Office 365 Training Cost

Looking to learn Office 365? You can purchase Office 365 for a yearly subscription of $70.A one-month free trial is available.Beyond upfront costs, you’ll want to consider the cost of training. Office 365 contains a whole suite of Microsoft Office software. You can train in each individual program through free online tutorials or professional classes, costing around $200-$300 per class. Read on to learn more about how much you can expect to spend learning Office 365.

What is Office 365?

Office 365 (also known as Microsoft 365) is a cloud-based subscription service that includes Microsoft Office’s suite of programs along with other online services such as free cloud storage and web hosting. Since Office 365 functions with the cloud, users always have access to their documents so long as they have an internet connection. The service is compatible with PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones.

Microsoft Office is a popular suite of productivity programs that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. These programs are used worldwide by businesses across industries for their ease of use, accessibility, and collaboration features. The programs offer a variety of functions, such as word processing, spreadsheet creation, promotional material design, and team management. Office 365 combines these valuable programs into a single service that offers the advantages of online document sharing. Microsoft Office cloud services include Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange.

Read more about what Office 365 is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Office 365?

Office 365 gives users full access to Microsoft Office’s suite of programs. These include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. These programs allow users to create professional documents and reports, spreadsheets and databases, presentations, emails, and promotional materials. Office 365 also provides Microsoft Office cloud services, including Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange. Businesses worldwide use these programs for workplace productivity, team collaboration, and management. 

Office 365’s collaboration tools allow teammates to edit documents simultaneously in real-time online. Teammates can use the Teams app to text chat with one another and ask questions without leaving their computers. Documents can also be assigned to teammates as tasks and linked in their virtual calendar or Microsoft Planner, making them easily accessible and trackable in their workflow. Documents are shared easily with a link without downloading or emailing files. Office 365 is an essential business asset for facilitating collaboration within and across departments. 

As an online service, Office 365 offers several advantages. Users can access Office 365 from any device without needing the program installed. This enables users to work anywhere they like and prevents them from being chained to any singular device. Files and documents can also be stored online without taking up computer storage. Updates are applied automatically to the software without users needing to download them manually. The online features of Office 365 go a long way toward improving accessibility and usability.

In-Depth Review of the Training Cost

There are three training formats for learning Office 365: live online, in-person, and on-demand training. Prices vary between each method, and each method has various advantages and disadvantages to their specific learning style and life situation.

In-person training can be the most expensive of the three. While in-person training often features a professional instructor and has similar upfront costs as live online training, students should also consider the cost of their commute and any required classroom supplies. Live online training seeks to simulate an in-person classroom environment without the commute, saving students on extraneous costs. They also tend to be cheaper than in-person training.

Noble Desktop offers Office 365 courses in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Every program, except Excel, has two levels of courses for teaching the fundamentals and advanced techniques. Each individual course costs $229. Level I courses are ideal for beginners to gain a comprehensive understanding of the programs. Most people will need these courses to learn how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook confidently. Professionals wishing to become experts in the program should attend the Level II courses (and Excel Level III) to learn advanced features. Live online and on-demand Office 365 training offered through other schools features similar prices and course content. 

Professionals may be interested in additional training through Microsoft Certification Programs that combine learning the features of Microsoft Office programs with certification exam prep. These classes are ideal for those looking to learn Microsoft Office and advance their career in one stroke. These courses cost more than traditional Microsoft Office training (anywhere from $500-$900) and partially vary based on the desired certification level (specialist, expert, and master). 

Free live online and on-demand Office 365 introductory courses and seminars may be available through some institutions. These courses are usually enough to learn the program’s most basic tools but not to comprehensively learn the program. Noble Desktop offers tutorials in two of Office 365’s main programs, Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. Top 10 Beginner Excel Tricks You Need to Know, and PowerPoint Presentation Design seminar teaches the fundamentals of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, respectively. Noble Desktop also features Office 365 learning hubs, designed to guide students on how and where to find the best training materials. 

Additional free on-demand training can be found through Coursera, Udemy, and similar skill-sharing websites. These courses are under two hours and feature comprehensive overviews of Office 365 and guides on completing specific tasks within the program.

The downside of these courses is no instructor or peers to turn to with questions or struggles. Advancing through classes also requires personal motivation rather than an official class schedule. Thus, some students may struggle with the lack of accountability to continue with the material. Even with motivation, these courses will likely not be comprehensive enough for professionals looking to advance their careers by learning the ins and outs of the program.

Free Introductory Office 365 Course Online 

Not ready to dive into an entire course? Prefer an overview of Office 365? You can start learning Office 365 for free online. Noble Desktop offers free seminars in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. In the Top 10 Beginner Excel Tricks You Need to Know, you’ll learn beginner techniques that introduce you to Excel and teach you productivity hacks within the program. In the PowerPoint Presentation Design seminar, you’ll learn how to make a professional and eye-catching presentation within the program. These seminars are the perfect method for introducing you to Excel and PowerPoint and giving you examples of the power of Office 365. 

Noble Desktop offers additional Office 365 classes that teach Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook. After these seminars, should you wish, you can continue your education with additional Excel and PowerPoint classes. Bootcamps in both subjects are also available that combine multiple courses into one comprehensive learning package. These courses and bootcamps are open to beginners and guide students to mastery of the programs. 

Read about more free Office 365 videos and online tutorials.

Learn Office 365 with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers in-person and live online training in Office 365. Courses include training in Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook. You can choose between individual classes of various skill levels or bootcamps, which offer in-depth, comprehensive learning. When it comes to becoming an expert in a new skill, bootcamps are a fast and affordable alternative to college. Noble Desktop’s classes are small, taught by expert instructors, and include free retake options.

The Excel Bootcamp guides students from beginner to expert techniques. You’ll learn functions, formulas, Pivot Tables, macros, and additional expert tips and tricks. By the end of the course, you’ll be a true Excel master. The PowerPoint Bootcamp is a similar course that provides complete mastery of the program. You’ll start with the basics of customizing images, shapes, text, and animation before moving on to advanced techniques such as template creation, importing charts from Excel, and inserting multimedia. By the end of the course, you’ll be a wizard at creating professional and visually stunning presentations and slideshows.

If you like the idea of the comprehensive learning offered by bootcamps and are looking for further training in Office 365, NYIM is an affiliate school of Noble Desktop. It provides a Complete Microsoft Office Bootcamp that covers the four major programs – Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook.