College classes with excel

Introduction:

College students routinely manage an abundance of responsibilities. From group assignments that are crucial to maintaining a strong GPA to time-consuming leadership positions within university organizations, many of these responsibilities require them to gather and organize large quantities of data and information, such as lists of people to recruit for a new club, pertinent data or research points for a class project, or an organized budget of how to best allocate their limited funds for that semester. There are many digital tools that college students can use to organize that data and information, but one of the most useful is Microsoft Excel. Originally released in 1985, Excel has held its popularity throughout the decades and remains a widely used program for organizing information in digital spreadsheets. However, despite its popularity and commonplace usage in professional, personal, and academic settings, many users don’t know about some of the powerful and helpful tools and processes that can better build charts, identify trends, and organize and interpret data. The following Microsoft Excel tips and tricks for college students can help users better organize and understand their data, and in turn, make a stronger impact in their classes, campus activities, and future professional and academic careers. This article will also show college students which Excel tips and tricks can be used to help them stand out in internships and entry-level jobs, as well as common Excel mistakes and mishaps to avoid.

Chapter 1: Excel Tips and Tricks to Use at School

These Excel tips and tricks for college students may be more beneficial to some students than to others, depending on the individual’s degree and career ambitions. Students majoring in data- and analytics-driven fields might need to learn dozens of Excel functions before they graduate. Students pursuing liberal arts degrees may find themselves using Excel less often and with less rigor. But for all college students, regardless of major or career path, these particular tips should help throughout their academic career. Below are specific Excel tips that students can use, as well as hypothetical examples of how those tips can be applied in a university setting.

A. Use Recommended Charts to visualize data

Bernadette is creating a presentation for a big classroom assignment and wants to make sure her insights are fully understood by the rest of the class. She knows she wants to use some sort of graph or chart but is unsure which might be the best to incorporate. Recommended Charts is a tool that can give college students using Excel an idea of what their data may look like visually. This tool will show Bernadette immediately which data representation model will be most effective. She can simply select the data, click “Insert,” then click “Recommended Charts.” Then she can scroll through the selections and click on one to see a representation of that data. <H3>B. Apply VLOOKUP to organize data across different sheets<H3> Bill wants to compare attendance numbers for student government meetings over the past few years. He’s collected data for this year in one Microsoft Excel sheet, and he has meticulously organized the data for the past 10 years in separate sheets, all formatted in the same style. When looking at the current year’s data, Bill starts to notice that the membership numbers this year might be the lowest since the start of the decade. Bill can use VLOOKUP to quickly find that info from years past. He simply needs to go to the function area field above the sheet, the area after fx, and type =VLOOKUP, followed by the specific information being looked for in parentheses. For example, if Bill wanted to quickly find the total attendance for all 20 student government meetings for 2015, he can use a VLOOKUP formula .

C. Utilize Conditional Formatting to track data with colors

Shana has surveyed nearly 500 students on campus about how much they would donate to a particular advocacy cause. She’s spent a great deal of time organizing all of the data into a spreadsheet, but now she has to dig through that information and extrapolate which of those students would donate a large sum of money. In this instance, Conditional Formatting would be a helpful Excel trick to use. Conditional Formatting assigns a particular data value a color, allowing Shana to quickly see which of her respondents indicated they would donate a certain amount of money. To use this function, Shana would simply go to the “Conditional Formatting” option on the “Home” tab and select from one of the drop-down choices on how to organize that data. She would choose “Highlight Cell Rules” and then select one of the options to assign a color for data that corresponds to that particular option. For example, cells with values greater than $500 could be highlighted as red, while cells with values less than $10 could be highlighted as yellow.

