Business Administration Certificate
Private, One-on-One Live Instruction in Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and Professional Business Skills
DWC’s business administration certificate is delivered as private, one-on-one live instruction with a working professional as your instructor. This is not a group class where the pace is set by the slowest or fastest person in the room. It is you and your instructor, working through 83 hours of structured curriculum at a pace that matches what you already know and what you need to learn.
The program covers seven modules: professional business communication and leadership skills, Microsoft Word through advanced document production, Microsoft Excel from fundamentals through macros and PivotTables, Microsoft PowerPoint through advanced presentation design, Microsoft Outlook for professional communication and scheduling, Google Workspace for cloud-based collaboration, and a Capstone project. The curriculum aligns directly to the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification pathway, preparing students for both the Associate and Expert level exams in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Graduates receive the DWC Business Administration Certificate, issued as a higher education professional certificate by the State of Colorado Division of Private Occupational Schools. Because this is private instruction, you pick your start date. There is no waiting for a cohort to form. Contact the admissions team, choose a schedule that works, and begin when you are ready.
Length & Frequency
83 total class hours | 2 sessions per week
Delivery
Private one-on-one | 100% live online instruction
Tuition
$5,295
Scholarships
May be available; contact admissions for details
How Enrollment Works
There is no cohort calendar. You start when you are ready.
Step 1: Contact Admissions
Request program information or attend a free info session. Discuss your goals, timeline, and funding options with an admissions advisor.
Step 2: Choose Your Schedule
Work with your instructor to set your start date, session days, and session times. Evening and daytime options are available. Sessions meet twice per week at 3.5 hours each.
Step 3: Begin Training
Start on the date you chose. Your instructor meets you where you are, and the curriculum moves at your pace from day one.
Why Private Instruction Changes Everything
Most business administration training is delivered in group classes or self-paced video courses. Group classes move at a fixed pace and cannot adapt to what you already know or where you need to spend more time. Self-paced video courses give you no live feedback and no instructor to ask when something does not make sense.
This program works differently.
Every session is a private meeting between you and your instructor. If you are an experienced Word user and want to move through the Word module quickly, your instructor adjusts and you spend that time on the Excel material that is more relevant to your goals. If you are being hired for a role that depends heavily on PivotTables and data analysis, you spend more time on Module 3 and your instructor can focus the exercises on the kind of data your employer actually works with. If your job starts in three months and you need to accelerate the schedule, that is a conversation you have directly with your instructor and the admissions team rather than a calendar you are locked into.
Private instruction also means scheduling flexibility. You choose your start date, your session days, and your session times. Evening and daytime sessions are available. If you need to reschedule a session, you work that out directly with your instructor.
How This Program Maps to Microsoft Office Specialist Certification
The curriculum in this program is structured to cover all exam objectives for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification pathway, from Associate through Expert. MOS is one of the most widely recognized technology credentials in the professional workforce, and the Expert designation demonstrates advanced proficiency that employers in business, finance, healthcare, and government actively screen for.
Here is how DWC’s curriculum maps to the MOS exam structure:
MOS Associate Certification (requires passing any 3 of these 4 exams):
MO-110: Word Associate Module 2: Word Level 1 Creating, editing, and formatting professional documents; tables, graphics, and page layout
MO-210: Excel Associate Module 3: Excel Level 1 and Level 2 Creating worksheets, formulas, functions, charts, data organization, and basic PivotTables
MO-310: PowerPoint Associate Module 4: PowerPoint Level 1 Creating presentations, adding graphics and media, animations, transitions, and delivery preparation
MO-410: Outlook Associate Module 5: Outlook Email composition and management, contacts, calendar scheduling, tasks, and meeting coordination
MOS Expert Certification (requires MOS Associate plus passing 2 Expert exams):
MO-111: Word Expert Module 2: Word Level 2 Advanced formatting, styles and themes, templates, mail merges, macros, and document automation
MO-211: Excel Expert Module 3: Excel Level 3 and PivotTables Advanced formulas, macros, developer tools, data auditing, workbook linking, data import/export, and advanced PivotTables and PivotCharts
The DWC Business Administration Certificate covers the full content needed for all four Associate exams and both Expert exams. That is the complete MOS Expert pathway in a single program. Students who pass three Associate exams and two Expert exams earn the Microsoft Office Specialist: Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps) designation, which is the highest level of the MOS credential.
MOS exam fees are not included in tuition. Exams are administered through Certiport and cost approximately $100 to $150 per exam. Earning the full MOS Expert designation requires passing five exams (three Associate plus two Expert). Students are not required to take any MOS exams to graduate from the DWC program, but the curriculum is built so that students who choose to pursue certification have covered all tested objectives before they sit for the exams.
What You Will Learn
The curriculum covers seven modules totaling 83 hours of private live instruction. Business soft skills come first because they are the context in which the technical tools operate. Microsoft Office applications are taught in depth across four modules, with Excel receiving the deepest treatment because it is the application that matters most in administrative and operations roles. Google Workspace adds cloud-based collaboration skills, and the Capstone ties everything together.
Download the Program Guide for the full curriculum breakdown.
Business Administration Certificate Curriculum
Module 1 - Business Soft Skills
- Use fundamental business soft skills for communication, leadership, and management
- Explore how to manage larger projects using team communication and management skills
- Examine how to improve as a leader in business
Module 2 - Microsoft Word
Word Level 1
- Learn the environment and terminology in Microsoft Word
- Create a basic document using Microsoft Word
- Edit and format text.
- Add tables and graphic elements to a document
- Control a document’s page setup and its overall appearance
- Proof documents to make them more accurate
Word Level 2
- Create and manage ordered and unordered lists
- Customize your own tables and charts
- Work with formatting using styles and themes
- Add images to your documents
- Create customized graphic elements
- Insert content using Quick Parts
- Control text flow
- Use templates to automate document creation
- Perform complex mail merges efficiently
- Use macros to automate common tasks
Module 3 - Microsoft Excel
Excel Level 1
- Create a basic worksheet by using Microsoft Excel
- Perform calculations in an Excel worksheet
- Understand absolute vs relative references in a formula
- Modify an Excel worksheet
- Modify the appearance of data within a worksheet
- Manage Excel workbooks
- Print the content of an Excel worksheet
Excel Level 2
- Understand how to write and use advanced formulas with functions including text, date, logical, conditional, and lookup functions
- Organize worksheet and table data using various techniques
- Create and modify charts
- Analyze data using PivotTables, Slicers, and PivotCharts
- Insert and modify graphic objects in a worksheet
- Customize and enhance workbooks and the Microsoft Office Excel environment
Excel Level 3
- Enhance productivity and efficiency by improving the workflow
- Automate repetitive tasks using Macros
- Work with developer tools including form controls (command button, text box, check box)
- Collaborate with other Excel users
- Trace and Audit formula errors
- Analyze data
- Link multiple workbooks
- Confidently import and export Excel data
Excel PivotTables & PivotCharts
- Analyze large amounts of data using PivotTables and PivotCharts
- Create a basic Excel PivotTable
- Group and summarize your data in creative ways
- File and sort your PivotTable
- Use advanced features of PivotTables
- Format PivotTables easily
- Use conditional formatting within PivotTables
Module 4 - Microsoft PowerPoint
PowerPoint Level 1
- Get started with the PowerPoint environment and terminology
- Create and format a presentation.
- Add graphical objects to a presentation.
- Modify objects on slides.
- Add tables and charts to a presentation.
- Work on basic animations and transitions
- Prepare to deliver a presentation.
PowerPoint Level 2
- Customize the PowerPoint environment.
- Customize a design template
- Understand Slide Master slides to become more efficient
- Add diagrams and special effects to your presentation.
