Excel training built for the way government teams work with data

Taught by working analysts and Microsoft-certified Excel experts, and delivered your way: onsite, live online, or self-paced.

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Graduate School USA instructors and federal staff working together

Trusted across the federal government

Since 1921

training the federal workforce

500,000+

government employees trained

125+

federal agencies served

200+

federally experienced instructors

400+

courses and certificates

All levels

across the Excel curriculum

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Agency seals reflect organizations Graduate School USA has trained. They do not imply endorsement by, or affiliation with, any federal agency.

Three ways to train your team

Every format draws on the same practitioner-built Excel curriculum and instructors who have done the work. Choose what fits your headcount, timeline, and budget, or combine them.

Private group training: we teach Excel against your team's own workbooks, from PivotTables and VLOOKUP to Power Query cleanup.
Open enrollment: send people to scheduled Excel Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced classes, live online or in Washington, DC.
Self-paced eLearning: online Excel courses staff finish between reporting cycles, including VBA, AI for Excel, and exam prep.

A federal employee working through a Graduate School USA course on a laptop

A Graduate School USA advisor meeting one-on-one with an agency client

Private group training

Bring a cohort onsite and the class is built around the workbooks your office already maintains: the recurring status report, the budget tracker, the file three people rekey by hand each month. Staff practice PivotTables, Power Query, and VBA on those files instead of sample data.

Any course or certificate in our Excel catalog, delivered onsite, live online, or blended
A new course built to your specification when nothing off-the-shelf fits
Scheduled around your calendar, for a cohort of any size
Rostering, progress, and completion reporting for the whole group

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Open enrollment

Excel levels vary person to person, so one analyst can go to Excel Intermediate while a colleague takes Excel Advanced or the Excel VBA Course. Scheduled public sessions run throughout the year at every level, beginner through automation.

A published schedule across the Excel curriculum, entry to advanced
Live online, or in person at 1050 Connecticut Ave NW in Washington, DC
No minimum headcount and no setup: register and go
The same instructors and materials as our private cohorts

Browse the course schedule

A Graduate School USA instructor leading a federal class

Self-paced eLearning

Self-paced study fits the certification tracks and the narrower add-ons: an analyst preparing for a Microsoft Office Specialist exam, or someone who only needs AI for Excel or Power Query without taking a full day away from the office.

Finish a self-paced Excel course, then take the live instructor-led class free within a year.
Build the PivotTables, lookups, and macros yourself, with knowledge checks at each stage.
An always-available AI coach grounded in the course material when a formula will not resolve.
Enroll one analyst or a whole budget shop, with completion tracking through certification prep.

Browse self-paced courses

Most-requested Excel courses

A place to start. Each of these runs onsite, live online, or self-paced, and every one is part of the same practitioner-built curriculum you will find in full below.

Excel BeginnerLive online or self-paced6 hoursFundamentals, no prerequisitesBuild a strong foundation: navigate spreadsheets, write formulas and functions, format cleanly, and turn data into line, column, and pie charts. No prior Excel needed.CoversFormulas and functionsChartsConditional formattingAutoSumTablesView course

Excel IntermediateLive online or self-paced6 hoursBuilds on BeginnerThe level where Excel gets powerful. Master VLOOKUP, PivotTables, nested IF statements, and SUMIFS to look up, summarize, and analyze real datasets.CoversVLOOKUPPivotTablesIF statementsSUMIFSData validationView course

Excel AdvancedLive online or self-paced6 hoursBuilds on IntermediateAdvanced tools for power users: INDEX-MATCH, Pivot Charts, macros, and What-If analysis with Goal Seek and Data Tables to model and automate the work.CoversPivot ChartsMacrosINDEX-MATCHGoal SeekDynamic arraysView course

AI for ExcelLive online or self-paced1 dayFor experienced usersPut Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude to work on the busywork: draft complex formulas, clean messy datasets, troubleshoot errors, and generate VBA macros without writing them from scratch.CoversAI-written formulasData cleaningFormula troubleshootingVBA generationEffective promptingView course

The full Excel catalog

From first formulas to PivotTables, Power Query, VBA automation, and financial models, these hands-on courses meet your team at any skill level. Pick a single class, a bootcamp, or a certification track that ends with a proctored Microsoft exam.

Browse all Excel training

Core Excel skills

Start at the right level and build from calculations and formatting up to PivotTables, VLOOKUP, and macros.

Excel Bootcamp Excel Beginner Excel Intermediate Excel Advanced

Data analysis and reporting

Clean, reshape, and present data with Power Query, better charts, and multi-tool analytics workflows.

Power Query Bootcamp Data Storytelling with Excel Course Data Analytics with Excel, SQL & Tableau Course

Automation and modeling

Cut repetitive work and build decision-ready models with VBA, AI assistants, and financial modeling.

Excel VBA Course AI for Excel Financial Modeling Bootcamp

Certification prep

Validate skills with structured prep for the Microsoft Office Specialist Excel Associate and Expert exams.

