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About the Exams
When an application is approved, the candidate for certification will be sent instructions to schedule their respective certification exam(s).
The CSAEd™ certifications utilize computer-based exams composed of multiple-choice questions administered in one online session, with a single, predefined (and optional) break. All questions will be included in calculating the candidates’ scores.
The exams contain the following number of multiple-choice questions with the noted maximum time limits:
Click the images below for detailed exam content outlines for each certification exam. (You can also access these in the Candidate Handbook, Appendix A.)
This domain encompasses the foundational understanding of the histories and contexts of higher education systems, connecting social justice, inclusive histories, and philosophies to the student affairs profession. It includes a commitment to research, professional standards and codes of practice, law, and organizational policies.
Student Learning, Development, and Success
This domain focuses on the application of student learning and development theories while advocating for holistic student learning, development, and success. It includes designing programs and services that retain, develop, and move students toward completion and graduation.
Assessment and Evaluation
This domain involves appraising the quality and effectiveness of higher education work, considering different contexts, cultures, and backgrounds. It emphasizes outcomes-based assessment, diverse methods, and using data to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
Social Justice and Inclusion
This domain focuses on fostering inclusion and creating equity by understanding systems of oppression and privilege. It includes our individual dispositions and sense of responsibility for justice within our communities and the global context.
Leadership
This domain encompasses practices that empower and engage others while valuing diverse, inclusive views. It includes adaptive problem-solving and navigating various pressures to create transformative change.
Talent Management
This domain includes competencies necessary to support the talent lifecycle in organizations. It involves attracting, developing, and retaining staff to achieve personal and organizational goals through continual assessment and support.
Crisis and Risk Management
This domain focuses on understanding and applying information relevant to emergency situations. It involves planning and operationalizing risk management to guide institutional objectives related to crisis response.
Financial and Facility Management
This domain encompasses managing financial and facility resources to deliver strategic and operational goals, ensuring a safe and productive environment while practicing ethical management of resources.
Exam Preparation
“How do I prepare for an exam?” is an expected and common question from candidates for Student Affairs Educator Certification. In addition to the exam content outlines provided above (and in the Candidate Handbook), candidates may also want to seek additional resources to assist in their preparations for the exams.
The Consortium has generated an initial list of suggested resources for the Core Student Affairs Educator Certification exam to further support candidates. We have also listed, below, optional exam preparation activities provided by several of the Consortium's founding partner associations. We plan to update these resources as the certification program continues.
Remote Proctoring and Online Exam - "What to Expect" Guide
Taking an online, live-proctored exam may be unfamiliar and stressful. To help ease your concerns and prepare you for exam day, we've created a quick overview guide. Click here to learn what to expect and feel more confident about taking the online, remote-proctored certification exams.
Suggested Resources for Core Exam
Ackerman, R. L. (Ed.). (2007). The mid-level manager in student affairs: Strategies for success. NASPA.
Adams, M., Bell, L. A., Goodman, D. J., Shlasko, D., Briggs, R. R., & Pacheco, R. (Eds.). (2023). Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice(4th ed.). Routledge.
Collins, K. M., & Roberts, D. M. (Eds.). (2012). Learning is not a sprint: Assessing and documenting student leader learning in cocurricular involvement. NASPA.
Harper, K. S., Paterson, B. G., & Zdziarski, E. L. (Eds.). (2006). Crisis management: Responding from the heart. NASPA.
Harper, S. R. (Ed.). (2008). Creating inclusive campus environments for cross-cultural learning and student engagement. NASPA.
Henning, G. W., & Roberts, D. M. (2016). Student affairs assessment: Theory to practice. Stylus Publishing.
Lake, P. F. (2011). Foundations of higher education law and policy. NASPA.
McClellan, G. S., Marquez Kiyama, J., & Stringer, J. (Eds.). (2023). The handbook of the student affairs administration (5th Ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Professional competency areas for student affairs. (2015). ACPA and NASPA.
Schuh, J. H., Jones, S. R., & Torres, V. (Eds.). (2016). Student services: A handbook for the profession (6th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Wells, J. B. (Ed.) (2019). CAS professional standards for higher education (9th ed.). Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education.
Additional Exam Preparation Resources
Various resources are offered by Consortium founding member associations to support professionals preparing for certification exams. All resources are optional and entirely voluntary. Please contact the respective association for related information.
Core Exam Preparation
Self-Guided Study: NASPA's online, self-paced resource hub features a library of resources to help you prepare for the Core exam, including information about the Student Affairs Educator Certification domains, exam prep webinar recordings, and the opportunity to join a self-guided study group. This resource is free to members of Consortium founding partner associations (ACUHO-I, ACUI, AFA, ASCA, NACA, NASPA, and NIRSA).
Moderated Study: NASPA's new cohort-based exam prep program begins on June 12 and includes twelve live, moderated study sessions. This is a member-only resource available at a rate of $75 for members of ACUHO-I, ACUI, AFA, ASCA, NACA, NASPA, and NIRSA.