D. Use Autofill to automatically fill out certain data points

This semester, John has a goal of saving more money. If he saves $20 one week, he wants to save more than that the next, with the ultimate goal of calculating his total over 15 weeks. He wants to track his progress in Excel week-by-week, but he doesn’t want to have to type out seven days, then 14, then 21, and so on. An Excel tip John could use is Autofill, which would easily have that data put in place for him. To use this function, John can simply insert a value into one cell and another value into the cell beneath it, and Excel will recognize a pattern (if one exists). So if that first cell had a value of five and the second had a value of 10, he would just need to select those two cells, hover the cursor over the bottom right corner, and then drag that black plus sign down over the blank cells as far as he wants to go. After letting go of the cursor, it will populate with the remaining numbers in the pattern: 15, 20, 25, and so on.

Chapter 2: Excel Tips and Tricks to Use in Internships and Entry-Level Jobs

Many college students work hard to get competitive entry-level jobs or internships. But once they actually find themselves in those roles, they may not know how to produce exemplary results or stand out among their peers. The following Excel tips and tricks are particularly useful for college students entering the workforce and pursuing positions such as Product Analyst or Data Analyst. These tips and tricks will allow students to produce reports and results more quickly, extrapolating meaningful data that can help them and their office better achieve business goals.

A. Use Flash Fill and templates to save time when generating reports

After entering the names of all 200 employees at his company, Dylan realizes he made a mistake. Company protocol requires that the names be entered in the format last name/first name/middle initial, not first name/middle initial/last name. In this instance, Flash Fill is a useful Excel trick that can help Dylan save time and quickly reorganize that info without having to type it all in again by hand. To use Flash Fill, Dylan can simply type the correctly formatted value in a cell that’s to the right of the incorrectly formatted value that needs to be corrected. Then he can select the next blank cell underneath, select “Fill” on the “Home” tab, then “Flash Fill,” and the incorrect data will be replaced by the corrected version.

B. Incorporate graphics in charts to enhance reports and presentations

One of the final assignments for Sarah’s internship at a major sporting goods company is to create a comprehensive report that details the effectiveness of her social media marketing campaign. Even though Sarah has strong enough insights to prove the campaign was a success, she’s worried that the standard graphs and visualizations she uses won’t resonate with the leaders in her company.

In this instance, Sarah can incorporate graphics and pictures to help her charts stand out and be more widely appreciated across her company. She could simply select the area of a chart where she wants the picture added, click the “Insert” tab, select “Pictures,” and then choose which image or graphic she wants to include. Sarah could use logos for social media brands that correspond to each area of her chart.

C. Apply IF formulas to concisely organize and locate data

William is working as an administrator in his first job out of college where one of his recurring tasks is to plan Friday afternoon social gatherings for his office. William is allocated a different budget each week for the gatherings, but his supervisors want to know on a month-by-month basis if they’re going over budget. A useful Excel trick William can use are IF formulas to effectively organize that data and find results. Above the sheet area there is an “fx” icon, signifying function, where Excel users can select different analysis or interpretation tools they want to use. William can click on the “fx” icon and an equal sign (=) will appear. If William has his values listed in the A column, he can use corresponding cells in the B column to input IF formulas that would determine if the value of a specific cell in column A is over budget or under budget.

This is a simple way to use the IF tool, but its ability to effectively sum up data and find conclusions is immensely helpful in various aspects of day-to-day office life.

Chapter 3: Common Excel Mistakes and Mishaps to Avoid

Excel is a powerful tool that, when used correctly, can efficiently organize and interpret data while increasing productivity. However, many users often encounter errors or unexpected problems when using Excel, causing them to become frustrated by the program. How college students or entry-level professionals use Excel throughout their academic and professional careers will determine the specific types of Excel problems they face. But there are some frequently occurring Excel problems that can be avoided if users are knowledgeable and cautious.

