ONLC

What ONLC is

ONLC is a US computer and IT training company that sells live, instructor-led classes and self-paced On-Demand courses, much of it aimed at vendor certifications. It describes itself as "a business-to-business training provider", and its readers are mostly working professionals and the employers who pay for their training, along with federal, state, military and tribal government groups. The homepage says its live classes have been "available since 1983", and the footer notes that "ONLC is a trademark of Online Consulting, Inc."

The catalog is wide. The homepage topic list runs from A+, Network+, Security+, CySA+ and PenTest+ through Microsoft Office, Excel, Power BI, Power Platform, SharePoint, Teams and Azure, to AutoCAD, Revit and Civil 3D, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, data tools such as SAS, Tableau, Splunk, Alteryx and Qlik Sense, and programming topics including Python, Java, JavaScript, C#, SQL Server, Docker, Kubernetes, Selenium WebDriver and web development. Newer AI topics include ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Gemini, Generative AI and "Vibe Coding".

How classes are delivered

ONLC offers two formats. Instructor-led training (ILT) is live: the Microsoft Teams page says these classes "are live, hands-on training which you can attend from convenient ONLC centers or your own location", that they are "led and supported by an online instructor", and that "Training is fully interactive." The homepage adds that "Small class sizes ensure personalized attention." A student quoted on the homepage, Dana from Charlottesville, VA, liked "the hands on instructions with the instructors screen beside mine and the phone/com was great to have on hand for questions."

Learners can sit the same live class at an ONLC center or at home. The Teams page says ONLC schedules "every instructor-led (ILT) class at each of our ONLC Training Centers locations", describes the rooms as "outfitted with the equipment needed for training", and invites learners to "Learn Microsoft Teams at Hundreds of ONLC Centers". For attending from home, it says "The setup is really easy and you don't have to have the class software on your device", with a setup video and advisor help. The site calls this remote format RCI.

The second format is ONLC On-Demand, self-study eLearning that the Teams page describes as "typically a blend of video tutorials, labs and exercises you do from your own location using your own equipment", with "24/7 access for a period of months". On-Demand titles cover Adobe, AutoCAD and Autodesk, Azure, CompTIA, Crystal Reports, Google, Microsoft 365 and Office, Teams, Windows, Power BI, Power Platform, programming and web development, project management, QuickBooks, Scrum, SharePoint, Tableau and WordPress. A footnote explains that a non-software class, such as a business process course, "will have less of a hands-on component and will be more lecture/presentation delivery."

Prices, with two examples

ONLC publishes its prices on course pages, with a "Days" column and a "Fee" column. On the Microsoft Teams page, the live one-day classes (Introduction with OneDrive, Intermediate and Advanced) cost $295 each, MS-700: Managing Microsoft Teams for Administrators costs $2395 with 4 in the Days column, and MS-721: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer costs $2995 with 5. The On-Demand versions of the three end-user Teams courses cost $145 each. For On-Demand, the page notes that "The 'Days' column is content amount equivalent, NOT access duration to the digital course. Typically, access duration is multiple months", and that the exact access period is listed on each course outline.

The SAS page shows the pattern for a data skill. ONLC teaches SAS live, with "no prerecorded videos", and lists SAS Fundamentals, a three-day course on SAS 9.4 programming, at $1195, SAS Programming Intermediate (test prep for the SAS Associate and Specialist certificates) at $1195, and SAS Advanced Programming, SAS Macro Language 1: Essentials and SAS SQL at $795 each. The page says the training prepares for the SAS Base Programming Specialist and SAS Programming Associate certifications and covers most of the SAS Advanced Programming Professional credential, and that "Many who have attended our hands-on training class have earned all 3 credentials."

Certifications

Certification prep runs through the catalog. For CompTIA, the homepage promises "the authorized training, exam prep & exam voucher with every CompTIA course", for Security+, A+, CySA+, Network+ and more, in live or On-Demand form. For Microsoft, the Teams page says "ONLC is a Microsoft Training Services Partner and we provide authorized training for role-based technical certifications", and Microsoft Office Specialist prep for Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook runs weekly. AutoCAD classes prepare for the ACU and ACP certifications, and there are Tableau Desktop and Tableau Data Analyst paths. The certification menu also lists AWS, Cisco, EC Council, ITIL, Oracle, Python, Scrum Master, Splunk and VMware, and CareerPath Certification Programs for people building a tech career.

Many courses also count toward professional credits. The Teams page says "Many of ONLC's courses are approved for professional credits including CEUs (Continuing Education Unit), CPEs (Continuing Professional Education) and PDUs (Professional Development Units)", and that the course certificate a student receives "is proof of course completion for credit submission". Each credit program has its own requirements.

Guarantees, savings and support

ONLC offers "a money-back satisfaction guarantee plus see the class a 2nd time with our optional free refresher course when you attend our public, instructor-led training classes." For volume buyers, ONLC Learning Credits let organizations "Save up to 35% on end-user and technical courses in the learning format you want", usable for live or On-Demand courses, and "Credits are good for up to a year!" Group training can follow the public schedule or run as private sessions, virtually or onsite, with customized content, "Whether it's for a team of 10 or a division of a thousand." Government buyers get pages for GSA and federal purchasing, state and local, military, Army COOL and DoD 8140.

Education Advisors help learners pick a path "right for your background, goals and budget", by toll-free phone at 800-288-8221 on weekdays or by chat. The footer also lists policies on registration, payment, cancellation and rescheduling, and a page on having the "Fewest Class Cancellations".

What students say

The homepage quotes several students by first name and town. Sylvie from Bethlehem, PA writes "All the instructors are kind and patient. They are very experienced in the programs they are teaching." Barbara from Sussex, NJ praises "the manuals which are actually usable, readable and understandable". Linda from Wilmington, DE recommends ONLC to "individuals who require additional software skills with limited time availability".

Who it suits

ONLC suits working professionals and employers in the US who want a live instructor for a specific tool or certification, whether sitting in a nearby center or joining from home, and who value published prices, a refresher option and credits toward CEU, CPE or PDU requirements. Its breadth, from Excel and AutoCAD to Security+, SAS and Kubernetes, lets a training coordinator buy for a whole department in one place, and the government purchasing options help public-sector teams. The cheaper On-Demand courses work for people who cannot take days off. It suits less well a beginner looking for a long, low-cost coding program, since ONLC sells short, day-priced classes on individual tools rather than a subscription curriculum.