- Create custom animations and transitions
- Use the various options to customize slide shows.
- Use PowerPoint to collaborate on a presentation.
- Finalize a presentation.
Module 4 - Microsoft Outlook
- Explore the Outlook interface, send mail, and respond to messages.
- Compose email messages.
- Organize email messages into folders.
- Manage contacts and contact information.
- Schedule appointments.
- Schedule a meeting.
- Manage tasks and notes.
Module 6 - Google Workspace
- Understand the benefits of Google Workspace and how the tools are utilized in business today
- Explore e-mail, calendar, cloud storage, and common tools used in common business scenarios
- Learn to collaborate and share with team members to take full advantage of the Google Workspace suite of products
Module 7 - Capstone Project
In Module 7, students have an opportunity to put their finishing touches on their Capstone project. In addition, as students begin to look after
graduation and to the next step of their career path, our instructors will provide extensive mentorship on what the job market trends look like,
and how to prepare to find work. At the end of this module, students will present their final Capstone project and receive critique from their instructor.
- Finding work within business administration
- What to expect in interviews
- Final presentations and critique
Who This Program Is For
This program is built for adults who need professional business tool proficiency for a role they are entering, already in, or trying to advance into. Career changers, working professionals whose employer needs them to level up, and small business owners who manage their own operations are all well served by the private instruction format.
No prior business, technical, or software experience is required. Basic computer comfort is helpful.
Career Outcomes and Salary Data
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 358,300 openings per year for secretaries and administrative assistants through 2034, one of the largest hiring categories in the economy. Common entry-level roles include administrative assistant, office coordinator, data entry specialist, executive assistant, and operations support specialist. The BLS reports a median annual wage of $47,460 for secretaries and administrative assistants as of May 2024, with the top 10 percent earning above $76,550.
With experience and advanced Microsoft Office proficiency, professionals advance into office manager, executive assistant, operations manager, and administrative services manager roles. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $108,390 for administrative services managers as of May 2024. Adding MOS certification to a resume carries meaningful weight with employers who need verifiable proof of software competency.
Office Manager
Office managers oversee the administrative operations of a company, including managing expenses, planning work schedules, and organizing meetings while working to design and implement strategies to improve workplace productivity.
Human Resource Specialist
Handling all employee-related matters, human resource specialists serve as a mediator between employees and management while ensuring the rules of the workplace comply with state and federal regulations.
Administrative Assistant
Administrative assistants are responsible for routine clerical and organizational tasks to ensure files are arranged correctly, documents are prepared, and appointments are scheduled.
Why DWC Trains Differently
Most business administration training falls into one of two categories: community college courses that take an entire semester to cover what a focused program can deliver in weeks, or self-paced video platforms where no one reviews your spreadsheets or tells you that your mail merge is pulling the wrong fields. Neither format produces the demonstrated, verifiable proficiency that employers screen for when they need someone who can actually run an office.
DWC’s program is private, live instruction with a working professional as your instructor. Every session is focused entirely on your work, your questions, and your pace. When you build a PivotTable that is not summarizing the way you expected, your instructor is looking at the same screen and can explain exactly what happened and how to fix it. When you are preparing for a role that requires advanced Excel and your Word skills are already strong, your instructor shifts the time accordingly rather than making you sit through material you already know. That kind of responsiveness is not possible in a group class or a recorded video, and it is why private instruction produces stronger outcomes for adult learners in this field.
Career coaching, admissions advising, student support, tech support, and access to DWC’s micro-internship network through Parker Dewey are all included for every student at no additional cost.
Support Every Step of the Way
Guidance from pre-enrollment to graduation
Admissions Advisors
From pre-enrollment through your first day, talk to our advisors to learn all the important details about your program
Mentoring
Instructors are here to be your mentor before, during & after class. Working with an expert as a mentor will help you become industry-ready.
Student Support
Our dedicated student affairs manager will be there to help you get your accounts setup, assess your technology, download the proper files and more.
