So… about that price increase

Yes, it’s true: we’re raising our MCP exam prices for the first time in almost a decade. (Technically, I should probably say "changing" since not every country will see an increase, but for most of  you, it's an increase.) The new prices go into effect on July 1^st (August 1^st in India).

(If you haven’t already, read the announcement and FAQ before going any further.)

Why? And Why Now?

This probably isn’t welcome news—especially if you’re already in progress towards your certification and you’ve planned your budget carefully. (If this includes you, keep reading to find out how to lock in our current pricing for a while longer.) After all, who would want to pay more for something than they had planned to?

No one enjoys paying higher prices, which is why no one really gets excited about having to ask their customers to do so, especially in our business, where our mission is to make successful careers in technology as attainable as possible. That’s why we’ve held the line on our pricing for more than nine years through two global recessions—a pretty tough feat (and yes, we’re kind of proud of that).

But eventually, a decade of both increasing costs catches up to any business, and like any responsible business, we have to re-balance the scales from time to time if we’re going to continue to improve, innovate, and respond to customer requests. For example, you might have noticed the investments we’ve made over the past year or two:

• Introducing the Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) program at low cost to help lower the barrier separating students from technical careers.
• Lowering the financial and geographic barriers to the Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) certification for senior IT professionals.
• Introducing new exam item types and security measures to increase the integrity of our exams
• Introducing free jumpstarts to help you start down a new skills path and free Exam Crams to help you finish it.
• Introducing virtual career conferences to help you start, advance, or accelerate your career, regardless of which of phase of it you’re in.

…and we have much more in the works that we’re looking forward to discussing with you over the next year or two. Like any business in Microsoft (and probably yours, too), our investments are constrained in part by our costs. Our new pricing structure will enable us to continue making investments in our training and certification business so that we can help you realize the high return you expect for your investment in yourself—which, after all, is exactly what a certification is, right?

Okay, so how much?

If you’ve made it this far and are wondering why I still haven’t told you what the new price will be, that’s because our prices have always and will continue to vary depending on where you take your exam and whether you are a member of specific programs or communities. See our official page to look up the base price for your country; if you’re a secondary school or university student, you’ll receive a 45% discount, and If you’re an MCT, you’ll receive a 50% discount (we’ve eliminated the confusing 20/45/65 discount structure and simplified it at an always-50% level).

Already in progress toward your certification? Here’s how to lock in current pricing a bit longer

Most of you take a pay-as-you-go approach with your exams, but since July, we’ve also been offering “certification packs” that offer you a volume discount when you pre-pay for at least two and up to five exams at a time. The discounts are pretty significant—up to 20% for the four- and five-packs, based on our current pricing levels—and we throw in Second Shot as well for an added benefit.

But now with our new pricing coming into play on July 1st, there’s a “hidden” benefit to these packs: if you purchase one of them and take your first exam by June 30^th, you have until December 31, 2011 to take the remaining exams. You can look at that as a way of extending our current pricing (at a 15-20% discount) through the end of the year, or you can look at it as a way to get an even better discount today on what you would otherwise pay if you wait. Either way, it’s unquestionably the best option if you have exams to take in the near future and you want the best pricing.

We also have special offers available for students here, and IT people managers here.

(Insider tip: If you know an MCT, they can get you an additional 10% off the price of a certification pack though our Learning Rewards program.)

So now you know the what and the why—if you have additional questions or concerns let us know below or in our MCP Forum, and we’ll do our best to address them.

We know you have a lot of choices when it comes to IT certifications, and we appreciate that you’ve placed your bet on Microsoft. We’re going to continue to do everything we can to ensure that you continue to get a great return on your investment—that’s our commitment to you. We hope that you’ll continue to be a part of this community and keep sharing your feedback as we go. We're listening.