Plan a Real Project. Build a Career-Ready Portfolio.
Beginning Project Management is a 35-hour, self-paced Arizona Online course that walks you through every stage of planning a real project, no experience required.
Project management is one of the fastest-growing, most in-demand professional skill sets today. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects roughly 78,200 project management openings each year through 2034, with a median annual wage of $100,750.
But breaking into project management can feel like a catch-22: most roles ask for experience, and most experience comes from already having held the role. Beginning Project Management removes that barrier. Instead of studying project management theory in isolation, you plan a real project of your own choosing from the very first module, building the kind of hands-on portfolio that hiring managers want to see.
Whether you're managing projects informally at work, returning to the workforce, or exploring a new career direction, this course gives you a practical, low-risk way to build skills that apply across every industry, from healthcare and construction to marketing and nonprofit work.
What You Will Learn
By the end of the course, you'll have a complete Foundational Project Management Portfolio built around a real project, ready to share in interviews or apply immediately at work.
Course Information
This is a fully online, self-paced course delivered through the University of Arizona Online Professional Studies. Enroll and begin on your own schedule.
A score of 80% or higher is required to pass each module quiz, each hands-on challenge, and the final certification exam. Pass the final exam to earn your Digital Badge of Completion from Arizona Online Professional Studies.
You do not need to be located in Arizona or be a University of Arizona student to take this program.
Meet the Instructor
Kenneth Gyure, Lecturer, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona
Beginning Project Management is taught by Kenneth Gyure, a Lecturer in the Eller College of Management's MIS Department, where he has taught Project Management, Operations Management, and Supply Chain Management since 2006. He has developed course content from the ground up across in person, online, and hybrid formats, and served as lead Project Management instructor for the University of Arizona's Global Microcampus program, mentoring instructors in Peru, Indonesia, and Cambodia.
Before joining the University of Arizona full time, Kenneth spent more than 15 years in senior executive roles at Raytheon Company, leading organizations of 300 or more employees. He built his teaching around that same real world discipline: scaling production, cutting costs, and managing complex, high stakes projects from the ground up. Kenneth holds an MBA from the University of Arizona and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, and is a member of the Project Management Institute and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Backed by the University of Arizona
Beginning Project Management is developed and delivered by Arizona Online, the continuing and professional education division of the University of Arizona. The course is built entirely in-house using an original, project-based instructional design model, rather than adapted from an outside curriculum.
Unlike programs that teach project management concepts in isolation, this course is anchored in a single cumulative project that learners build module by module. This applied, portfolio-first design is a distinct instructional approach within Arizona Online's project management offerings.
Beginning Project Management is the first course in an expanding Arizona Online project management series, with additional applied and advanced courses in development.
Course content is designed around widely recognized project management terminology, frameworks, and planning tools used across industries.
Get Started with the Beginning Project Management Certification
Registering is easy. No application required. Start anytime.
Cost:
- $699
Credential:
- Digital badge of completion from the University of Arizona Online Professional Studies
About:
- Format: Fully online, self-paced, asynchronous
- Time commitment: approximately 35 hours of coursework
- Schedule: Open enrollment, start anytime
- Prerequisites: None. No required textbooks.
- Grading: Module quizzes and discussions; 80% required to pass and to earn credit for each module and the course
- Structure: Delivered in six modules, each pairing interactive lessons, readings, and scenario activities with a quiz and a module assignment that builds one piece of a single project plan, culminating in a Course-Long Project Assignment and Final Exam.
Questions about Beginning Project Management? View answers to commonly asked questions below.