An Exceptional Deal on Courseware for CompTIA Credentials

If the exception proves the rule, and the rule is "If it sounds too good to be true, then it's probably a rip-off," then this limited time offer from the Mashable Shop certainly qualifies. For a mere $39.97, you can purchase lifetime access to training materials for 13 different CompTIA certifications.

I assume this means that your one-time purchase is good for future versions of these credentials, all of which require recertification every two-to-three years (or continuing education activity) to keep them current. And right now, the seller is offering an additional 15 percent discount for first-time customers, too. That cuts the total outlay to only $33.98!

Hence my initial reaction: "It sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?"

Real Courseware, from a Real CompTIA Training Partner

This courseware bundle comes from an online information technology (IT) training company now called iducate (formerly kown as iCollege). It has already served more than 700,000 students globally, and gets good reviews from current and former course-takers. Lest I suggest more from this offering than it delivers, I hasten to add that this cost covers only training materials.

The real cost for earning such certs is the exam price itself (and if you’re smart one or two high-quality practice tests, as well, to assess your readiness). CompTIA exams range in price from a low of around $135 (IT Fundamentals) to a high of around $400 (CySA+).

Though an offering like this one brings down the total cost of certification somewhat, it does nothing to reduce the exam costs themselves. Looking for discount exam vouchers online is always a good idea whenever you're ready to sign up from a CompTIA certification exam.

The prices given below are the official exam voucher prices from the CompTIA Store itself, but better deals are often available if you dig around a little.

What’s in the Bundle, Anyway?

Here’s a complete list of the 13 traning courses included in this bundle, listed alphabetically:

CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1101) — Exam Cost $246
CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1102) — Exam Cost $246
CompTIA CASP+ (CAS-004) — Exam Cost $494
CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ — (CLO-002) Exam Cost $134
CompTIA Cloud+ (CV0-003) — Exam Cost $358
CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-002) — Exam Cost $392
CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ — (FC0-U61) Exam Cost $134
CompTIA Linux+ (XK0-005) — Exam Cost $358
CompTIA Network+ (N10-008) — Exam Cost $358
CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-002) — Exam Cost $392
CompTIA Project+ (PK0-004) — Exam Cost $358
CompTIA Security+ (SY0-601) — Exam Cost $392
CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005) — Exam Cost $358

It covers the CompTIA Trinity (A+, Network+ and Security+), IT fundamentals, cloud and security topics, and more. Indeed, this list includes virtually ALL CompTIA certs, except for Data+ and DataSys+. Thus, there’s no disputing that ALL of the most popular CompTIA credentials fall under this umbrella.

Therefore, if you’ve been thinking about chasing down one or more of these certs, this is probably too good an offer to pass up. Act fast, though: You’ve got less than two weeks to sign up.