Build your project management certificate

To earn a project management certificate, students must successfully complete the following courses depending on which track of study they choose:

  1. Applied Project Management Certificate: complete the Core Course (PROJ_PMI 402-0 or PROJ_PMI 402-DL) only.
  2. Essentials of Project Management Certificate: complete the Core Course (PROJ_PMI 401-0 or PROJ_PMI 401-DL) and two Elective Courses.

Scroll down to view course details and schedule. Tip: When viewing an individual course, click on the "Add to Cart" button to register.

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Course Spotlight

Power Excel and AI Skills for Project Managers

Managing Distributed Teams

Power Excel and AI Skills for Project Managers (PROJ_PMI 225-0)—updated for summer 2026—equips project managers to combine Excel analytics, AI tools, and professional judgment to support better decision-making.

According to Forbes, organizations are increasingly rethinking how work is structured as AI reshapes workflows and productivity across teams. This shift is accelerating demand for practical, applied skills that integrate data analysis tools with AI-enabled reasoning.

In this course, students learn to use Excel as a lightweight decision-support system while applying AI to forecasting, risk analysis, reporting, and workflow automation. The course also emphasizes responsible AI use, including how to evaluate and validate AI-generated insights.

Annual Schedule

Expand the annual schedule lists below to see which quarters each project management class is typically offered in.

Project Management Annual Schedule - Core Courses

Project Management Annual Schedule - Core Courses
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CORE COURSES
 FALL WINTER SPRING SUMMER
PROJ_PMI 401-0 Essentials of Project Management (Remote) X X X X
PROJ_PMI 401-0 Essentials of Project Management (On Campus) X X
PROJ_PMI 401-DL Essentials of Project Management (Online) X X X X
PROJ_PMI 402-DL Applied Project Management (Online) X X X

Project Management Annual Schedule - Elective Courses

Project Management Annual Schedule - Elective Courses
ELECTIVE COURSES
 FALL WINTER SPRING SUMMER
PROJ_PMI 204-0 Developing People and Teams (Remote) X X X
PROJ_PMI 211-0 Soft Skills for the Project Manager (Remote) X X
PROJ_PMI 225-0 Power Excel and AI Skills for Project Managers (Remote) X X
PROJ_PMI 315-DL Risk Management (Online) X X
PROJ_PMI 345-DL Practical Project Planning (Online) X X

Attribution

PMI, PMBOK, CAPM, PMI-ACP, and PMP are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

Course Registration

PDP courses are offered online, remotely, and on-campus. Please refer to the Schedule Notes for course delivery information.

Tips for Troubleshooting Registration


IMPORTANT: The registration process for all professional development (PDP) courses requires you to register for your course and update your emergency contact information in CAESAR, Northwestern University's Student Enterprise System.

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT:

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required to access Northwestern University systems used in PDP courses, including CAESAR and Canvas, Northwestern's Learning Management System.

Northwestern uses the DUO Mobile app for MFA. Instructions to install the DUO Mobile App can be found here.

New students should begin this process immediately after receiving their NetID via email. The Identity Verification Process for DUO Enrollment for new students can take up to 5 business days.

Important Note:

It is a student's responsibility to ensure access to Northwestern systems after registering for a PDP course. If you do not have a smartphone capable of downloading and using the DUO Mobile app, you may want to consider a YubiKey that can be purchased from several online retailers.

Please contact pdp@northwestern.edu with any questions.

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