If you are PMP certified professional, you must assure that you will earn 60 PDUs in each three years to renew your PMP certification. EPMI requires certification renewal for all of its certifications. You can read the whole PMI PDU Guide. PMP PDU classes is one of the ways of earning PMP PDU. We will explore the details of getting PMP PDU through PMP PDU classes in this post.
You can check out how many PDUs you can earn with Master of Project Academy’s courses on the PDU list matrix.
Important Points about PMP PDUs
Before learning details of how you can earn PDUs with PMP PDU classes, it is better to know following details about PMP PDU requirements. PMI introduced the PMI Talent Triangle in 2016 and changed the PDU guidelines. While earning PDUs, you must be careful about the PMP PDU categories, PDU limits and requirements.
Important: Some people confuse the contact hours required to earn for sitting for PMP exam and PDU hours that you must earn to renew your PMP certification. If you also have questions about this, read our free PMP PDU post.
The following are the important points about PMP PDUs.
- You must earn minimum 35 PDUs from Education Category.
- You can earn maximum 25 PDUs from Giving Back Category.
- For the Education Category PDUs, you have must earn at least 8 PDUs from each of three categories of PMI Talent Triangle (Ways of Working, Business Acumen, and Power Skills)
- For the Giving Back Category, you can earn maximum 8 PDUs from the Work as Practitioner category.
You can read all details about PDU guidelines in our PMP PDU Requirements post.
Note that, although the minimum PDU limit for Education category is 35 PDUs, there is not a maximum limit. Therefore, you can earn all 60 PDUs you will need to renew your PMP certification from Education category. PMP PDU classes is one of the ways of earning PDUs under education category It falls under course or training subcategory of Education PMP PDU category.
Now, we will explore the details of PMP PDU class option for earning PDUs..
1- ) PMP PDU Classes Content
PMP PDU classes are actually classroom trainings are not different from the traditional classroom courses that you should have attended before. There is a schedule of these courses and you must attend to the classroom course to earn associated PDUs. Generally, these are one-day classroom courses and bring 8 PDUs once you completed the course.
Note that, the content of the PMP PDU class must be related to project management. I see several PMP PDU courses provided by several training providers and although they are technical courses related to cyber security, networking etc. they claim that the attendees will earn PMP PDUs by enrolling in their courses. PMI will review your PMP PDU submission and they might reject your submission if they find the content of the PMP PDU class you attended is not related to project management. Make sure that the PMP PDU classes’ content is relevant to the project management profession.
Watch our “How can I earn PDUs from PMP® PDU Courses?” video
Other thing you must be careful about PMP PDU classes is you should not enroll in a similar training once again. Actually, I am trying to explain two important points here:
1- ) If you attended in a PMP training and used this training as a source of 35 contact hours PM education requirement, you cannot use the same training as a source of your PDU needs as well.
2- ) Some training providers provide exactly the same PMP training content as PMP PDU classes as well. You are already PMP certified and enrolling in a new PMP training will not enhance your knowledge. The course will cover the same concepts, same theories etc. You can earn 35 PDUs by enrolling in a PMP PDU class which is actually a PMP training and PMI may accept it however why would you attend in a training that will not enhance your knowledge right?
Therefore, we strongly recommend that you enroll in PMP PDU classes, which will enhance your knowledge.
*The Best Way of Getting PMP PDU
You can enroll in an online PMP PDU course like our 60 PMP PDU Bundle for earning PMP PDU. You can complete the PMP PDU courses on your own pace and in any place.
PMP PDU distribution of each course in our 60 PMP PDU bundle is (for the PMI Talent Triangle categories, Ways of Working, Business Acumen, Power Skills) as below respectively.
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Training – 12, 9, 9 = 30 PMP PDU
Agile Scrum Certification Training – 4, 4, 4 = 12 PMP PDU
IT Service Management Certification Training – 5, 5, 4 = 14 PMP PDU
Microsoft Project Training – 1, 2, 1 = 4 PMP PDU
Once you completed the courses, you can claim your earned PDUs as instructed in this link.
Our 60 PMP PDU bundle falls in to E-Learning subcategory of Education category. Since you will enroll in Six Sigma, ITIL, Microsoft Project and Agile Courses, besides earning 60 PDUs, you will be able to learn new areas and you will get ready for new valuable certification exams as well.
2- ) PMP PDU Classes Price
Price of the PMP PDU classes depends on the country, course duration and training provider. For a one-day PMP PDU class, you can expect to pay around $500 in US and Canada, 500 Euros in Europe, 250-300 USD in India and 350-450 USD in other locations of the world. Note that, considering a one-day PMP PDU class will bring only around 8-10 PDUs, you should enroll in several PMP PDU classes to complete all 60 PDUs you will need.
On the other hand, Online PMP PDU courses provide up to 1600-1700% cost advantage. Consider that enrolling in 7-8 PMP PDU classes will cost around 1,400-1500 USD in total. Our online PMP PDU course, 60 PMP PDU bundle, is only for $97. It is at least 1400% cheaper than a traditional PMP PDU class. This huge price advantage and flexibility make online PMP PDU courses more appealing compared to regular PMP PDU classes.
3- ) PMP PDU Classes Schedule & Flexibility
PMP PDU classes are scheduled weeks and in some cases even months before the training date. If you are planning to enroll in a classroom PMP PDU training, you have to make sure that you will be available to attend to course on its schedule. Most of the PMP PDU class providers reserve seats and get payments before the class. Therefore, in case you miss the PMP PDU class, you do not have to re-attend the same class. Even if you can re-attend, you have to re-pay for the course price.
You have to seek for available PMP PDU classes in your location, and attend in 7-8 PMP PDU classes in each three years to complete your 60 PDU cycle. In some cases, you might not find PMP PDU classes close to your area and you have to travel to another city for attending the courses. These are really time consuming and costly solutions especially if you are a full-time working professional.
On the other hand, if you enroll in an online PMP PDU course, you will have the flexibility to follow the PMP PDU classes’ content on your own pace. As long as you have a stable internet connection, you will be able to watch the content of the online PMP PDU courses and earn the all 60 PDUs on your own pace. That is why we strongly recommend you to enroll in online PMP PDU courses to complete your PDU needs.
Conclusion
We have seen the PMP PDU requirements briefly in the beginning of this post. Then, we have examined the three aspects of PMP PDU class options: content, prices and flexibility.
From content wise, make sure that the PMP PDU classes you will enroll will not be similar to what you know already. Try to gain new skills and enhance your knowledge.
From prices wise, online PMP PDU courses are much more affordable compared to traditional PMP PDU classes. You can save more than 90% by enrolling in an online PMP PDU course rather than enrolling in a traditional PMP PDU classes.
Master of Project Academy offers Free PDU Course bundle and earns you 4 PDUs for FREE. Enroll now!
From schedule and flexibility wise, if you are planning to enroll in a classroom PMP PDU training, you have to fit your schedule to the PMP PDU class schedule. If you miss the course, you have to re-purchase the course. In some cases, you might have to travel to other cities for attending a classroom PMP PDU training as well. However, in online PMP PDU courses, you do not have such problems. As long as you are connected to internet, you can complete 60 PDUs and renew your PMP certification easily.
Long story, short takeaway: If you are a working professional and trying to earn 60 PDUs, we definitely recommend enrolling in an online PMP PDU course like our 60 PMP PDU Bundle.