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A Parallel Postsecondary Universe: The Certification System in Information Technology - October 2000

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64. The traditional computer science major covers a number of topics that students can use in the course of preparing for IT certification, for example, Java programming, networks, and relational data bases. What about students who are not computer science majors? The limited background data available on certification-holders (only from Microsoft, and through its annual salary surveys) offer two complementary, common-sense trends that might guide traditional institutions of higher education that contemplate entering the certification preparation market in more comprehensive ways than fragmentary course offerings. First, the age distribution of certificate holders has moved decidedly lower: from 44 percent under the age of 35 in 1996 to 58 percent in 1998. The second change is more dramatic: the proportion holding less than a bachelor's degree jumped from 19 to 37 percent in the same period. The potential for helping 20-something students complete both degrees and certification is obvious--provided that institutions of higher education are willing to place certification in the same category as any other program of credit-by-examination, and to adjust residency requirements accordingly.

65. Where and how has the IT certification package been translated into the standard currency of the credit system with or without the intervention of ACE's Credit Service? Our evidence is anecdotal, but the large-scale anecdotes such as Pima Community College District's arrangement with Novell, Microsoft and other vendors illustrates what can transpire. Pima has become a de facto accreditation agency for 170 sites (including its own) at which preparatory instruction for certification is delivered. Called the ITCAP (Information Technology College Accreditation Program) network, and existing as a separate corporation, it offers students at approved centers the opportunity to turn certification preparation into degree-additive credits through challenge examinations. These examinations were developed by Pima faculty and are scored by Pima faculty. They are not Novell exams or Microsoft exams, but they will get you college credit. Between the late fall of 1997 and May 2000, and excluding desktop applications, over 12,000 challenge examinations had been taken under the ITCAP program. Tellingly, though, and in the words of a Pima administrator, "to the best of our knowledge, no student has continued to degree [Associate's] completion."

66. A different version of this type of arrangement is the integration of multiple certifications into a bachelor's degree program. Regents College of Albany, NY, a non-profit specializing in distance education degree programs and with a current enrollment of about 17,000, has teamed with Microsoft, CompTIA, and Prometric to offer a BS in Computer Information Science with credit-by-certification-exams (vendor and vendor-neutral) at the core. The program is open only to those who either hold an associate's degree or have previously earned 60 college credits. This is a very promising mechanism both to facilitate transfer and to encourage long-term non-completers (who have accounted for eight percent of recent cohorts of traditional-age college entrants) to finish their degrees.

67. A third version involves colleges and community colleges purchasing complete packages of on-line curricula from commercial developers, and placing the stamp of their own certifications on completion of the package. The University of Colorado at Denver, for example, chose to take clusters of network-oriented courses developed and delivered by WestNet, and offer its students a "Certificate in Networking." This is a convenient type of relationship for many institutions of higher education faced with enrollment pressures that build at certain joints of the organization: it allows the leveraging of instructional power, accommodation of greater numbers, and flexibility in place and time of course delivery.

68. Lastly, some four-year institutions, both in the United States and other countries, have become formal training-partners of the major vendors, offering course work through continuing education and special divisions. Both Louisiana State University and the University of Akron, for example, are Novell partners, as is the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon in France. And a special unit of the prestigious computer science department at Moscow State University, REDlab, offers both Cisco and Sun certification course work. One finds these cases only on the web sites of the vendors. Whether these instructional activities will move from organizational peripheries to the mainstream of curricular offerings is an open question, one worth tracking.

69. The complex cross-currents of certification preparation course work in the traditional postsecondary universe are revealed in Microsoft's Authorized Academic Training Provider (AATP) program. Microsoft distinguishes between its Certified Technical Education Centers, commercial firms such as Global Knowledge or Azlan, and accredited educational institutions, both high schools (see section #73 below) and postsecondary providers. To become an AATP, an accredited school or college must agree to deliver Microsoft-approved courseware with instructors who have passed Microsoft Certified Professional examinations on the topics of instruction, and with hardware and facilities that meet Microsoft's requirements (and that are subject to inspection). In these dimensions of the relationship, the vendor, in effect, is acting as a second accrediting agency.

But there are two other aspects of the dynamic that transcend traditional accrediting standards: first, that the AATP "submit reports on course attendance," and second, that the college or trade school or high school agrees to cap at 12 per week the number of hours of instruction for any certification preparation course. The reports on course attendance may provide the kind of data on preparation for certification that has been so elusive to date. The 12-hour cap is more than a gesture of respect for the rest of the institution's curriculum: it keeps the IT certification program at the margins. The cap also fits neatly into the learning rhythms of continuing education students. Under these conditions, who has signed on?

70. Table 7, derived from a state-by-state listing on Microsoft's Web site, indicates the number AATP agreements in effect in different sectors of U.S. education as of August 2000. The comments are mandatory.

There is no doubt that the postsecondary universe of AATPs is dominated by sub-baccalaureate institutions, at least in the United States (in contrast, albeit in a smaller universe, eight of the ten AATPs in Argentina are universities). And while there are some distinguished institutions in the 4-year collection, most of these are present only through continuing or extended education units. This combination suggests that most of the pre-certification courseware will remain at the periphery of higher education. The potential for growth in secondary education, however, is another story.

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