, you will have the option of filling out a form for the CEUs, and Purdue will record them in a cumulative CEU database. Some professions require that individuals earn a certain number of CEUs each year to maintain a license or to support professional development.

PDUs are Professional Development Units and can be used only after you pass the PMP or PMI-ACP exam for professional development and to maintain your certification through PMI. They are different than both CEUs and contact hours. Contact hours represent formal project management education (including online training) and are a prerequisite for taking the PMP or PMI-ACP exam. Please visit PMI’s website for more information about specific requirements.

This question comes up when a learner has responded to a fill-in-the-blank question with more words than requested. When you get a fill-in-the-blank, be sure to read the context before and after the question. For instance, if the word “percent” automatically appears after the blank that you need to fill in, don’t type the word “percent” or the sign “%” because it will cause you to get the answer wrong. Just type the number that you think is the correct answer, such as 20 or twenty. Most of the fill-in-the-blank questions have been adjusted so that the first few letters of the word you need to complete are already provided.

Yes, the quizzes are open one week beyond the deadline and you can take them up to three times to attain the best score. The system automatically retains the highest score from your attempts. The quiz questions refresh, so you will see a different set of questions for each attempt. The fill-in-the-blank questions are random and, as a result, are not always included by the system in every attempt.

The system was intentionally designed to ensure the rigor of the course. It blocks access to printouts of quiz answers. You will, however, have access to your quiz scores.

• Reading the textbook, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide).
• Watching award-winning lecture videos that cover key topics in the course material (available 24/7 throughout the eight-week course).
• Completing workbooks for each module that facilitate your learning and provide you with a personalized reference for future professional use.
• Completing four assignments to develop a better understanding of the key concepts in this course.
• Participating in asynchronous online discussions (this is a required part of the course, but it is not necessary to be online at the same time as the other learners).
• Taking online self-tests and quizzes (self-tests may be repeated and do not count toward your final grade). Quizzes are required and may be taken up to three times.
• Participating in optional one-on-one coaching via email or through a phone appointment with your instructor.

• Watching lecture videos
• Participating in casual conversations (discussion boards)
• Completing five assignments, including an Agile suitability analysis, risk assessment and sprint burndown chart
• Taking online self-tests and quizzes
• Reading the textbooks Agile Practice Guide from the Project Management Institute and Agile Project Management: 2 Books in 1 by Sam Ryan

The Project Management Essentials course and Agile Certificate Online Course lecture videos cannot be downloaded. All lecture videos are integrated into the Brightspace online environment. You can view lecture videos by clicking on corresponding links located in the weekly learning modules.

You can view closed captions by hovering your mouse on the right corner of the lecture video screen, clicking on the button, and choosing English.

Yes, we offer a variety of LSS courses for professionals with varying exposure to the discipline. Please visit Purdue Lean Six Sigma for more information. For detailed course outcome information, please visit the dedicated course pages:

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Lean Principles
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
• Six Sigma Green Belt Refresher

You must earn the minimum 80% of available points in each of the courses to successfully complete the course. You also are required to turn your assignments in and complete your quizzes the week that they are due. Please check the syllabus for details about course requirements. If you are missing an assignment or a quiz when the course ends, you will not pass the course, even if you have the required minimum number of points. Please refer to the letter from your instructor for details about how to work around special circumstances that might keep you from turning in an assignment or completing a quiz within the required time frame.

You have many opportunities to begin Project Management courses each year. To re-enroll, simply register for the course you desire and understand that you will have to pay the full fee to retake it.