News

Liberty U Opens Public Certification Testing Center

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 04/27/09

Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA has opened up a public testing center to allow people in the area to take certification exams from companies that include Microsoft, Cisco, Apple, and Oracle. Previously certification candidates had to commute to other parts of the state to take their tests. In a statement Liberty said it expected to save $3,000 a year in travel and fees for its own employees in using the new testing center.

"Students and the general public can use our testing center to become certified in fields of expertise that will help them reach their career goals" said Jason Rawlings, director of customer support in information services at Liberty.

One of the first clients of the IT Testing Center was Nelson County High School near Lovingston, about 34 miles from the university. Business teacher Melissa Williams brought her class of 10 students to Liberty to take Microsoft Word and Excel exams. "The technology team was very effective" said Williams, "the room was comfortable and quiet, and each of my students felt completely at ease in the testing situation." Williams seemed most excited that all 10 students could take the test in one sitting. Many testing centers can't accommodate a group of that size.

Other universities that host technology-oriented testing centers include DeVry University with multiple locations, ECPI Technical College with multiple locations, and Durham Technical Community College in North Carolina.