Campus Housing and Residential Life Exam Preparation
NIRSA's Exam Prep Bootcamp includes a three-part webinar series designed by CSAEd-CR certified NIRSA members to provide their best tips and tricks for studying for the certification exam.
College Unions Exam Preparation
ACUI’s Certification Prep Program is available to anyone eligible to take the Core and college unions certification exams, providing opportunities to prepare in a community of peers.
Student Conduct Administration Exam Preparation
ASCA's Study Resource was created by ASCA members with the Student Conduct Administration (CSAEd-SC) specialty certification and professional staff. View this resource and check out the ASCA Certification website for more information including about study hall sessions!
Exam Cancellation Policy
You may cancel your exam with no additional fee up to 24 hours prior to your scheduled exam appointment. Please visit https://app.prolydian.com/testattempts to cancel or reschedule your exam within the allowable window. Any request to reschedule an exam inside 24 hours before the originally scheduled exam time will incur a retake fee. Please view the Candidate Handbook for the full cancellation policy.
Exam Results
The CSAEd™ Core and each CSAEd™ Specialty Area exam is designed to measure a candidate’s performance against a predetermined standard–the level of knowledge and competency in established domains that can be reasonably expected of mid-level student affairs and services educators, including within six specific functional areas.
Each exam measures what the candidate knows at the time they are taking the assessment. The candidate's exam performance is not compared to other candidates' performances on the same exam. Passing scores were established for CSAEd™ Core and Specialty exams through a panel-based standard setting process utilizing a no-data Angoff method (See Exam Score Process and Validity below).
Candidates will be informed of whether they passed or did not pass an exam via email approximately 72-96 hours after the exam conclusion. The Consortium only shares exam results with the individual respective candidate. Candidates will receive an email that includes the total score needed to pass the exam, their score, and instructions for accessing a score report within their Prolydian profile. The score report lists the candidate's score information as well as their performance within each of the eight certification domain areas. The Consortium provides this report to candidates to inform their ongoing professional development selections.
Candidates who succeeded in achieving the passing score and meeting required prerequisites will receive a separate email conferring their respective certification credential. This email will include instructions for downloading one's certificate, opting into the Student Affairs Educator Certification Directory, and claiming a digital badge to promote their accomplishment.
Candidates who did not pass an exam are invited to schedule an exam retake for at least 14 days after their initial exam date.
Time Limit to Pass Core & Specialty Exams
All candidates must pass the Core certification exam as a required prerequisite to achieve any Specialty certification. In a situation in which a candidate has passed a Specialty exam though has not passed the Core exam, the Specialty credential will remain on hold until the candidate retakes and passes the Core exam prerequisite. The candidate will have 365 days from the date the original Specialty exam was taken and passed in order to pass the Core. If a candidate does not pass the Core exam within this timeframe, they will need to retake and pass the Specialty.
Exam Scoring Process and Validity
A panel-based standard setting process utilizing a no-data Angoff method was conducted in May and June of 2022 for the seven Student Affairs Educator Certification exams.
A panel of fifty-three (53) subject matter experts (SMEs) were identified by the seven Consortium founding partner associations and convened to execute the standard setting process. SME identification consisted of nominations of, and invitations to, respective association membership, including invitations to small colleges/university and community college member groups, racial and ethnic affinity member groups, and graduate preparation faculty.
A workshop was conducted virtually with the psychometric consultants, Consortium staff, and available panel members. Panel members who were unable to attend were given a recording of the meeting. The standard setting process was reviewed, a discussion of minimally qualified candidates was facilitated, and definitions and item ratings were presented and discussed. Panel members were assigned to either the General (Core) certification or to one of the six specialty certifications and were given two weeks to complete all of their ratings. Raters were asked to rate the entire new item bank for their assigned certification. To protect the integrity of the exam, this exercise was conducted using the standard setting tool in the secure, online Surpass platform.
Once the final ratings were collected, the psychometric team calculated the mean rating (estimated item difficulty; the item p-value under Classical Test Theory) for each item and examined overall rater agreement. Overall rater agreement was strong. Of the nine raters assigned to one specialty area, only one rater’s average cut score fell below two standard deviations of the mean and was, therefore, excluded from the exercise. All other estimated cut scores for each certification fell within two standard deviations of the mean and were retained.
Further, the item mean ratings of all but 68 items across all seven certifications were within two standard deviations of the overall mean of these ratings. The 68 items identified as not having rater agreement were flagged for revision by subject matter experts in the future and none of these items were included in the form assembly of the new exams. In addition to their ratings, SMEs were able to provide comments as they reviewed and rated items. These comments were used to further refine item quality.
Based on the ratings of the items and the approved exam blueprint, two (2) forms of each exam were engineered. The psychometric consultants used the predicted difficulty of the items to determine combinations of items to assemble two forms with similar overall difficulty while ensuring that the content matched the approved exam blueprint.