A. Be careful when using Cell Formatting to round up numeric data so as to not get incorrect figures

Megan’s internship supervisor wants to track the amount of money the company spends per month on digital advertising. In the past, Megan’s supervisor has only requested the dollar amount spent and not any additional cents that may have been left over. So Megan has been using one of the Excel tips and tricks called Cell Formatting to round specific dollar numbers. This tool is available on the homepage under the “Number Format” drop-down window. For example, if Megan entered $19.25, it would appear as $19; if the value entered was $28.89, it would be listed in the sheet as $29. The problem, though, is that over the 500-plus digital advertising transactions the company makes each month, since those smaller cents don’t appear on the sheet, Megan has an inaccurate portrait of how much money the company is spending. While the formatted cells may give her a value of $1,000 in total, the cells in an unformatted version may provide values much higher or lower than $1,000 because they incorporate those smaller digits. Cell Formatting is a helpful tool to keep data looking clean and organized, but one should always approach it with caution to make sure it’s being used to accurately present data.

B. Be wary when using numbers as column headings

For a science class, Tim wants to find an enticing way to organize and present visual data regarding how many dinosaurs existed during each prehistoric period. He already has the information on hand from textbooks, and he starts putting it into Excel into two separate columns: left for specific prehistoric era and right for how many dinosaurs perished during that time. But now that Tim has entered his first set of numbers into the first row of Excel, when he tries to find a bar graph or pie chart to visualize that data, it doesn’t display with the proper titles for each group of information. It’s a common mistake to make, and an easy one to avoid. Always make sure that all column headings are text and not numbers. That way, Excel can accurately organize and interpret that data, allowing users to find the best visualizations.

C. Don’t overwrite or delete data, even if it doesn’t seem useful anymore

Jill started working as an athletic assistant for her university’s football team her first semester of college, where one of her duties was organizing information pertaining to how much the team had spent on equipment. By her senior year, Jill had risen in the department and was now consulting on the decision on which jerseys to buy. Jill knew that she had organized the data on how much they had spent on jerseys over the past three years on Excel, but when she went to open her file, she discovered that she only had the most recent year’s expenditures, as she had deleted the data from previous years, thinking it would not be important or relevant anymore. It’s true that one of the most useful Excel tips and tricks is to simply never write over any data. This applies to students who are graduating and think their spreadsheets compiled during college may not be useful anymore and to those who are starting their careers and don’t believe they’ll need the info organized into Excel sheets from earlier positions. Simply using more sheets within the same Excel file or using multiple Excel files that aren’t adjusted or tampered with can help students avoid unnecessary headaches down the road.

Sources: Microsoft, “Microsoft Excel” Microsoft Office, “Create a chart from start to finish” Microsoft Office, “Create a chart with recommended charts” Microsoft Office, “Enable Flash Fill in Excel” Microsoft Office, “Fill data automatically in worksheet cells” Microsoft Office, “IF Function” Microsoft Office, “Recover an earlier version of an Office file” Microsoft Office, “Use formulas with conditional formatting” Microsoft Office, “VLOOKUP function” Microsoft Support, “Columns and rows are labeled numerically in Excel” Microsoft Support, “How to control and understand settings in the Format Cells dialog box in Excel” Microsoft UK Small and Medium Business Blog, “5 Benefits of Microsoft Excel” Payscale, “Entry-Level Product Analyst with Microsoft Excel Skills Salary” Payscale, “Entry-Level Data Analyst with Microsoft Excel Skills Salary”

College days contain one of the most fun, exciting and most memorable moments of a young adult’s life. However, it’s not all parties and spring break. There’s the projects, grades, research and papers that you have to worry about. You have to learn what you can, impress the professors, and be part of activities that would help you grow before you take on the next step of your life. 

Create Schedules With Free Excel Template

With this template, we will show you how to easily create class schedule using Excel. We have a Weekly College Schedule Template that you can use to be on top of your college life. This template can help students keep track of weekly schedule. The template is elegant and versatile enough to be used not only by those in college but even those who are in high school or even earlier levels.

Find The Balance Between Party And Project

This template is professionally designed to be highly functional and still beautiful at the same time. The template contains colorful tables that allow you to enter schedule items on their corresponding times of the day. You can also set a priority on the scheduled tasks so you will know which needs focus the most within a certain time of day.

