Enhance your skills for improving financial and performance decision-making. Learn more detailed methods of collecting and analyzing information in decision support work. Ensure that information used as evidence is strong, defensible, and of high quality.
Gain insight into how to think about your work and use a conceptual overview to guide you in making decisions about conducting that work. Receive specific suggestions and examples of how to utilize analytical techniques more effectively.
This course contains practical case exercises that can be completed using Microsoft Excel. If available, please bring a laptop containing Excel software to class with you. If you do not have access to a laptop or you do not have a basic knowledge of Excel, the exercises can be completed using a hand calculator.
Students should be familiar with basic Excel functions for case exercises, as well as have experience with analytical methods such as cost-benefit and variance analysis, program performance evaluation, and strategic decision-making in a federal or public sector context.
Receive instruction from subject‑matter experts who bring proven government experience.
Courses that are regularly updated based on feedback and industry developments, ensuring versions are mapped to federal competencies.
The instructor was wonderful and so knowledgeable. The course materials were extremely relevant to what my job is. I feel like I can be better because of this class.
— 2025 student
Directly addressing the day-to-day challenges of federal employees.
Your trusted training partner, equipping public service professionals with the skills and knowledge to excel in their roles and drive meaningful impact.
Attend this course in-person in Washington, DC or live online or as self-paced training. Engage with expert instructors, ask questions, and get feedback on your exercises and projects.
Get face-to-face interaction with an instructor and other students when you learn at our DC campus. Courses are hands-on with a computer and software provided.
Get the same interactivity and access to the instructor as in-person students. There are no extra fees and we’ll work with you to ensure your remote setup is perfect.
Learn at your own pace with pre-recorded video lessons and hands-on exercises. Work through the material on your schedule with access to course content and resources.
Our instructors are industry experts and experienced educators, driven to help you succeed.
Upon completion of this course, you’ll receive an official certificate testifying to your mastery of the curriculum. We’ll send you a link where you can download your certificate, share it online with your friends, post it to your professional network on LinkedIn, and view all your earned certificates. Congratulations on your achievement!
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We offer a single free retake of the class within a year.
Since 1921, Graduate School USA has partnered with over 125 federal agencies and trained more than one million federal employees. Led by instructors with deep, real-world knowledge of federal regulations, policies, and practices, our private group programs are practical, mission-driven, and tailored to your agency’s objectives. We offer expertise across key federal domains—including human resources, financial management, acquisition and contracting, leadership, and more—to deliver training where and how your team needs it.
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