CompTIA CertMaster CE – Is It the Best Option for CEUs?
CompTIA CertMaster CE (Continuing Education) is a self-paced training program for earning CompTIA CEU credits and is offered by CompTIA. Several CompTIA-certified professionals opt for these programs to earn CEUs and renew their certifications. We have explored the details of the CertMaster CE program, its benefits, disadvantages, pricing, and other CompTIA CEU options in this article.
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📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE CompTIA CEU credit resources throughout the article.
What is the CompTIA CertMaster CE Program?
CompTIA requires certification holders to earn Continuing Education Units (CEU) credits every three years. There are several ways to earn CEUs and renew your CompTIA certification.
CompTIA offers the CertMaster CE program, which is a self-paced training program and participants can earn all required CEUs for their certifications by attending this program. The following table summarizes the CompTIA CertMaster CE program details and pricing.
| CompTIA Certification | CertMaster CE Program Fee | Duration |
| A+ | $129 | 8 to 10 Hours |
| Network+ | $189 | 8 to 10 Hours |
| Security+ | $199 | 8 to 10 Hours |
| Data+, DataSys+, Linux+, Cloud+, PenTest+, CySA+ and CASP+ | Program is not available for these certifications. | |
Note that, the CertMaster CE program is only available for CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, and CompTIA Security+ certifications. If you have another CompTIA certification, you need to look for other CompTIA certification renewal options.
Now, let’s go through the details of the CertMaster CE program.
CompTIA CEU Course Program – Renew Your CompTIA Certification
San Francisco Business School offers an online, self-paced comprehensive CompTIA CEU Online training program.
Enroll in the CompTIA CEU Online Program. Complete three self-paced online CEU courses. Earn 60 CEU credits. Renew your CompTIA certification. CompTIA approved renewal process for CompTIA Security+, A+, CASP+ CE, and other CompTIA certifications.
The program offers three self-paced business training programs: Executive Leadership, Strategy Creation & Execution, and Marketing Strategy. For each course in the program, SFBS awards a certificate of graduation. While earning CEUs, you will earn reputable business merits to highlight in your resume and LinkedIn.
CertMaster CE Features – Benefits
The CertMaster CE program comes with several benefits. The best advantage is that the program is self-paced, so, the participants can follow the lectures on their own whenever they have time. Content within the course is organized in a prescribed learning plan based on a target date set by the user, helping learners structure their study sessions and guiding them efficiently through the course.
1- CertMaster CE Automatically Renews CompTIA Certification
Since the CertMaster CE program is offered by CompTIA, course completion automatically renews the learner’s corresponding certification. There are assessments throughout the course program and to earn the required CEUs, you must score 100% on all assessments. Do not worry, if you cannot score 100%, you will be able to retake the assessments. Until you reach 100%, you cannot complete the assessment, and the course as well.
CompTIA CertMaster CE content provides instructional content focused on reinforcing the learner’s base knowledge. The content covers the new topics in the newer version of the CompTIA exams as well so the participant can keep up the pace of changing dynamics.
Watch How Andrea Renewed Her CompTIA Security+ Certification
Andrea Zelaya is a CompTIA Security+ Certified Professional. Andrea enrolled in the CompTIA CEU Online Course from SFBS and renewed her CompTIA certification. Watch now her CompTIA renewal journey.
2- Reports and Analysis
CertMaster CE program provides reports and analysis regarding learner’s activity. This helps learners to track their progress, and analyze their strengths and weaknesses in various topics. Not only that, the CertMaster CE dashboard provides a percentile rank benchmark of the learner compared to all other users.
3- Mobile Responsive
Another advantage of the CertMaster CE program is its availability on several devices. No matter if you are on a desktop or mobile device, as long as you have an internet connection, you can follow the lectures, complete the program, and renew your CompTIA certification.
4- Waives Annual CE Fees
Finally, attending the CertMaster CE program will waive the annual CE fees. If you earn CEUs through other resources, you have to pay the annual CE fee to CompTIA. This fee varies between $25 to $50 per year and depends on the certification. CertMaster CE participants do not pay this fee and their certification is renewed automatically upon completing the program.
San Francisco Business School offers a self-paced Free CompTIA CEU Course Online Program as well. If you attend this program, you can earn 3 Free CEU credits and submit them in the training category.
CertMaster CE Program Disadvantages
While there are several advantages of the program, there are disadvantages as well.
1- CertMaster CE is Not Available for All CompTIA Certifications
The biggest disadvantage is that the CertMaster CE program is available only for three certifications, CompTIA A+ Renewal, Network+, and Security+. If you have other CompTIA certifications, you have to find other options to earn CompTIA Continuing Education credits.
