IT certifications to College credits

Lamini

Hi all, Ive searched and have not found anything related to this yet. Now, I KNOW Ive seen advertisements on using your IT certifications for college credits somewhere... anyone have a list of what colleges do this? I called several colleges today and all of them said me no one does it. They all started with a "well, who did you get your certification through"..., hard for them to understand, well, I bought a dummies book and took a test to get my certification..

Thank you ahead of time

leefdaddy

A lot of community colleges will give you credit for certain classes with certs... also a lot of online universities...

BTW, How do you have an expired A+? It's a lifetime cert.

cacharo

From what I have found, you have to take a test sponsored by the college to get credit for the certs you have. There are other threads regarding this however, one in the i-net+ forum comes to mind. It really depends on the school if it is really that big of a deal.....keep looking.

oldbarney

I'm aware of at least two "universities" that award college credit for A+ - Western Governors University and Excelsior College. Both schools are regionally accredited. Excelsior awards 2 credits of undergrad credit. At WGU, I believe A+ counts for one or two courses.

5 years ago, I took a hardware class at the local CC as a requirement for an undergraduate, college-level networking certificate. Our professor added extra credit if we earned or already had the A+ certification.

When applying for a masters degree a couple years ago, one university listed either Network+ or an undergraduate networking class as a prerequisite for the graduate-level course.

Lamini

I have had an A+ since 2004, i had thought they expired since all the new different A+ versions came out (they dont expire, i know, just never noticed i never updated my profile)

32 and still dont know what to do, I bought my Dummies/Sybex Net+ books also in 2004 right after getting my A+ as I thought that was so easy, i did not even read 1/2 the book in hopes i would immediately get my Net+, however life was so different back then and life has went upside down on me.

now, I HAVE to get this cert. I have read 1/2 the book (Sybex) several times, starting over when I felt I forgot too much in the last 3 years, yes, i know things have changed. IT was just a hobby of mine, I work communications (8yrs Military), however computers had always been a hobby of mine. I kid you not I have made $10k+ as a side job of computer repair in the last decade. I say I have to get the cert now as I feel so close, I take the tests and constantly get 80%+, even after not touching the book for months. My job does not have me working on radios as much as IT now, I do backup admin stuff, lot of developmental, searching for bugs on software, etc, heavy on networking. I feel that getting the Net+, even though a noob cert, is the closest within my grasp and will also boost my confidence as well as adding another cert under my belt. My next is CCNA, though Im mixed in thoughts as I also feel I need a degree. Im reminded daily of getting a degree as new workers come in every week. a bunch of new college degreed younger workers right out of college with absolutely no experience that make $10+ per hour more than me that are assigned for me to train for several months, so that they can tell me what to do in the future. i had enough!

anyway, ya, hoping for a college exists that can take my certs and turn them into college credits would be a huge bonus. i also have a bunch of CCAF credits through the air force that I think could be put to work in the real world.. but thats another topic...

again, thanks for the help everyone

oldbarney

Lamini, I was formerly in a similar situation. While still in the military, I also earned A+ and a few older MS exams. A+ helped land my first job after leaving the service. Heh, in fact, I've been meaning to complete CWNA, Sec+, MCITP, and CIW Associate for the past year, but haven't got around to it because of grad school.

Try to envision the career picture as a triangle - certs, degrees, and experience. Military folks can also add security clearances, and form a square. You might focus on either one cert or group of college courses at a time. For example, I earned Net+, iNet+, and MCDST between semesters while working on my bachelors. I plan to take CIW-A and Sec+ between Dec 15 - Jan 7. The subject matter for both certs is quite familiar, but I just need to review the material. I paid for CIW-A voucher and e-learning back in April of this year, yet haven't found the time to dedicate a good two weeks to study.

The stable, well-paying jobs in my area require MCSE and Cisco certs or CS degrees coupled with lots of unix/linux experience. I have MS and *.nix server experience to a certain level; I just need to someday focus on the higher-level certs if that path is appealing.

So why am I pursuing CIW-A and Sec+ instead of MCSE and Cisco? Well, both certs look good on a CV when applying for adjunct faculty. MCSE and Cisco look good too. However, there are more web design, security, and basic IT classes offered at the colleges I want to teach part-time. In other words, it all depends on individual goals.

Certainly earn the Net+, but also consider Sec+ and finishing your degree. I believe DoD grants certain IA tech and mgt levels for Sec+. An AAS from CCAF should help with promotion if you decide to stay in, and can help land a job should you get out. The better positions out here in civilian land require a bachelors, certs, and experience. Focus, learn, and test while gaining valuable experience. It sounds easy, but we all know that it isn't.

Univ3rs@l

oldbarney wrote:

I'm aware of at least two "universities" that award college credit for A+ - Western Governors University and Excelsior College. Both schools are regionally accredited. Excelsior awards 2 credits of undergrad credit. At WGU, I believe A+ counts for one or two courses.

5 years ago, I took a hardware class at the local CC as a requirement for an undergraduate, college-level networking certificate. Our professor added extra credit if we earned or already had the A+ certification.

When applying for a masters degree a couple years ago, one university listed either Network+ or an undergraduate networking class as a prerequisite for the graduate-level course.

wow I didn't think any colleges would accept them as credits. My school often hold after school programs to help people earn their certs. I think it would be great to earn them as credits as well. I think it would give students more to work for.

Lamini

oldbarney wrote:

In other words, it all depends on individual goals. quote]

great reply and thanks

here lies the problem. i dont know what to do. I do not really have "goals" other than to excel wherever and whatever Im doing, which is what i do everyday. people thought i was nuts for having a Top Secret and gettin paid $23/hr ($44k/yr) . finally i listened and moved out, however I have no actual IT experience and now building on that at a new place... new boss (30yrs IT) says he cant imagine me making less than $60k after 1 year of his plans for building my experience... we'll see. Though a lot of that lies on me as he wants me to CCNAd immediately. *cough* ya right, network+ seems tough already

oldbarney

Lamini wrote:

... people thought i was nuts for having a Top Secret and gettin paid $23/hr ($44k/yr)...

Heh heh, in 1985, I held TS, NATO TS, and COSMIC TS ATOMAL clearances, actively worked with classified material, and still only earned roughly $15,000/yr as an E-5 with dependents. Of course that was then and this is now. Times change.

CCNA certainly can only help, but try to also gain the experience that goes with it. You might consider information assurance and infosec training/certification to supplement other areas. DoD really emphasizes that realm at the moment.

A little story: I'm currently the PGP desktop guru for my company. Our extensive usage drew me into that area. I frequently work with other techs worldwide troubleshooting various issues. It's fun, but was a difficult road at first.

I was and still am very high on IA/InfoSec. Currently, I'm enrolled in a second graduate program that focuses on IA. While tuition seems expensive ($1,736/class - private university), the 6-course graduate certificate has thus far been most enlightening. I use many of the concepts at work. My company pays too. A drawback is that I see very few IA-focused positions locally.

Hang in there, you'll get it. It just takes time, patience, and dedication. Setting an ultimate goal will come naturally one day.