Program Overview

A: There are three types of Academies: Local Academies, Regional Academies and Cisco Academy Training Centers (CATCs).

Local Academies teach the curriculum to students. These are usually high schools/secondary schools and colleges, but can also be other agencies with education programs.

Regional Academies are usually colleges, but may also be high schools/secondary schools, education service centers and other agencies with education programs. Regional Academy instructors train and mentor Local Academy instructors in the operation of the program and the teaching of the curriculum.

CATCs are Cisco-selected Regional Academies that train instructors from other Regional Academies. CATC instructors get their training directly from Cisco.

CATCs and Regional Academies can also be Local Academies if they teach the curriculum to students.

A: The online portion of the curriculum contains eight 70-hour blocks of study, which total - 560 hours. High schools/secondary schools typically teach the CCNA (courses 1- 4) in two academic years, whereas colleges and universities typically use one academic year to deliver the entire CCNA curriculum. The CCNP courses are typically taught over two academic years. The CCNP curriculum is 70-hours per course, lab-based with additional out-of-class lab time of 14 hours compulsory, for a total of 84 hours.

A: The online portion of the curriculum resides on a Web server at each Academy. Students access the curriculum from their workstations over the classroom LAN. Students also have access to view the curriculum online during non-classroom time.

A: The curriculum is a vendor-neutral. While Cisco equipment is used to practice and reinforce certain concepts, students gain broad-based knowledge of the operation of networks, the differences between various types of networking products, how to design and troubleshoot networks, and other general topics.

A: The curriculum is copyrighted. Access to the curriculum should be provided only to students enrolled in Networking Academy classes and the personnel within the institution offering the program.

A: The labs include routers, switches, software, cables and first-year product support.

A: Cisco donates refurbished lab equipment to CCNA Regional Academies and to CCNA CATCs. Cisco also donates CCNA lab equipment to Academies in officially recognized Empowerment Zones and Least Developed Countries.

A: Academies may share equipment, although Cisco believes that each institution is better able to provide a quality instructional experience if it has its own lab.

A: In the CCNA program, Local Academies are trained by Regional Academies, Regional Academies are trained by CATCs and CATCs are trained by Cisco.

A: Training is typically conducted at Regional Academies and CATC training sites.

A: Training for CCNA is at least 19 days.

A: Cisco recommends taking the CCNA exam after completing the fourth course of the CCNA curriculum.

A: The CCNA test is given at Pearson VUE testing centers worldwide.

A: The CCNP program follows CCNA. The curriculum consists of CCNP 1 - 4 and prepares students to obtain their CCNP certification. This is a more advanced curriculum covering Advanced Routing (CCNP 1), Remote Access (CCNP 2), Multi-Layer Switching (CCNP 3) and Network Troubleshooting (CCNP 4).

A: The CCIE program has no required curriculum, although many of Cisco's commercial classes taught by Cisco's Training Partners are suggested prerequisites to the CCIE exam. The exam consists of both written and practical exams. CCIEs have world-renowned internetworking expertise and are widely thought to be the most knowledgeable networking personnel available.

A: Yes. Cisco has developed a state-of-the-art assessment system to provide students, instructors, administrators, and Cisco personnel with detailed data on student progress.

A: CATCs and Regional Academies sign contracts that list their commitments as well as Cisco’s commitments to them. For more information on the CATC and Regional Academy contract process, please fill out an online application. The relationship between Regional Academies and Local Academies is owned by the Regional Academy, which may or may not ask its Local Academies to sign a contract.

A: A school can begin the process of starting an Academy by filling out the Cisco Networking Academy Program online application.

A: For a complete list of Academies see the Academy Locator.

A: Yes, Cisco has created a special program to work with proprietary institutions known as the Accredited Career College Program. For details contact netacad-acc@cisco.com or the Accredited Career College FAQs.