The Internet Technology Webmaster Certificate of Illinois Institute of Technology's Information Technology Certificate Programs was accredited at the Technical Foundation Level by the Association of Internet Professionals Certification Accreditation Council. To meet these requirements, an accredited program was required teach all material included in a specification developed by industry leaders. The Technical Foundation Level specification included information in the following general domains:

• Internet Basics
• Protocols
• Internet Clients
• Development
• Networking
• Internet Security
• Internet Servers
• Business Terms and Concepts
• Design Terms and Concepts

“Our accreditation provided validated professional certification for our Internet-related Information Technology programs,” said Ray Trygstad, Curriculum Manager of the IIT Information Technology Program's Internet Technology Webmaster Certificate. “The AIP Certification Accreditation Council is the first truly independent accreditation of Internet education programs and we are very excited to have a program with industry-standard accredition for this field that is experiencing such breathtaking growth. Our Certificate now carries the exact same industry accreditation as other leading programs such as Certified Internet Webmaster (Foundation), Certified Web Professional and CompTIA's i-Net+.” The Internet Technology Webmaster Certificate program at IIT offers classes in Wheaton, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; and on the Internet.

The Association of Internet Professionals was the premier professional association for those involved in the creation, maintenance, facilitation or distribution of Internet-related content, and was one of the first associations in the industry. Founded in 1994, AIP existed to support, unify and represent the global community of Internet professionals, providing benefits and programs that allowed both its individual and corporate members to succeed in today's Internet/Intranet/Extranet marketplace. The organization also served as the voice of Internet professionals and industry corporations before the public, press, and within the online community on issues shaping the future of the Internet.

The AIP Certification Accreditation Council was made up of industry certification companies, educational institutions, software, hardware, and staffing companies, as well as other non-profit representative groups. The purpose of the Council was to determine standards for certification programs and then accredit the programs that meet those standards. By bringing together the major players in the certification and training markets, as well as leading companies employing Internet professionals, the ACAC was able to capture an accurate picture of required skill sets in the industry. Universities represented on the council included Illinois Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, and Penn State, while industry members of ACAC included Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Netscape and Novell.

“Internet professionals and selective employers need a reliable tool to measure qualifications,” said Nikki Granner, general manager of Aquent Partners, the industry's leading web staffing agency and an ACAC member. “The ACAC Accreditation is positioned to be the gold standard for the robust marketplace of Internet talent.”

As our program was written to comply with ACAC’s rigorous accreditation standard (which was the same standard the CompTIA i-Net+ examination was written under), this course will serve as valuable and complete preparation for the CompTIA i-Net+ exam. Although the Association of Internet Professionals no longer exists, their support was instrumental in building quality professionals and educational programs in the Internet industry, and we value their involvement that allowed us to accredit our program against a rigorous set of industry standards.