The standard exam fee includes certification and a digital badge (more about A*S*K digital badges click here) at no additional cost for examinees who meet the standard score of 70% or better and who register online in advance for recognition.

Recognition registration is separate from the exam registration and must be completed by each individual examinee. Recognition registration must be completed online prior to taking the exam.

Values of Certification

The A*S*K Institute provides objective, third-party documentation of learning achievement through A*S*K Business Certificates. Based on industry-validated skills and requisite knowledge, the certifications offer added value to completion of course work and other learning experiences. Specifically, A*S*K Institute will:

• Administer business-validated assessments nationwide
• Identify those individuals who meet business-validated standards
• Document achievement
• Connect high-achieving students with business partners
• Encourage articulation of high school and college curricula

Key Elements:

Online exams addressing specific elements of the nationally validated curriculum standards for business administration. Proctored, online exams independent of classroom delivery system will ensure valid, objective, and reliable test taking and scoring.

Benefits of Certification

Increasingly, companies are finding certification of business skills to be an effective way of identifying qualified employees. Similarly, career and technical education programs are using certification programs to document both student and program successes.

The significantly increased emphasis on accountability in education affects all programs, all grade levels, and all educators. Local school districts, state education departments, and the U.S. Department of Education are all insisting that teachers, schools, and students be more accountable for instructional outcomes—for learning.

In Career-Tech Education, the drive for increased accountability includes both academic skills and technical skills. Frequently, Career-Tech accountability measures are focused on industry skill standards or licensing requirements. In fact, the increasing emphasis on industry-based skill standards has reached the level where some states and many local school districts are supporting only those Career-Tech programs that are directly aligned with an industry-based certification program.

Historically, few opportunities have been available for marketing and business students to formally document their learning. At the same time, many marketing/business students enter the workforce with an understanding of basic business and marketing concepts. Often, their knowledge of business helps them become productive more quickly than others with lesser knowledge and fewer skills.

The A*S*K Business Institute provides an industry-based certificate program based on extensive research of industry practice and formal validation by business practitioners. Each A*S*K certificate is based on well-documented performance indicators that define skills and requisite knowledge required for success in the business community.