So it costs $284 to take this test. Question.

movingzachb

I was told by the people who setup your test appointment to contact my school regarding a voucher to re-take the test if you should need to. I did this and they said they didn't know and that you would need to check with CompTIA. Because to take it the first time its $284.

Because without a voucher to re-take it you still have to pay another $284. How do I go about paying for the first exam and getting a voucher to re-take it without paying the fee again if needs be?

DoubleNNs

I think you might even be able to get a discounted FIRST time voucher from your educational institution.

swild

There was a really good discount code for purchase from CompTIA's website on here around the first of the year or so. I'm pretty sure it is still in effect. If I remember right I think it was around 80% off.

lsud00d

I used the 80% off for my Security+ recently (score!!!) But I checked again recently and it looks like CompTIA made it expire

DoubleNNs

Yeah, apparently the 80% off coupon was never meant for the general public, but instead used only for specific circumstances. After CompTIA noticed it got leaked, they probably had to change the code.

Sucked for me because I really wanted to use the code when I took my A+ earlier this month, but had to pay close to full price instead. =/

movingzachb

Thanks. I really don't think anyone should have to pay more than some minimal labor fees for providing time and a computer for an hour to take this test. If anyone has any other suggestions let me know!

hixantum

This site is reliable:
CompTIA Security+ Pearson VUE Exam Voucher from GetCertified4Less.com

Darril

You might like to check out Discount Test Vouchers for A+ Certification Microsoft Certification from GetCertify4Less. They often have discount vouchers available.

I know Microsoft has some "free second shot" promotions that they run every now and then. If you register beforehand, you can retake the exam for free if you drop it the first time. However, I've never seen CompTIA do any similar promotions.

This does make it a little more important to pass it the first time. Good luck!

N2IT

Wow 284?! That's a lot of scratch for an entry level exam. I guess like everything else the value of the dollar is dropping and it requires more cash.

WafflesAndRootbeer

I remember when these exams cost $150 or less back in the day and you could take them in so many places with vouchers that didn't expire. Now it's a rip-off with the way they have cornered the market on testing and the whole cert expiration thing!

danny069

$284 is a lot of money, my motto is never pay retail price for anything. Look for coupon codes, voucher codes anything to save you money. I was fortunate enough to get the 80% off coupon and it came out to $66 and change. It was a right place right time kind of thing.

ptilsen

movingzachb wrote: »

Thanks. I really don't think anyone should have to pay more than some minimal labor fees for providing time and a computer for an hour to take this test.

While I agree that the price is horribly overpriced, I think that this is short-sighted. Should books be available for the cost of paper and distribution? Or software and ebooks for the cost of bandwidth and powering the distribution servers? There are up-front costs to creating these tests and lots of operational costs. The majority of a CompTIA certification test money doesn't go to the cost of actually having you take the test.

When they have workshops to come up with the content for these exams, they pay working professionals a per diem of a few hundred dollars and stick them in a hotel for a week. That stuff adds up. I personally opted not to apply to go to one of these because what CompTIA was offering was worth less than the PTO I'd have to take. It follows that if they paid less, they would get less willingness from the most qualified professionals to write questions, and the quality of the exam would decline. (edit: as it stands, I bet most people who do go are involved with the study material industry, because it's not worth it for most of us)

Now I'm not saying that $284 is all for making the material better, because I don't buy it. I don't buy that it's inflation, either. I took Sec+ in 2010 for $100 less or so, and neither inflation nor quality improvements explain that. I think that Comptia thinks demand is high enough that they can get more out of test takers. That being said, I don't want you to think that these should all be $40 exams to pay for proctoring costs. Someone has to write these, keep track of your Comptia ID (or MCPID, Cisco #, etc.), administer the CE system, and improve and change the exams as technology changes.