Certification, Certificate, and Licensure Exams – What is the difference?
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Certification, Certificate, and Licensure are terms that are used quite frequently to refer to credentialing examinations that someone has to pass to demonstrate skills in a certain profession or topic. They are quite similar, and often confused. This is exacerbated by even more similar terms in the field, such as accreditation, badge, and microcredentials. This post will help you understand the differences.
What is Certification?
Certification is “a credential that you earn to show that you have specific skills or knowledge. They are usually tied to an occupation, technology, or industry.” (CareerOneStop) The important aspect in this definition is the latter portion; the organization that runs the certification is generally across an industry or a profession, regardless of political boundaries. It is almost always some sort of professional association or industry board, like the American Association of Widgetmakers (obviously not a real thing). However, it is sometimes governed by a specific company or other organization regarding their products; perhaps the most well known is how Amazon Web Services will certify you in skills to hand their offerings. Many other technology and software companies do the same.
Professional or personnel certification is a voluntary process by which individuals are evaluated against predetermined standards for knowledge, skills, or competencies. Participants who demonstrate that they meet the standards by successfully passing an assessment process are granted the certification. Note that this 1) refers to an individual (not a program or organization) and 2) refers only to showing that they have competencies (not simply attending or completing a course).
Certifications are usually put out by independent organizations, not a government or other entity (that is licensure). Usually it is a nonprofit association or board, which can be for a specific country (American Board of _______) or worldwide (International Association of ________).
A lot of work goes into developing good certifications, sometimes millions of dollars. This includes test development practices like job task analysis, item writer training workshops, modified-Angoff cutscore studies, equating, and item response theory.
What is a Certificate?
A certificate program is less rigorous than a certification, and is often just a piece of paper that you might receive after sitting through a course. For example, you might take an online course in a MOOC where you watch a few video lectures and perhaps answer a few quizzes with no proctoring, and afterwards you receive a certificate.
A step up from this is an assessment based certificate which requires that you pass a fairly exam afterwards. This exam is sometimes built with some of the stringent practices of a certification, like a modified-Angoff standard setting study.
An assessment-based certificate program is a non-degree granting program that:
(a) provides instruction and training to aid participants in acquiring specific knowledge, skills, and/or competencies associated with intended learning outcomes;
(b) evaluates participants’ achievement of the intended learning outcomes; and
(c) awards a certificate only to those participants who meet the performance, proficiency or passing standard for the assessment(s).
What is Licensure?
Licensure is a “formal permission to do something: esp., authorization by law to do some specified thing (license to marry, practice medicine, hunt, etc.)” (Schmitt, 1995). The key phrase here is by law. The sponsoring organization is a governmental entity, and that is defines what licensure is. In fact, licensure is not even always about a profession; almost all of us have a Driver’s License for which we passed a simple exam. Moreover, it does not always even have to be about a profession; many millions of people have a Fishing License, which is granted by the government (by States in the USA), for which you simply pay a small fee.
The license is still an attestation, but not of your skills, just that you have been authorized to do something by the government. Of course, in the context of assessment, it means that you have passed some sort of exam which is mandated by law, typically for professions that are dangerous enough or impact a wide range of people that the government has stepped in to provide oversight: attorneys, physicians, medical professionals, etc.
Certification vs Licensure Exams
Usually, there is a test that you must pass, but the sponsor can differ with certification vs licensure. The development and delivery of such tests is extremely similar, leading to the confusion. The difference between the two is outside the test itself, and instead refers to the sponsoring organization: is it mandated/governed by a governmental entity, or is it unrelated to political/governmental boundaries? You are awarded a credential after successful completion, but the difference is in the group that awards the credential, what it means, and where it is recognized.
However, there are many licensures that do not involve an exam, but you simply need to file some paperwork with the government. An example of this is a marriage license. You certainly don’t have to take a test to qualify!
Can they be the same exam?
To make things even more confusing… yes. And it does not even have to be consistent. In the US, some professions have a wide certification, which is also required in some States as licensure, but not in all States! Some States might have their own exams, or not even require an exam. This muddles the difference between certification vs licensure.
Differences between Certification and Licensure
| Aspect | Certification | Licensure |
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory? | No | Yes |
| Run by | Association, Board, Nonprofit, Private Company | Government |
| Does it use an exam? | Yes, especially if it is accredited | Sometimes, but often not (consider a marriage license) |
| Accreditation involved? | Yes, NCCA and ANSI provide accreditation that a certification is high quality | No; often there is no check on quality |
| Examples | Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP®), Certified in Clean Needle Technique (CNT) | Marriage license; Driver’s License; Fishing License; License to practice law (Bar Exam) |
How do these terms relate to other, similar terms?
This outline summarizes some of the relevant terms regarding certification vs licensure and other credentials. This is certainly more than can be covered in a single blog post!
- Attestation of some level of quality for a person or organization = CREDENTIALING
- Attestation of a person
- By government = LICENSURE
- By independent board or company
- High stakes, wide profession = CERTIFICATION
- Medium stakes = CERTIFICATE
- Low stakes, quite specific skill = MICROCREDENTIAL
- By an educational institution = DEGREE OR DIPLOMA
- Attestation of an organization = ACCREDITATION
- Attestation of a person
Learn more about accreditation of certification organizations in this article.
Nathan Thompson, PhD
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