PC Academy: Find Top Courses & Training Locations

PC Academy is an Adobe Authorized Training Center and a Microsoft Education Center. Graduates of PC Academy courses have the option of using the center's job site to connect with recruiting organizations.

PC Academy opened its doors in 2004 with a mission to elevate the level of IT instruction in Italy to meet the highest international standards. The traditional Italian teaching model involves curricula drawn up by individual regions; it resulted in a certain level of competency for the students who completed the courses but not the kind of preparation required to be ready for the job market. PC Academy replaces that model of teaching with one that the school’s website calls (in English) “learning by doing.” Thus every theoretical lesson is immediately followed by exercises that allow the students to make practical use of the material.

The school is the only accredited Adobe Authorized Training Center in Rome. It is also accredited by Microsoft and Certiport. As the school’s stated goal is to prepare students for internationally recognized professional certification, PC Academy is also a Pearson VUE Test Center.

School Locations

PC Academy has only one location, 12 Via Capodistria in the Trieste section of Rome. The school is a ten minutes’ walk from the Stazione Termini; the nearest metro stops are Piazza Bologna and Sant’Agnese Annibaliano. The school is close to the historic center of Rome: only a 20-minute bus ride is required to get from the Trevi Fountain to PC Academy.

Subjects Taught at PC Academy

The subjects taught at PC Academy include graphic design (using the Adobe Creative Cloud), video production, web design, video post-production (again using Adobe software), CAD and 3D animation, programming (with an emphasis on Java), and a sprinkling of courses each in CISCO network management and Microsoft Excel.

You may wish to compare the offerings at PC Academy with those from other Roman schools. Using Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool, you can do just that and find out more about study opportunities using Adobe, Java, and Excel. In addition to schools in Italy, Classes Near Me will bring up several online classes that can be taken from practically anywhere.

What Classes Are Available?

PC Academy breaks its classes down into two macro-categories: “master” programs and regular courses. The word “master” shouldn’t be confused with master’s degrees awarded by universities. Instead, the term denotes a class that is extensive in its coverage of its subject matter and designed for students who are starting with zero prior experience. These master programs are perhaps best understood as PC Academy’s answer to the American bootcamp. The regular courses, on the other hand, concentrate on one particular bit of subject matter and often presuppose some knowledge of the subject taught.

If there is a primary focus for the classes offered at PC Academy, it would be on courses that teach students to use the various programs in the Adobe Creative Cloud, especially the big three: Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. There are two master programs that cover the software in depth: a course of instruction in publishing graphics for web design and ecommerce and a shorter version of the above that covers publishing graphics without the ecommerce modules. Both these programs enable students to take the Photoshop certification examination; the longer course also prepares students for the Dreamweaver exam.

Among the classes that cover similar material are beginner and advanced Photoshop classes, Illustrator classes that cover logo and brand design, advanced Illustrator, and page composition with InDesign. These classes can be assembled like Lego blocks into a number of packages (such as Photoshop together with Illustrator for logos and brand design), which are priced more interestingly than the individual classes. Those with some familiarity with how IT schools function may correctly surmise that the master programs are assembled from the individual courses just described.

In the web design department, prospective students will find a class in HTML/CSS, one in how to use WordPress along with WooCommerce, and one in Dreamweaver and UI design using Adobe XD. There are also half-day (Saturday) workshops in social media marketing and SEO for web designers.

The school’s video department offers a master program in video editing with Adobe’s Creative Cloud. The program is composed of courses in Premiere Pro, AfterEffects, and Animate, which may be taken separately as well.

The school also has a CAD and 3D design department that provides classes in 3D Studio Max, VRay, Cinema 4D, and AutoCAD. The 3D Studio Max and AutoCAD courses prepare students for the corresponding Autodesk certification examinations.

Under the general heading of programming, the school teaches a class in programming logic and basic SQL that teaches students how to think like a programmer prior to taking on an actual coding class. Students will be able to choose from classes in Java for Android, and in PHP that can be assembled into a master program. (The Lego simile again suggests itself.) A further master program is for SAP developers using ABAP. It gives students a solid foothold in an in-demand and infrequently taught workplace skill.

A number of other live classes are available, touching on such topics as network administration, Excel, and the unusual area of telematic trials and digital justice. The school also offers a set of brief workshops for photographers, several of which take advantage of the Roman cityscape.

Class Formats

PC Academy’s classes are offered in three modalities: live at the school’s Rome location, live online from anywhere in Italy, and on-demand. The live online classes take place concurrently with their Roman versions.

Note that the library of on-demand classes is more extensive than the catalog of live classes and includes additional master programs (web marketing, CMS and ecommerce, and Microsoft Office) that are built out of component classes that may be followed separately as well. Note that these online classes, uniquely for Italy, include consultation with a live tutor who oversees the student’s progress through the pre-recorded modules.

