Probably one of the best benefits of the Microsoft Partner Program is the extremely cheap Instructor Led Training program. Take for instance, you have an intern that you want to get up to speed on the newly released Visual Studio 2008. For a whopping $199, you get two full days of training. I believe the standard training fee for most companies is between $500 to $1000 per day. That's a 90% discount on Instructor Led Training!
In addition, if you sign up for Microsoft's training program, you can typically get vouchers for the certification tests for free (you'll need to talk with the Partner Program for availability).
Microsoft Partner OnRamp: Introduction to Visual Studio 2008
For the Visual Studio 2008 training, the schedule is as follows:
| 11/29/2007 - 11/30/2007 | Morristown, NJ |
| 12/3/2007 - 12/4/2007 | New York, NY |
| 12/4/2007 - 12/5/2007 | Chicago (Oakbrook), IL |
| 12/6/2007 - 12/7/2007 | Miami, FL |
| 12/10/2007 - 12/11/2007 | Edina, MN |
| 12/13/2007 - 12/14/2007 | Mason, OH |
| 12/17/2007 - 12/18/2007 | Bellevue, WA |
| 12/20/2007 - 12/21/2007 | Gardena, CA |
| 1/8/2008 - 1/9/2008 | Houston, TX |
| 1/10/2008 - 1/11/2008 | Austin, TX |
| 1/14/2008 - 1/15/2008 | Irvine, CA |
| 1/17/2008 - 1/18/2008 | Beaverton, OR |
| 1/21/2008 - 1/22/2008 | Denver, CO |
| 1/24/2008 - 1/25/2008 | Phoenix, AZ |
| 1/28/2008 - 1/29/2008 | San Francisco, CA |
| 1/31/2008 - 2/1/2008 | Alpharetta, GA |
| 2/14/2008 - 2/15/2008 | New York, NY |
| 2/21/2008 - 2/22/2008 | Dallas, TX |