Cisco Courses Offer Affordable, Effective IT Training

Looking to boost your career prospects in information technology? Look no further than EWU’s new Cisco Certificate Program—a series of courses aimed at opening doors for both students pursuing IT jobs and current industry professionals looking to move up in their careers.

The EWU Cisco Certificate covers routing and switching, network server configuration, network administration, security, and network diagnosis and maintenance. EWU is one of only four universities in the country offering this type of partnership with Cisco.

EWU Course List & Cisco Equivalent

Students who take all seven courses, 28 total credits, will receive an EWU Cisco Network Certificate. The program also allows students to take only the courses leading to a specific certification (in lieu of the full EWU Cisco Network Certificate). Either way, the program represents a great opportunity for participants to advance their IT skill sets and improve their current and future employment opportunities.

“One of the biggest advantages of this kind of program is that it increases your employability,” says Terry Geyer, a senior lecturer in applied technology at EWU. “In addition, if you are employed, these kinds of certificates increase your potential for advancement.”

Training programs like this can be costly, but EWU’s program is the most affordable of any comparable program in the region. Taking the courses contained in the full EWU Cisco Certificate with private, third-party training companies can cost as much as $50,000. At Eastern, you can cover the same material for as little as $22,000.

The savings also go beyond tuition costs. Many other programs require travel to Seattle or Portland; for a working professional or a company, that can mean lost wages and/or lost productivity—not to mention the additional cost of lodging and meals.

The program at Eastern keeps students close to home while also providing full access to the Cisco Platinum Learning Library, an online resource that typically costs $6,000 for a year of access. According to Cisco’s website, the library provides all of their online training, interactive instructions, practical hands-on labs, expert video instruction and thousands of supplemental support documents.

Eastern designed its Cisco Certificate Program with working professionals in mind. Courses are offered in the late afternoon so that many students can continue to work while gaining these valuable skills. The courses offer hands-on support from professors and advisors, and can be tailored to meet the needs of specific employers.

Once the training is completed, participants will have the necessary knowledge and skills to take the Cisco certification exams.

There is still time to sign up to get started in the fall.