Admissions Process

Admissions to PC Academy’s courses are open, and the school draws attention to the fact that there are no prerequisites for its beginning master programs. The advanced classes do, obviously, require previous knowledge of the software in question. The school’s staff is available to help with placement.

Pricing & Payment Options

Pricing at PC Academy seems rather haphazard and is complicated by the fact that, for the live and live online classes, promotional rates are available for those who sign up well in advance of the course’s starting date. The prices quoted here are, therefore, only a sampling of the full catalog’s prices. For exact figures, the prospective student must be referred to the school’s website.

The master program in publishing graphics is officially priced at €1800, with €1600 as the promotional rate. As for the on-demand version of the class, it comes in at €850. No promotional rate is offered for the on-demand classes. The master in publishing graphics with web design and ecommerce costs €2800, €2100 with the promotional discount, and €1250 if taken on-demand.

The basic Photoshop class comes in at €700 (€550 discounted; €219 on-demand), while the advanced Photoshop class is €600 (€350 discounted; €250 online). That should give an idea of the confusing nature of the school’s pricing.

The HTML class comes in as €450, €350 promotionally discounted, and €199 online. WordPress with WooCommerce is €1000/€650/€250 while combining the WordPress with the HTML Lego blocks prices out to €1350 or €920 discounted, with no corresponding online version available. On the other hand, a WordPress class shorn of the WooCommerce component is available online for €190.

The video master program is priced at €1400, discounted to €1000, with a roughly similar self-paced version available for €450. The component parts of that program—the PremierePro, AfterEffects, and Animate classes— are all €700 at list price, marked down to €550 (€500 for After Effects) if booked in advance, and €250 if taken on demand (although the Animate building block is not available in asynchronous form).

As a final, hopefully useful, example, the Java course with Android development is €1700, which is discounted to €1250 (weekday evening version) or €1350 (Saturday version). The online version is priced at €750.

The online versions of the live classes are priced the same as the in-person prices quoted above. All prices do not include IVA at 22%.

Career Support Services

PC Academy maintains a Job Center that seeks to bring employers together with the school’s students. To that end, the school assists students with the preparation of their CVs and portfolios and maintains a registry of job openings.

Alumni Outcomes

Aside from a few highly out-of-date “success stories” on its website, PC Academy doesn’t share statistics about how its alumni fare in the job market.

What Do Students Say?

Student reviews on the Italian review site Nicelocal are just about uniformly positive. One student who took the WordPress with WooCommerce class live online wrote, “the teacher was always available and very clear in his explanations; the course is well structured.” They continued, “not being in Rome, I was able to follow online, and I didn’t feel the distance during the lessons, which were also recorded, making it possible to download them in the event that one didn’t understand something.” They concluded that they are “thoroughly pleased with my choice.”

A student in the Java on-demand class wrote that the course “was well-structured and included every aspect of the programming language and the various topics that might appear during the certification examination…Also explained and elaborated upon were subjects that weren’t necessary for the certification, but useful in view of a possible future job.” The writer added that “each video lesson isn’t very long, so as not to make them too heavy. The teachers are available for clarifications and explanations of the lessons, exercises, or tests…and respond within 24 hours.”

A third reviewer commented on the convenience of the on-demand learning method and summed his review up with the statement, “you won’t find anything better.”

Key Takeaways

PC Academy is an Italian-language school that teaches IT classes live at its Rome location, live online anywhere in Italy, and on-demand from anywhere.
“Master” programs (cf. bootcamps) are available alongside briefer classes in more specific topics.
The school is an Adobe Authorized Training Center, and a substantial number of the school’s offerings involve programs from the Adobe Creative Cloud.
Other classes available cover topics such as Autodesk design software, and programming in SQL, Java, PHP, and ABAP.
The on-demand catalog includes an even wider selection of classes. These classes offer access to a human tutor who oversees students’ progress and can answer any questions that might arise.

Top Courses at PC Academy

Find the perfect course for you at PC Academy. We’ve selected 30 of PC Academy’s most popular courses. View the course catalog at pcacademy.it

Subjects Taught at PC Academy

Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is one of the most popular vector graphics applications. With seamless integrations across Adobe’s Creative Cloud, Illustrator is widely used by individuals and organizations to create resizable illustrations, design elements for videos and motion graphics, all through its powerful vector creation tools.

In-Person Illustrator Classes Live Online Illustrator Classes

AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a computer-aided design software used to create scale blueprints, schematics, and models. It’s used by engineers, interior designers, manufacturers, and architects. AutoCAD offers intelligent objects for creating common plans, such as electrical and plumbing design plans.