Excel Specialist Certification Online Excel Expert Certification Online

Certificate programs

This page offers two credentials, both exam preparation rather than a tiered ladder: Excel Specialist Certification Online for the Microsoft Office Specialist Excel Associate exam, and Excel Expert Certification Online for the Expert exam.

Certification

Excel Specialist Certification Online

Beginner through advanced Excel plus exam prep and the proctored Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel Associate exam with one free retake.

19 hours

View the certificate

Certification

Excel Expert Certification Online

Formulas, PivotTables, macros, and advanced analytics, plus four hours of private tutoring and the proctored Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel Expert exam with one free retake.

21 hours

View the certificate

Vetted procurement, right from the GSA Schedule

Graduate School USA is a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract holder, allowing federal agencies and other qualifying organizations to confidently purchase our services.

GSA MAS contract 47QRAA24D004K, SINs 611430 (professional training) and 541611 (management/administrative consulting)
Held as American Public Training LLC d/b/a Graduate School USA; UEI LA83MCFN1ST3; CAGE 99AA0
We work with your training office on the paperwork, whether a Schedule order, purchase order, or an SF-182.

View our GSA Schedule on eLibrary Email the group training team

Graduate School USA staff welcoming agency colleagues

A historical Graduate School USA faculty and leadership gathering, reflecting the institution's roots as the USDA Graduate School since 1921

An established federal training institution

Graduate School USA's Excel curriculum is designed and taught in-house by practitioners who have turned spreadsheets into real analysis for agencies, not licensed from a generic library.

Founded 1921 as the USDA Graduate School; 500,000+ government employees trained across 125+ agencies
ACCET-accredited (ACCET is a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accreditor)
Center for Leadership and Management runs ECQ-aligned executive development, including the Executive Potential Program since 1995
200+ federally experienced subject-matter experts across 400+ courses and certificates
Available on an active GSA MAS Schedule (SINs 611430 and 541611)

Questions agencies ask

The answers training officers and program directors ask for most, in one place.

How does my agency buy training from Graduate School USA?

Graduate School USA holds GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract 47QRAA24D004K (SINs 611430 and 541611), so you can place a pre-priced order directly under FAR Subpart 8.4 without running an open-market procurement. We accept the SF-182, Schedule orders, government purchase orders, and purchase cards for micro-purchases.

Can we pay with an SF-182?

Yes. We accept the SF-182, purchase orders, and GSA Schedule orders under contract 47QRAA24D004K, and our group training team works with your training office on the paperwork.

What is the difference between private group training and open enrollment?

Open enrollment classes are scheduled public sessions anyone can register for, taken live online or at our Washington, DC campus at 1050 Connecticut Ave NW. Private group training delivers a course for your agency's own cohort, tailored to your mission and delivered onsite, live online, or blended.

Can employees train self-paced, and still take the live class later?

Yes. Our self-paced online courses let a learner start anytime and work at their own pace, and when you buy the self-paced course the learner may also attend the live instructor-led course for free within one year.

Can courses be tailored to our agency?

Yes. We tailor existing courses to reflect your agency's mission, policies, and real cases, and we can develop new courses for unique requirements, all delivered under GSA contract 47QRAA24D004K.

Can training be delivered virtually or in person?

Both. Courses are offered as live virtual instruction or in-person onsite at your facility or at our Washington, DC location, and some programs blend live sessions with self-paced work.

What if an employee needs to repeat a class?

We offer one free retake of a class within one year, so a first attempt is never wasted if someone is reassigned, deployed, or needs a refresher before applying the material.

What's new in your Excel training?

Our curriculum is refreshed to current tools, standards, and practice; we added new AI courses for the government workforce; courses now run in a modern learning portal, and self-paced courses add an always-available AI coach; and self-paced online options let a learner start anytime and still take the live class for free within a year.

Our staff range from people who have never built a PivotTable to heavy spreadsheet users. How do we place them in the right course?

The core track is sequenced. Excel Beginner, Excel Intermediate, and Excel Advanced move from calculations and formatting up through PivotTables, VLOOKUP, and macros, and Excel Bootcamp compresses that same ground for staff who want the full sequence at once. Analysts who are already fluent in formulas usually start on the data analysis side instead, with Power Query Bootcamp or Data Storytelling with Excel.

Does the certification track include the Microsoft exam itself, or only the preparation?

Both include the proctored exam. Excel Specialist Certification Online runs 19 hours, covers beginner through advanced Excel with exam prep, and includes the proctored Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel Associate exam with one free retake. Excel Expert Certification Online runs 21 hours, covers formulas, PivotTables, macros, and advanced analytics, and adds four hours of private tutoring along with the proctored Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel Expert exam.

Plan your agency's Excel training

Tell us your topics, headcount, and timeline, and we'll propose the right mix for your team.

Group training team
onsite@graduateschool.edu
Main line: (888) 744-4723