Set Your Priorities

This College Schedule Template is a free Excel Online Template, which means you can conveniently open the template and edit it on any browser after logging in with your Microsoft account. You can also opt to save it on your computer and modify it from there.

The template allows you to color-code your schedule table according to your priorities. With this color-coding feature, you can easily tell which days could be hectic, which days need more deliverables to get done, and which days can allow you to have extra time for a breather.

Go to Download College Schedule Template for Excel

If you are seeking the best free online Excel courses in 2021, you’re in the right place!

In this guide, I have rounded up some of the top free Excel classes that will help you to become a spreadsheet program master in no time.

As Microsoft Excel can be a daunting tool to learn, I have included courses for all levels of experience. Each online course includes video lessons, practice exercises with excel spreadsheets, and in-depth tutorials for easier retention of the content.

Let’s get started so you can start your online training!

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1. Microsoft Excel Essentials: Learn Excel Fundamentals! (Skillshare)

First up on my list is an in-depth Excel course taught by Alan Jarvis, who is a business consultant, and management trainer that has years of using and “excelling” at Excel (pun intended).

Alan’s teaching method is both detailed and easy to follow, so you are sure to gain a lot from this class along with the 10,000+ students who already have.

In total, this excel training course is 4 hours in length and is broken down into smaller on-demand video lessons that can be taken at your own pace. Within each of these lessons are bite-sized tutorials that show the need to know the basics of Microsoft Excel.

Some of the many modules covered in this course are how to use use the function keys, filter data, editing and correcting data, autofill, auto sum, format painter functions, columns, rows, and formulas.

Overall, this is a great course that is ideal for beginners that are looking for a full-fledged introduction to Excel. P.S. there is also a 1-month free trial available for new students – so they’re plenty of time to try this and other free excel courses!

• Beginner skill level
• 4 hours
• Class projects
• Taught by an experienced business professional
• Downloadable resources

Activate FREE Skillshare Trial

2. Microsoft Excel Bootcamp – Zero to Hero Training (Skillshare)

Next on my list is another beginner Excel user course labeled “Excel Bootcamp”, which will teach you the essentials in this stripped-down class that has been taken by 7,000+ new learners.

Your trainer for this course, Daniel Scott, is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and is an expert in office and business programs. Students will also get to look over the shoulder and follow along with a real-world project that will teach you invaluable skills.

Some of the lessons included in this course are adding cells, adding text, how to add images and logos, formulas, display dates, using existing templates, excel pivot tables, and more.

Overall, this is a great introductory course to help students become familiar with Excel.

• Beginner level
• 2 hours
• The instructor is a certified trainer
• Class projects
• Downloadable resources
• Lifetime access

Activate FREE Skillshare Trial

3. Excel: Tips & Tricks (LinkedIn Learning)

Moving on to my next pick is a thorough 4 ½ hour course that is based specifically on the Office 365 version of Excel that has been viewed by over 240,000 students!

Your tutor for this course is Excel online trainer Dennis Taylor, who has over 30 years of experience in business programs and applications. He has also created dozens of Excel training programs for various companies, so you’ll be in good hands!

Excel tips covered in this course are how to create calculation formulas and excel charts, speeding up data entry, the efficiency of all the functions, significant shortcuts, quick access toolbar, navigation, formulas, and conditional formatting.

As this course is hosted on LinkedIn Learning, there is a certificate of completion available, learning credits, on-demand videos/ resources, and also a 1-month free trial! Overall, a great Microsoft Excel course that covers Office 365 in detail.

• Intermediate level
• 4 ½ hours
• Excel trainer and author as a teacher
• Class projects
• Helps speed up your workflow
• Certificate of completion

Activate 1-Month FREE Trial

4. Excel: Top 10 Excel Formulas to Work Smarter (Skillshare)

If you are already a power user of Excel, then you may benefit greatly from what is presented in this intermediate-level 3-hour Excel class.