2- Must Score 100% on Assignments
Another disadvantage is, you have to score 100% on all assignments. There are graded assessments throughout the course program. To earn the required CEUS and renew the CompTIA certification, the learner must score 100% on all assessments.
3- Technical Content
The content focuses on technical skills. If you are planning to enhance your business skills or leadership skills, these courses will not bring a benefit to you.
The best CEU online courses should offer you business courses, earn new business skills, and contribute to your career growth.
For instance, San Francisco Business School offers a comprehensive CompTIA Continuing Education Course program. The program offers three self-paced business training programs: Executive Leadership, Strategy Creation & Execution, and Marketing Strategy. For each course in the program, SFBS awards a certificate of graduation. While earning CEUs, you will earn reputable business merits to highlight in your resume and LinkedIn.
4- CertMaster CE CEUs Do Not Rollover to the Next Renewal Cycle
Attending the CertMaster CE program and renewing the certification is easy. However, you can complete the course once, and you will need to attend another course in your next cycle.
On the other hand, if you attend a comprehensive CompTIA CEU course, you can submit the required CEUs for this cycle, and submit the remaining CEUs for the next cycle. For instance, if the course program provides 60 CEUs, if you need 30 CEUs for your current renewal cycle, you can submit 30 CEUs for this cycle, and submit the next 30 CEUs in your next cycle. Instead of paying twice, you can earn more CEUs for your several cycles.
Other Options for Earning CompTIA CEUs
CompTIA lists 13 different ways of earning CompTIA CEU credits. These are:
- Attending Training Courses (e.g. CompTIA CEU Course Program) *** Most Popular
- Attending Conferences
- Attending Live Webinars
- Work Experience
- Publishing a Blog
- Publishing an Article or White Paper
- Publishing a Book
- Complete a College Course
- Teach or Mentor
- Create Instructional Materials
- Participate as a SME in a CompTIA CEU Exam Development Workshop
- Complete an American Council on Education (ACE) Course
- Earn a Non-CompTIA IT Industry Certification
Note that, some of these activities have maximum limits for submitting CEUs. For instance, you can submit a maximum of 3 CEUs per year as work experience. So, in a three-year CompTIA renewal cycle, you can submit a maximum of 9 CEUs through work experience. You can read all the details in our CompTIA Continuing Education (CE) article.
What is the Most Popular and Easiest CompTIA CEU Earning Way?
The most popular way to earn CompTIA CEU credits is by attending a training course. Actually, the CertMaster CE program is also a course program. Typically, a one-hour length of course activity earns one CompTIA CEU credit towards renewing your CompTIA certification. You can attend an in-person course, a virtual course, a self-paced course, or a hybrid delivery. However, the most convenient option for working professionals is attending a self-paced course. In a self-paced course, you can follow the lectures at any time your schedule allows. For virtual or in-person courses, you must set a time and activity must fit your schedule.
Why are the CEU Online Courses Popular?
While there are several benefits of renewing CompTIA certifications through CompTIA CEU courses, here are the top five reasons.
- No Caps: There is no maximum limit for the education category, so, you can earn all CompTIA CEU credits in one program, and renew your CompTIA. You do not need to go elsewhere to find additional CEUs.
- Self-Paced: You do not need to attend an event, conference, or seminar. You can follow the courses at your place, at your pace.
- Affordable: Depending on the program content, you can enroll in a self-paced CompTIA CEU Online course bundle for ~$200-300. However, seminars or conferences start from $1,000, not only that, you cannot earn all CEU needs in one event.
- Requires less effort: When you enroll in CompTIA Continuing Education courses, all you have to do is follow the curriculum, earn CEUs, and renew your CompTIA. However, other CEU earning ways require significant effort from the CompTIA-certification holder such as creating content, sharing a presentation, volunteering, etc.
- Less prone to CompTIA audit: Since the CEU training programs are used by many CompTIA-certified professionals, CompTIA already has a track and record of the activities. However, for other categories, CEU submissions are more unique and may be more likely to hit a CompTIA audit.
Summary
CompTIA CertMaster CE is a self-paced training program offered for A+, Network+, and Security+ certified professionals. Participants complete the course and renew their corresponding certifications automatically.
While there are benefits to the program, there are disadvantages as well. Benefits are automatically renewing CompTIA certification, reports and analysis, accessibility from different devices, and waiving the annual CE fees. Disadvantages are that CertMaster CE is not available for all CompTIA certifications, you must score 100% on all assignments, the content is technical, and earned CEUs do not roll over to the next renewal cycle.