Part of NCTA's mission is "the promotion of professionalism and quality in the administration of testing services and programs." By encouraging self-study and adherence to our professional standards, test center certification is designed to assist test centers in improving their testing processes and their service to examinees. The opportunity to participate in the test center certification process is restricted to NCTA collegiate members.
Current Certified Centers
More than 100 centers across the United States and Canada have been certified since 2010. All of them can be found in the list of certified centers and, if a certified center has a listing in the CCTC, its page will be marked with a .
Why Become Certified?
- Recognition for your test center and for your institution on a local and national scale
- Acknowledgement of adherence to best practices in the testing industry
- Additional validity for your test center to prospective distance learning students, vendors, and other organizations
- The ability to share the certification experience with your state testing association or other affinity group
- Increased access to helpful testing ideas, documentation, and procedures throughout the certification process
- A handsome plaque you can proudly display at your test center to signify your accomplishment
- Test Center Certification shows outside testing entities that a test center operates under the highest accepted standards and procedures for all types of testing. These groups, therefore, are assured that their testing needs are fully met.
The Certification Process
- Pre-Application
Listserve announcement for Pre-Application timeframe is posted. Pre-application to be completed by one representative of the testing site is available on NCTA website.
- TCC Advisor Assigned
When pre-application is approved, an Advisor is assigned who will assist throughout the application process.When the Advisor determines that the application and documentation are satisfactory, the material is emailed to the Test Center Certification Committee.
- Reviewers Assigned
Application is reviewed for completeness, and corrections are submitted as needed.
- Evaluators Assigned
Application is evaluated for compliance with NCTA Standards and Guidelines.
- Site Visit
A visit to the center is conducted by two people affiliated with the institution.
- Recommendation
Once the site visit is completed and all criteria have been met, the site will be recommended to the NCTA Governing Council for certification.
- Certification
Certified centers are announced on the NCTA listserve. In addition, the center receives a large plaque suitable for display, the right to use the certified center logo on its website and other promotional materials, and a sample press release to announce this accomplishment.
Current & Prospective Participants
Test Center Certification is available to NCTA collegiate members. Interested individuals affiliated with collegiate testing centers are encouraged to read through the Selected Standards for Certification. NCTA members who would like to lean more can also visit the TCC Resources page to get additional details about the application process along with examples of documents that would need to be submitted as part of an application.
If you have any questions about certification, please contact certification@ncta-testing.org
We need volunteers to work on processing applications for Test Center Certification. If you are interested please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Tammy Roach at troach@louisville.edu.