Your instructor for this course is Leila Gharani, who has a Master’s degree in Economics and is an Excel trainer with over 15 years of experience. She is also a Certified Microsoft Excel Expert, so you’ll be learning from one of the best!

Course instructions center on the use of formulas that you can import, create, or access in order to complete certain functions that should speed up your workflow and automate many processes. If you haven’t started using vlookup, index & match, sumproduct, or nested-ifs, you’ll be shocked how easy it is to take your excel data to the next level. 

Overall, this is a great complementary course for those who already have some experience with Microsoft Excel and want additional free excel training as part of their trial.

• Intermediate level
• 3 hours
• Certified Microsoft Excel Expert as a trainer
• Concentrates on formulas
• Extra resources included
• Lifetime access

Activate FREE Skillshare Trial

5. Excel: Advanced Formulas and Functions (LinkedIn Learning)

Instructor Dennis Taylor, an industry-leading Excel expert, conducts this intermediate level 4 ½ hour course with instruction on hundreds of functions and formulas built into Excel.

Some of the training modules include creating 3D formulas, extracting information, using statistical functions, power functions, math functions, error checking, and tabulation.

As for all of these exercises, they are all integrated into a real-world situation, so you will be learning as you go through this scenario.

This course is hosted on LinkedIn Learning, so it comes with project files, access on multiple platforms including mobile, and a certificate of completion.

• Intermediate level
• 4 ½ hours
• Professional business trainer as an instructor
• Uses real-world situations
• Extra files and resources
• Certificate of completion

Activate 1-Month FREE Trial

6. Access 2019: Building Dashboards for Excel (LinkedIn Learning)

Also from LinkedIn Learning, this 2-hour course instructs users how to combine Access and Excel for making interactive dashboards.

After this intermediate-level class, you will know how to generate charts, graphs, and other data visualizations that can actually update in real-time as your dashboards collect and display information.

Course modules include an introduction to Access, using Excel and Access together, analyzing tables, queries, Pivots, and building Excel macros for Access.

You will learn how to link data between the two programs, build interactive pivot charts, create macros and tables, use SQL view and start using excel VBA.

The instructor is Robin Hunt. She is a developer of process development, data management, and custom workflow solutions and teaches these at companies and seminars for multiple clients.

A class project is included, along with the materials necessary for the course itself and the project. There is also a certificate of completion.

• Intermediate level
• 2 hours
• Data management consultant as the instructor
• Combined instruction for Access and Excel
• Class project and extra files
• Certificate of completion

Activate 1-Month FREE Trial

7. Excel Essentials for the Real World (Complete Excel Course) (Udemy)

Udemy is another of the top online education sites for learning new things or for continuing education. Their courses feature access on mobile devices or computers, lifetime access to class materials and lectures, and a certificate of completion.

This beginner-level course has over 10 hours of on-demand video instruction. There are 26 extra articles for you to download and use during and after the class. Class lectures cover hidden features, worksheets, data management, formatting, and printing and saving options.

You will learn how to create and use formulas, tables, charts, plus you have challenges, quizzes, and exercises. It’s all taught by certified Microsoft Excel MVP trainer Leila Gharani, an expert in many office productivity programs.

Over 8,000 students have enjoyed the detailed but simple instruction in this class.

• Beginner level (step-by-step instructions)
• 10 hours on-demand
• Taught by Microsoft Excel MVP
• Quizzes and exercises
• Downloadable resources
• Certificate of completion

Visit Udemy.com

8. Learn Excel (TrumpEXCEL)

Certified Microsoft Excel MVP Sumit Bansal set up this blog for free excel training videos. It has over 12 hours of instruction in 26 separate videos. Designed for all levels, you could start at the beginning or skip over basic training if you are already at a higher level of Excel expertise.

Subject modules you will learn include the Microsoft keyboard shortcuts for Excel, tables, formatting, the crucial tool pivot tables, VBA loops, and index matching. The class even covers questions about Excel you may be asked in a job interview.

