The American Council on Education (ACE) has recommended college credit for many Microsoft Certifications. Students and Microsoft Certified Professionals alike can get college credit for earning select certifications.
Level:
N/A
Audience:
Students and Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs)
Type:
Microsoft Certification
The American Council on Education (ACE) has recommended college credit for select Microsoft Certifications. Approved certifications are applicable to one to six semester hours of college credit in bachelor's-degree or associate-degree classes on computer applications, information technology, or computer information systems.
ACE maintains a network of more than 1,500 cooperating, accredited colleges and universities that agree to consider ACE college-credit recommendations. However, each institution has the discretion to accept credit for ACE recommendations as they see fit. Contact the institution you attend (or plan to attend) to inquire about its policy.
Find out more about cooperating colleges and universities (Acenet.edu)
To qualify, you must have passed a select Microsoft Certification within the last three years. Receiving a college equivalency recommendation on a Microsoft Certification from ACE also makes you eligible for corporate tuition assistance. (Employers have differing policies; contact your Human Resources department for more information). The college or university you attend (or plan to attend) will decide whether to grant credit and waive associated tuition requirements.
The following tables list Microsoft Certifications and exams that ACE recommends for college credit, along with credit hours earned and the applicable course level ("lower" refers to community college, freshman, or sophomore courses; "upper" refers to high-level courses).
Product version
MOS certifications
Credit hours
ACE college-credit recommendations
Microsoft Office 2007
Office Access
Office Excel
Office Outlook
Office PowerPoint
Office Word
1
Lower
Microsoft Office 2003
Access
Excel
Excel Expert
Outlook
PowerPoint
Word
Word Expert
Microsoft Office 2002
Certifications
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 ASP.NET Applications, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
Microsoft Exchange 2007
3
Microsoft Exchange 2010
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
Microsoft Office Project Server 2007
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Upper
Microsoft SQL Server 2008
Windows 7
Windows Server 2003
6
Three upper; three lower
Windows Server 2008
4
Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization
Windows Vista
To provide the institution of your choice with a record that verifies your Microsoft Certifications, follow these steps:
Enroll in the ACE Transcript ServiceAn American Council on Education (ACE) transcript is a secure, universally accepted document with easy-to-read descriptions, ACE college credit recommendations, and suggested transfer areas. You can list all of your educational achievements, including certifications, on the transcript. It can be sent at any time to the college or university of your choice.
Register for the ACE Transcript Service (Acenet.edu)
Submit your exams for verificationAfter you register with ACE, you can search the ACE Course Catalog for the exams that you have passed. Add the exams that you have passed to your ACE course list. You must enter the date that you received each certification. When you finish adding exams to your course list, select Send Your Record for Review. Your information will be sent to Prometric or Certiport (the third-party organization that administers the exams) for verification.After your courses have been verified, you will receive confirmation from ACE by email. You can then access your updated ACE transcript.
Send the ACE transcript to your schoolVisit the ACE website and submit a transcript request. Sign in by using the account you created when you registered. ACE will send your official ACE transcript to the college or university of your choice. You must pay a one-time fee (US$40) to activate your ACE transcript account; the fee covers the cost of your first transcript. Additional transcripts can be requested for a nominal fee.
Sign in to the ACE website (Acenet.edu)
View all answers
Q. Will my school recognize the ACE credit recommendation?
A.
The American Council on Education (ACE) recommends examinations for college credit to the ACE Cooperating College Network. Each cooperating college or university considers ACE credit recommendations but independently decides whether to award credit. While ACE cooperating colleges give considerable weight to ACE credit recommendations, each institution—and in many cases, each academic unit or department within an institution—sets its own policies for granting credit. If your college or university is not a member of the ACE cooperating college network, it still might award credit based on ACE credit recommendations.
Learn about the ACE Cooperating College Network (Acenet.edu)
If you currently hold or plan to pursue any of the approved Microsoft Certifications, contact the admissions office at the institution you attend (or plan to attend), and inquire about their policy regarding ACE college credit recommendations for these certifications. Institutions independently determine how much credit is appropriate to award, based on their academic program requirements.
Q. Is an ACE transcript different from an MCP digital transcript?
Yes. Your MCP digital transcript is an official record of your Microsoft Certifications. However, ACE-affiliated colleges and universities usually require an official ACE transcript in order to consider your certifications for college credit.
Q. Where can I find more information about the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service?
Visit the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service site (Acenet.edu)
Read the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service FAQ (Acenet.edu)
Q. Is my Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) certification eligible for college credit?
Yes. The Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) certification is one of the certifications that ACE has recommended for college credit. The name of the certification has changed to Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), and that change will be reflected on your transcript.
Q. Are my MCSE and MCSA certifications eligible for college credit?
Yes. The MCSE and MCSA are certifications that ACE has recommended for college credit. As long as you meet the ACE guidelines, the certification will be eligible.
Microsoft Technology Specialist and Professional Series certification exams
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) and Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) certification exams
