>I need to train potential employees in a time and cost effective manner. One posibility is to offer a few introductory sessions and then setting up promising candidates with a copy of The Fundamentals plus VFP Academic Edition as well as some motivation for those that learn well. Problem is, to purchase the Academic Edition you need to prove you are a student, which we are not.

Looks like Jordon answered your question. One thing to add about the acedemic edition is that there is no license for installing (deploying) commercial or business applications, it is for learning only.