There are many extra resources available for download with this free online Excel course and the website hosts further advanced training in specific Excel functions.

• All levels
• 12 hours
• Excel MVP as a trainer
• Downloadable resources
• Further specific training available
• Bonus: Interview questions

Visit TrumpEXCEL.com

9. Learning Excel 2019 (LinkedIn Learning)

Author and trainer David Rivers teach this beginner-level course available on LinkedIn Learning. Beginner level and just over 1 hour, the course will get you ready to use Excel in very little time.

It starts at the most basic level, explaining what Excel is, and then moves you into using Excel. Lecture subjects include macros, formulas, auto-fill, formatting, adding charts, using workbooks, and how to share.

There are chapter quizzes, downloadable resources, and you can access them across your different devices. It’s a good jump start to making Excel work the way you expect it to. A certificate of completion is included.

• Beginner level
• 1 hour
• Quizzes
• Downloadable resources
• Taught by an expert in business programs
• Certificate of completion

Activate 1-Month FREE Trial

10. Excel Skills for Business Specialization (Coursera)

Coursera offers this free excel class from Macquarie University that is part of a larger specialization course for business. The Excel skills covered in this first class of four are suitable for beginners but will go well beyond a beginner level. By the end of all 4 courses, the level is advanced.

The instructor is Dr. Yvonne Breyer who leads a degree program for MBA and is part of the faculty for Business and Economics at Macquarie University. At the suggested timetable of 5 hours a week, this 1st class will take about 6 months to complete.

Course topics include data validation, Microsoft Excel basics, macros, Pivot, table graphs chart sorting, concatenation, consolidation, visual basic, and lookup tables.

The course instructor and peers give feedback on class projects and there are periodic quizzes to show how far you are advancing. The peer group includes over 60,000 who have already taken the course.

There are numerous extra resources to download and the course gives you a certificate of completion.

• Beginner level
• 6 months self-paced
• Taught by university professor
• Graded quizzes
• Peer feedback
• Certificate of completion

11. Data Visualization with Advanced Excel (Coursera)

This class is the 3rd of 5 available in the larger Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: the PwC Approach Specialization from PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) instructor Alex Mannella. Though it says advanced right in the title, this course is actually beginner level, suitable for anyone as a stand-alone course.

You would need to be using the PC version of MS Excel 2013 in order to receive the most benefit from this class. PowerPivot is an essential Excel 2013 tool used in the course. Other versions of Excel and anyone on the Mac platform can still benefit, but some of the exercises won’t be available to them.

It starts with scenario and simulation analysis and then moves on to understanding the principles of data visualization and dashboarding. It is 11 hours of on-demand video that you can complete in about 4 weeks of self-paced learning.

Modules are Preparing a Professional Excel, Advanced Scenario Analysis, Data Visualization, and Dashboarding.

Over 56,000 have enrolled and the class comes with extra resources, graded quizzes, peer feedback, and a certificate of completion.

• Beginner level
• 11 hours over 4 weeks (suggested)
• Instructor from PwC
• Works best with Excel 2013
• Extra resources
• Certificate of completion

12. Microsoft Excel – Advanced Excel Formulas & Functions (Udemy)

Chris Dutton of Maven Analytics presents this intermediate-level course for the Udemy online learning platform. He is a Business Intelligence developer and Certified Microsoft Expert.

It covers some of the fundamentals but then quickly gets into the intermediate level instruction with information about building formulas to analyze and visualize different types of data.

You will learn the shortcuts that can streamline your Excel workflow and you will also learn how to find and use some of the special tools the program has. Class modules include formulas, statistical functions, formatting, array formulas, and more.

The class is 8 hours of on-demand video plus several downloadable resources and articles. Over 136,000 students have enrolled and the course offers a certificate of completion.

