Hey, all, maybe this is a stupid question, but is there any way to gain the necessary PMP hours from a single graduate level course? I'm thinking about getting my PMP and I figure why not satisify the education requirement through graduate level study (if it's affordable). Can you steer me in the right direction?
I don't really know of any single graduate course that would give you the necessary contact hours, but as for affordable solutions - members of the Association for Computing Machinery, as well as members of the IEEE Computer Society, have (as far as I have seen) free access to a bunch of online courses, a great deal of which are offered by Element K. One of these Element K courses covers PMP certification preparation, and from what I can see, it should be sufficient to satisfy the education requirement for PMP. http://www.elementk.com/products/pmi http://www.elementk.com/products/business-skills-certification/project-management-professional-pmp
Oh, another thing - while not exactly a single graduate course, UCLA Extension offers Project Management sequence (16 quarter units professional/post-baccalaureate) and PM certificate (24 units). If I remember correctly all the required courses in the sequence are offered online (not sure about the certificate). I believe both of those would also satisfy the education requirement for PMP. https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/ProgramDetails.aspx?reg=TT019 https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/ProgramDetails.aspx?reg=CF536 Not too expensive either, considering it's not CEU's but quarter units. Not sure if and how those would transfer into a master's program though. https://www.uclaextension.edu/str/FormsCredit.aspx
I was thinking some more about this. According to PMI "Project Management Professional (PMP) Credential Handbook" http://www.pmi.org/PDF/PDC_PMPHandbook.pdf If I understand this correctly, any university course dealing exclusively or mostly with PM, covering the topics mentioned above, and carrying the typical 3 semester units (45 contact hours) should qualify. This interpretation depends on the phrase "The course hours may include content on" meaning it may include content on any, but not necessarily all or the majority of the mentioned topics. As for the UCLA Extension courses mentioned above, they should then definitely qualify, but you would need at least two 4-unit courses: https://www.uclaextension.edu/str/FormsCredit.aspx 4*8.33 = 33.33 < 35
Sorry for the late post. I had the requisite contact hours when making application but I use my graduate classes to maintain my PMP and I use a 3 credit class to satisfy 45 PDUs towards recertification ( I usually take several during the year so these add up nicely.) PMI now allows for a carry over of extra PDUs so once you receive you PMP (good luck on the test) contimue to take academic classes and you will be in good shape. I only take non academic vendor training when required (usually group stuff) and prefer to maintain all my professional certifications via academic training. It adds up nicely. Search the forum on PMP or Project Management and you will have a good bit of information to digest. Best of luck,
Just as a reminder: http://www.pmstudy.com/index.asp Probably the cheapest way to get the 40 contact hours (all together for $89.99). Credit for spotting it goes to rtongue.
I don't have a preferred school but have evolved to only taking classes at state schools. My favorite two programs for PM are Missouri State's MS in PM: Missouri State MS-PM and Mississippi State's MBA with a PM concentration: MS State MBA-PM There's plenty of schools to choose from for other areas: management, business, acquisition, etc... that relate to PM Regards,
PMP hours For about $40.00 join the IEEE/computer society as a student and use Element K for free. Thats what I did. You can do the hours requirements pretty fast and then you get your certificate.