prices of the exams

Hello,

How come a Comptia network+ exam costs more then a M$ Exam ?
I looked at some prices and the price of the network+ exam is 241€ (about the same in $) and the MS exams come around 140€/exam.
I always thought the comptia exams were cheaper.

My last question, me as a student. Is there a way this can become cheaper ?
I was thinking of asking my college if they can't sponsor in some way, however i strongly doubt this. Is there a way to make the exam cheaper for me ?

Thanx in advance

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Comments

jim_stasz

I have no idea why the Comptia exams are more than then MS but there is ways around it. I was able to buy my Network+ test voucher for $160. It expires at the end of the month but I think I'll be ready by then.

TonyATL

I think because Comptia are lifetime certs and MS certs are only good for that product line. So in the long run, you will pay more for keeping up your MS certs vs. Comptia.

TheShadow

CompTIA will tell you it is because it is a not for profit trade group and it costs them more to develop the exams because of the use of outside consultants to validate the question set. MS and others keep their own on staff.

Jiggsaww

TonyATL wrote:

I think because Comptia are lifetime certs and MS certs are only good for that product line. So in the long run, you will pay more for keeping up your MS certs vs. Comptia.

yep that's wat i think 2.......

Opi

jim_stasz, can you please tell me where i can get a hold of such a voucher.

Or does someone else know where i can find a voucher , so the exams becomes a bit cheaper.

Thanx a lot

Ricka182

Opi wrote:

jim_stasz, can you please tell me where i can get a hold of such a voucher.

Or does someone else know where i can find a voucher , so the exams becomes a bit cheaper.

Thanx a lot

Check out the Exam Vouchers link on the left sidebar. They usually have good deals. They currently have an early expiry for Net+ going @$179.

SRTMCSE

TheShadow wrote:

CompTIA will tell you it is because it is a not for profit trade group and it costs them more to develop the exams because of the use of outside consultants to validate the question set. MS and others keep their own on staff.

not all of the exam contributors employed by microsoft, i know 2 ppl personally (well 1 i'm friends with the other I worked with briefly before he was fired) who are/were contracted contributors for MS exams.

i also think a reason why comptia exams are more expensive is most of the certs require one test (at least that I'm aware of, net+, sec+, i-Net+,). If i remember, A+ which is 2 tests, is a bit cheaper than Net+ and Sec+.

TheShadow

No I am not talking about contributors those are pretty much free as subject matter experts. I am talking about the statistical people and the psychologists etc. that determine understandability even if for example english is not your primary language. At least this is what one of the execs at Comptia told me several years ago. A test update costs around $100-150 K to create. That is why some of the certs disappeared unless they get independent sponsorship like the Japanese apparently did for the last eBiz+ and it is still finally dying. Apple pulled theirs back internal, there used to be an apple centric A+

Webmaster

That number sounds realistic actually. It's not that I think it's a lot of money for a certification, but if they spend that amount of money on an update, it makes the bad quality of the Sec+ questions even more outrageous. It's really obvious for me that many questions are based directly on a paragraph from some book or whitepaper, which is only accurate when you include the rest of the book/paper and place it in its context. I.e. the operation of certain protocols and standards often differs slightly per implementation, Obviously I can't post examples here, but after writing thousands of question you tend to recognize how others built there exam questions. I think most of the exam objectives are well put together, but in the end they ask a lot about a couple of topics and close to nothing about the rest.

Regardless, they make the rules, and for the CompTIA exams there aren't that many good alternatives available, so we'll just have to put up with it, and with the prices. Just make sure you use good study material and prepare well for the exams. That's what puts the value in your certs.

Opi

i came across this site link

There they offer 25% off discount vouchers on network+(for internetional, outside US/Canada, where i am) for only 5$. This makes the price a bit better.

Anyone has experience with this site ?
the experation date is 28feb

Greetings

JVWhite

Check with your schools tech department, I know at my school I get a discount for pretty much any cert I want to take (I think about 50% off). I only paid $70 for A+ vouchers. Goodluck.

jim_stasz

Opi wrote:

i came across this site link

There they offer 25% off discount vouchers on network+(for internetional, outside US/Canada, where i am) for only 5$. This makes the price a bit better.

Anyone has experience with this site ?
the experation date is 28feb

Greetings

I've used them without any issues. For $20 I bought a 36% off voucher for Network+. Total cost was $20 for the voucher and $139.52 for the test.

qsub

Possibly MS certs, to get there "noteworthy" certifications expect you to take like 5-7 exams. Now image those 5-7 exams at comptia price.

Opi

jim_stasz wrote:

Opi wrote:

i came across this site link

There they offer 25% off discount vouchers on network+(for internetional, outside US/Canada, where i am) for only 5$. This makes the price a bit better.

Anyone has experience with this site ?
the experation date is 28feb

Greetings

I've used them without any issues. For $20 I bought a 36% off voucher for Network+. Total cost was $20 for the voucher and $139.52 for the test.

Seems like international people only can use the 25% off voucher, but anyways, only 5$ to save me a lot more money.

I'm gonna do it like this.

darkuser

it's cheaper than college ........ cheaper than one college credit at some schools.

http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/annualcosts.html

qsub

College in Canada is like 250-300 depending if you're going to be doing part time or full time.

But I think post secondary would be more importent that MCP/CompTIA for an entry level job.

Beyond entry, certifications are definitally going to be needed, and post secondary education would be a good asset.

tim234

You need to remember that companies like Microsoft and Cisco has other revenue streams (softwware and hardware) that allows them to price the cert exams as a zero margin/loss leader. Comptia as a non profit assosication has no other revenue streams so the exams prices need to be higher to fund the entire operation.

Membership dues do not bring in much money.

cairtaker

I didn't have any problems and I used them for both of my A+. I hope to be ready by the end of the month to take the next before the offer expires.

Go Bucks

Opi wrote:

i came across this site link

There they offer 25% off discount vouchers on network+(for internetional, outside US/Canada, where i am) for only 5$. This makes the price a bit better.

Anyone has experience with this site ?
the experation date is 28feb

I just used them for the first time a week ago and had no troubles.