• Intermediate level
• 8 hours
• BI developer certified MS Expert as an instructor
• Compatible with 2007 and newer versions
• Downloadable resources
• Certificate of completion

Visit Udemy.com

13. Microsoft Excel – Excel from Beginner to Advanced (Udemy)

An A to Z approach to Microsoft Excel, this course takes you from absolute beginner through to advanced functions and features of the program. The course is compatible with any version from 2010 and newer.

In the 16 hour course, you will learn the most common Excel functions plus the more advanced features and tools such as PivotTables, building and using formulas, and automation with macros.

The course combines 4 complete class modules. Microsoft Excel 101 – An Introduction to Excel, Microsoft Excel 102 – Intermediate Level Excel, Microsoft Excel 103 – Advanced Level Excel, and Master Microsoft Excel Macros and VBA in 6 Simple Projects.

Taught by Kyle Pew, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), and a certified Microsoft Office Master Instructor with over 10 years of training and consulting experience for Microsoft programs and other business applications.

There are about 40 extra resources included and it comes with a certificate of completion. Over 367,000 students have enrolled in this comprehensive course.

• All levels
• 16 hours
• Taught by Microsoft Certified Trainer
• Compatible with versions from 2010 and newer
• Extra resources
• Certificate of completion

Visit Udemy.com

14. Excel 2019 Essentials (Pluralsight)

A little 2 hours of very basic Excel instruction that covers working with worksheets, cells, columns, and rows, and ends with formatting. And despite being 2 years old, this course clearly holds up. PluralSight is an online learning platform with a focus on technology such as business programs and industry.

This course is taught by Microsoft Certified Trainer Bill Kulterman, an instructor with over 12 years of experience in business software and a fondness for Koi ponds. So, you can tell the instruction will be beneficial and relaxed.

Modules include ribbons, forecasting, backstage options, worksheets and data, columns and rows, formatting, financial modeling, calculating formulas, and saving files properly.

There are exams, downloadable resources, and a certificate of completion with the free online Excel courses.

• Beginner level
• 2 hours
• Taught by Microsoft Certified Trainer
• Extra resources
• Exams included
• Certificate of completion

Visit Pluralsight.com

15. Microsoft Excel – From Beginner to Expert in 6 Hours (Udemy)

College professor and Microsoft Certified Master Instructor Todd McCleod host this inclusive 6 ½ hour training that is useful for all levels.

Multiple extra resources are included and it comes with a certificate of completion. The Excel tutorials features in this course are understandable for absolute beginners and cover advanced features that experienced users want to learn.

Course lessons include getting started, functions, charts, Pivot, filtering, macros, and blending work from MS Word.

Excel files and templates are among the downloadable resources for this free online Excel class. Visual exercises are highlighted throughout the course. 

• All levels
• 6 ½ hours
• Microsoft Certified Master Instructor
• Lots of downloadable resources
• Lifetime access
• Certificate of completion

Visit Udemy.com

Bonus: Business Analytics Nanodegree Program (Udacity)

There is no free trial for this program, but if your goal is to go beyond Excel and move your career into the lucrative field of business analytics, you may want to consider investing in this program. 

This program was built in conjunction with data analytics industry leaders and Microsoft partners Tableau and Mode. Not only will you learn more advanced Excel techniques, but you’ll also pair that with more advanced data manipulation in SQL and Python as well as creating rich, interactive visualizations in Tableau.

This course can be done in parallel to your day job. By investing 5-10 hours per week, you’ll complete this industry-recognized certification program in approximately 4-6 months. 

USE CODE UPSKILL21 TO GET 50% OFF NANODEGREE PROGRAMS

• Advanced career training
• 4-6 month nanodegree program
• Taught by team of industry leaders and academics
• Individual mentors and active community
• Career resources included in cost

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Final Thoughts

If you are looking to improve your knowledge of excel or other programs, check out my post on the entire Microsoft Office Suite. We also have focused guides on Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and SharePoint reviews too.

Or perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed and just wished you had an Excel expert who could handle your project for you. Well good news, those freelancers exist. I personally have had great success with Fiverr – below are a few Excel gurus who might be right to help you.