In-Person AutoCAD Classes Live Online AutoCAD Classes

Excel

Microsoft Excel is the leading spreadsheet application and data analytics tool. With Excel, you can create charts, tables, automate workflow, track budgets and financials, and much more.

In-Person Excel Classes Live Online Excel Classes

Java

From basic single-computer programs to enterprise-level solutions, Java is the most widely-used code in the world. It is a simple, open-sourced code which is relatively easy to learn. Those who master it have solid employment prospects now and in the future.

In-Person Java Classes Live Online Java Classes Java Bootcamps

Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is widely known as the best photo editing software for photographers and photo retouchers. It's also used by digital painters as well as graphic designers for creating a wide variety of designs such as social media graphics, web designs, app designs, graphics that will be animated in Adobe After Effects, and much more.

In-Person Photoshop Classes Live Online Photoshop Classes

WordPress

WordPress is used on over 37% of all websites, and growing. It's a free and open-source content management system (CMS) that lets you create & manage a website or blog. It’s popular for blogging, but you can build websites that don't even have a blog.

In-Person WordPress Classes Live Online WordPress Classes

Graphic Design

Graphic design is visual communication through artwork or combining images and text. Graphic designers create logos, ads, social media graphics, magazines, books, websites, apps, and more.

In-Person Graphic Design Classes Live Online Graphic Design Classes Graphic Design Bootcamps

InDesign

Adobe InDesign is the industry-leading layout design tool for print. Publishers of magazines, books, newspapers and other media rely on InDesign for page layouts and graphic design. InDesign can also be used to create digital documents such as PDFs and eBooks.

In-Person InDesign Classes Live Online InDesign Classes

Social Media Marketing

Social media refers to websites and applications that allow people to interact, and commonly used tools are Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media marketing involves leveraging those digital channels to achieve your business goals.

In-Person Social Media Marketing Classes Live Online Social Media Marketing Classes

Web Design

Web design combines elements of user experience design (how the website works), visual or user interface design (how the website looks), and coding (how the website is actually built and made to function properly). Some web designers touch on all three areas, while others focus on one specific skill. If you like to design or write code, there's a role for you in web design. With billions of unique websites and more being created every day, web designers continue to be in high demand.

In-Person Web Design Classes Live Online Web Design Classes Web Design Bootcamps

HTML & CSS

HTML and CSS are two essential coding languages for creating web pages. You cannot make a webpage without them! HTML creates the webpage and marks up the content. CSS styles the content.

In-Person HTML & CSS Classes Live Online HTML & CSS Classes

UX UI

UX/UI Design is the process of creating user interfaces for webpages, digital applications and software programs that both communicate information effectively and are easy to use and understand for all users. This process entails design skills and focused testing and iteration skills aimed at creating the most inviting and effective interfaces possible.

In-Person UX UI Classes Live Online UX UI Classes UX UI Bootcamps

SEO

SEO is the practice of optimizing your pages and website for search engine ranking. With a variety of SEO strategies and techniques, you can boost your websites ranking to start bringing in organic traffic. In SEO classes, participants will learn the fundamental ideas of SEO and strategies to succeed in the search engines.

In-Person SEO Classes Live Online SEO Classes

Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is the leading choice for video editing for TV, movies and the internet. It allows users to weave together video clips, graphics, and audio to produce professional grade video projects. It offers seamless integrations with Adobe Audition, After Effects, Photoshop and more.

In-Person Premiere Pro Classes Live Online Premiere Pro Classes

After Effects

Adobe After Effects is the industry standard for video post-production, compositing, effects, and animation. It's one of the most important apps for motion designers and can be used for creating animations and videos for social media, YouTube, websites, TV, and movies.

In-Person After Effects Classes Live Online After Effects Classes

Video Editing

Video editing is about telling a cohesive story through combining different video clips, footage, and effects. Video editors are able to achieve this using programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, and Final Cut Pro.

In-Person Video Editing Classes Live Online Video Editing Classes Video Editing Bootcamps

SQL

SQL is short for Structured Query Language and refers to a programming language designed for relational databases. SQL organizes data and allows for queries and sorting of data.

In-Person SQL Classes Live Online SQL Classes SQL Bootcamps

Top Certificate Programs

Top Courses

Top Certificate Programs

Top Certificate Programs

Top Courses

Top Certificate Programs

Top Courses

School Locations

Subjects Taught at PC Academy

What Classes Are Available?

Class Formats

Admissions Process

Pricing & Payment Options

Career Support Services

Alumni Outcomes

What Do Students Say?

Key Takeaways

Top Courses at PC Academy

Subjects Taught at PC Academy

Illustrator

AutoCAD

Excel

Java

Photoshop

WordPress

Graphic Design

InDesign

Social Media Marketing

Web Design

HTML & CSS

UX UI

SEO

Premiere Pro

After Effects

Video Editing

SQL

Map of PC Academy Locations