OpenOffice/LibreOffice 3.1 or better seem to handle MS formats pretty well. I recently had to produce documents in OOo for people who only have MS Office, and the formatting was spot on. Of course it helps to have TrueType fonts installed.
Check the course literature to see if it contributes to a recognised certification - might as well make it count for something. Unless it's just to pick up chicks, but then you'd be doing pottery, or life drawing, not Linux ...