University of Denver Excel Certification Requirement
Daniels College of Business · MO-210
At Daniels, one Excel exam does three jobs: it gates other courses, it gates secondary admission, and it gates your degree. Here is what it is and how to be ready for it.
Requirement details verified against DU’s own pages on August 26, 2026. Always confirm your deadline with Daniels College of Business.
What DU requires
The University of Denver bulletin is unusually direct about this. Under INFO 1011, the Microsoft Excel Certification Lab, it states that in the Daniels College of Business passing the Microsoft Office Excel Specialist Exam is a prerequisite for other classes, is a requirement for secondary admission, and is a graduation requirement. One exam, three separate gates.
The prerequisite gate is not abstract. INFO 2020, Analytics III: Business Modeling and Analysis, lists its prerequisites as INFO 1020 and Microsoft Excel Certification — so an uncertified student cannot move through the analytics sequence, whatever else they have passed.
The exam is the associate-level Microsoft Office Specialist Excel exam, which is MO-210 on Microsoft 365 Apps. Students normally sit it alongside INFO 1011, the zero-credit certification lab taken as a corequisite with INFO 1010, Analytics I.
The requirement does not stop at the associate level for everyone. INFO 1031, the Advanced Excel Certification Lab, prepares students for the Excel Expert exam — MO-211 — and the bulletin recommends a score of 850 or higher on the associate exam before taking it.
At a glance
Why passing on the first attempt matters
- Because the same exam gates secondary admission, failing it is not a delayed course — it can be the difference between being admitted into Daniels and not.
- The analytics sequence is built on top of it. INFO 2020 names Microsoft Excel Certification in its prerequisites, so an uncertified student stalls partway through the core no matter how the rest of the transcript looks.
- DU's own bar for continuing to the Expert track is 850 on the associate exam — meaningfully above a bare pass, and not something you can estimate by feel.
- MO-210 is performance-based: you complete tasks in a live Excel workbook rather than answering multiple-choice questions about Excel. Reading about Excel does not prepare you for that.
INFO 1021 uses identical language for the Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoint Specialist exams: prerequisite, secondary admission, graduation requirement. Excel Experts Certify builds practice exams for Excel only. We would rather say so than let you believe passing our practice exams finishes your requirement.
How we help you pass MO-210
Our practice exams are scored out of 1000, the same scale as the real exam — so DU's recommended 850 is something you can actually check yourself against before you sit it. Your first practice exam is free and needs no card.
You do the tasks in your own desktop Excel and upload the workbook. We grade what you did, task by task, and show you which tasks cost you points, so your next attempt is aimed at something specific instead of at studying Excel in general.
Our practice exams are written against Microsoft's published skills-measured outline for MO-210, and our exam guide reproduces the objective domains and their weightings so you can see what is actually tested.
If your path continues into the Advanced Excel Certification Lab, MO-211 is the exam at the end of it. We build full practice exams for that too, graded the same way — so the step up is not a step into the dark.
DU Excel certification FAQ
Which Excel exam does Daniels require?
The associate-level Microsoft Office Specialist Excel exam, which is MO-210 on Microsoft 365 Apps. DU's bulletin describes it as the associate level and names the Excel Expert exam separately under the advanced lab, so the two are not interchangeable.
What exactly does the Excel exam gate at DU?
Three things, according to the University of Denver bulletin: it is a prerequisite for other classes, a requirement for secondary admission to the Daniels College of Business, and a graduation requirement. INFO 2020, Analytics III, names Microsoft Excel Certification directly in its prerequisites.
What score should I be aiming for?
700 is the usual pass mark for MO-210. DU recommends 850 or higher on the associate exam before taking INFO 1031, the Advanced Excel Certification Lab. Our practice exams are scored out of 1000 on the same scale, so you can check yourself against that number in advance.
Does INFO 1011 prepare me for the exam by itself?
INFO 1011 is DU's zero-credit Excel Certification Lab and is designed to prepare students for the associate-level exam. Whether it is enough on its own depends on where you are starting. A timed, graded practice exam is a cheap way to find out before the attempt that counts.
Do I need Excel Expert (MO-211) as well?
Not for the base requirement. MO-211 is the exam behind INFO 1031, the Advanced Excel Certification Lab, which the bulletin frames as going beyond the Expert exam's topics. If your path includes that course, MO-211 is what it leads to.
Are you in Denver?
Our practice exams are online and graded on the workbook you upload, so where you are does not matter. Excel Experts also has a Denver office. If you want to ask about in-person options, get in touch and we will tell you what is available.
Is Excel Experts Certify affiliated with the University of Denver?
No. We are an independent Certiport Authorized Test Center and practice-exam provider. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the University of Denver or the Daniels College of Business. Always confirm your own requirement with Daniels.
Sources
Every requirement, deadline and fee on this page comes from the pages below, read on August 26, 2026. DU can change them at any time.
- Business Information and Analytics (INFO) course descriptions — University of Denver Bulletin
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration — University of Denver Bulletin
- Undergraduate Programs — Daniels College of Business
Excel Experts Certify is an independent practice-exam provider and a Certiport Authorized Test Center. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by University of Denver or the Daniels College of Business. University names are used here only to identify whose requirement is described. This page is informational; your requirement, deadline and fees are whatever Daniels College of Business says they are.
Walk into MO-210 knowing your score
Take a full, timed practice exam, upload the workbook you built, and get a score out of 1000 with per-task feedback. Your first one is free.
No credit card. Add the free exam to your cart on the practice exams page.