Career Coaching
Meet with a career coach to review your updated resume, portfolio & LinkedIn profile, as well as job search and interview techniques.
Tech Support
While in your program, if you are stuck and need help you can reach out to our tech support for guidance. Whether through Slack, email or phone.
Internships & Alumni
Sign up for our micro-internship network and explore new opportunities. Our alumni network is also available to all students.
Paying for This Program
The Business Administration Certificate is eligible for WIOA funding, DVR funding, and DWC scholarships (limited availability for private instruction programs; contact admissions). State-specific WIOA guidance: Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois.
Climb Credit financing available as low as $120/month. More on the financial aid page.
DWC can provide case managers with program descriptions and learning objectives, tuition costs and itemized fees, program duration and schedule, credential documentation, labor market alignment data, and performance outcomes data. Contact our team directly if your case manager has specific documentation requirements.
Tuition
We want you to focus on your education and career path. We partner with Climb Credit to offer several options help ease the burden of your tuition costs. Additional scholarships may be available for those who qualify.
Apply with Climb Credit today for student-friendly tuition loans today.
Tuition Example
As low as $120/month*
Easy Ways To Pay
- Pay up front & in full
- Pay with a traditional loanˆ
- Pay with a payment planˆˆ
*¹Actual price of program varies. ²Average award shown as an example only. Scholarships are reviewed and awarded individually. Scholarship award amount may vary. No amount of scholarship funding is guaranteed. ³Subject to lender terms and loan approval. This is not an offer for a loan. These loans are not offered or made by Digital Workshop Center but are made by the loan provider. These terms are representative and may not be the exact terms of your loan. ˆAvailable to those who qualify and subject to lender terms and loan approval. ˆˆPayment Plans available to those who qualify and subject to lender terms and payment plan approval.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Business Administration Certificate at Digital Workshop Center is a career-focused program designed for adults who want to build professional office, operations, and administrative skills. Students gain hands-on experience with Microsoft Office (with a strong focus on Excel), Google Workspace, business communication, and workplace productivity tools while developing essential soft skills. Below are answers to the most frequently asked questions about program length, schedule, cost, funding options (including WIOA), technology requirements, and career support.
Do I need prior business or computer experience?
No. The program starts from fundamentals. Because this is private instruction, your instructor adjusts the pace to where you are.
When can I start?
You choose your start date. No cohort to wait for. Contact the admissions team to set a schedule.
Is this program eligible for WIOA funding?
How long does the program take?
83 total hours of private instruction, two sessions per week at 3.5 hours each. Most students complete in five to six months. Timeline adjusts to your schedule.
Why is this private instruction instead of a group class?
Starting points vary widely in business administration. Private instruction means neither the beginner nor the experienced user wastes time. Your instructor tailors exercises to your actual job context or career target.
Does this program prepare me for Microsoft certification?
Yes. The curriculum covers all exam objectives for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification pathway, from Associate through Expert. The program prepares you for all four Associate exams (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and both Expert exams (Word Expert and Excel Expert). MOS exam fees are not included in tuition and are paid separately through Certiport at approximately $100 to $150 per exam. Taking the exams is optional but recommended for students entering the job market, as MOS certification carries significant weight with employers.
What credential will I earn?
The DWC Business Administration Certificate (DPOS higher education professional certificate) plus preparation for multiple MOS certification exams through Microsoft and Certiport.
What software do I need?
Microsoft 365 subscription (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook). Google Workspace is browser-based and free.
Start Your Training
This is private instruction with a flexible start date. There is no cohort to wait for.
Request program information and an admissions advisor will follow up within one business day to help you choose a start date, set a session schedule, and sort out funding if needed. You can also attend a free info session to meet an instructor and ask questions before committing.
If funding is your first priority, start with the financial aid page. It covers WIOA, DVR, scholarships, employer assistance, and financing options.