Additional Student Benefits
In addition to receiving access to quality instruction and course content, the Cisco Networking Academy Program offers additional benefits to students who successfully complete a curriculum.

Certificate of Course Completion
Upon successful completion of any of the Academy courses, students receive a Certificate of Course Completion stating the competencies gained through the curriculum. The certificate will include the student’s name and the name of their educational institution. This is a reminder of a student’s success, as well as an excellent addition to a resume.

Congratulatory Letter
In addition to the Certificate of Completion, CCNA courses also provide a congratulatory letter from John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc., to students that have achieved a high level of proficiency on their final exam. Letters for other courses are being developed and should be available in the 2003-2004 academic school year.

Career Connection
Strong technical skills are only half of the equation when pursuing a career in IT. Work experience and workforce readiness are the other key components in the career development of students enrolled in the Cisco Networking Academy Program. An important step in getting real work experience and building job readiness is participating in internship or work placement activities.

Although the Cisco Networking Academy Program does not guarantee students an internship placement, we strongly encourage Academies to build local relationships with businesses to provide internships, job shadowing experiences, on site visits at the work place, and guest speakers to introduce students to the workplace culture, and how the skills they are learning fit into the day to day work flow of a business.

Businesses are asked to post internships on the Cisco Networking Academy Program’s Career Connection web site, which students may link to from their Academy Connection home page.

Alumni Connection
As soon as a student has graduated from just one Cisco Networking Academy course they are eligible to register for the Alumni Connection. Being an Alumni Connection member allows students to keep up with current trends and information in the industry by providing them access to industry news, online curriculum (for courses they have taken), practice tests for certification, discussion boards with other alumni, and special discounts from ecosystem partners.

Discount Certification Vouchers
Most Academy courses prepare students for industry certification. Cisco Systems, Inc. provides students with a substantial discount on taking the CCNA and CCNP exams. Academy Program partners such as CompTIA, Sun Microsystems, and the World Organization of Webmasters also offer students steep discounts off the standard price of certification exams related to many of the other Academy curricula.

Skill Set Inventory
A very detailed inventory of job related skills attained during each Academy course is available for students to take to job interviews or attach to their resume.