Funding Suggestions

For students who qualify for U.S. National Championship

Qualifying for the U.S. National Championship is a big deal! While the U.S. National Championship conference pass and food are free for all students and one chaperone, the hotel and travel to the championship must be funded by the attendees. In 2024, it’s estimated that for flights (depending on the student’s location) and hotel costs ($165 per night), it could cost around $1,000 for a student to travel to the U.S. National Championship. However, Certiport has a guide to help students fund their trip so that they can compete at the championship. If a student took their qualifying exam at an academic institution, they should work with their education and administrators to get fundraising activities approved by their Associate Student Body (ASB), Booster Club, or any other appropriate group.

Academic Institution Funding

Many academic institutions have funding available to pay for travel to the championships. Work with an educator to reach out to administrators to see if there is a budget allocated to help travel to the event.

Certiport Travel Scholarship

Certiport offers travel scholarships to select students. Students must qualify for the U.S. National Championship and complete the application form to apply. Application forms will be sent directly to students after they receive their official invitation.

Go Fund Me

Go Fund Me offers various donors an opportunity to support students’ travel to the U.S. National Championships. Students can create a digital fundraiser that can easily be shared on social media and found by donors looking to support competitors. Students should describe what the competition is, why they want to attend, and how it will make a difference in their academic and professional careers.

When creating a Go Fund Me page, ensure to have the full name of the event in the title (“Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship” or “Certiport’s Adobe Certified Professional U.S. National Championship”), as this will help donors find their page more easily.

Partner with local businesses

Local businesses are often looking for opportunities to sponsor and support their communities. Start by brainstorming a list of potential sponsors in your area. This can be done by reaching out to parents and guardians to see if they have or know of a business that would like to sponsor, using the school’s social media pages or newsletters to request a sponsor, writing an article for a local newspaper, or creating flyers using to hand out to local companies. When proposing why businesses should sponsor the student, students can highlight that:

• They were a top scoring student on the certification exam in the state
• Each year the student championships generate attention from national and local news channels
• By attending the championship, the student can earn scholarships and an invitation to attend the World Championship

Local Fundraisers

Local fundraisers provide students with an opportunity to raise money while offering something back to their community. To start, the student must first decide what type of fundraiser they would like to do. Some options include (but are not limited to):

Get creative and involve the community! Students should choose a fundraiser that feels important to them. Once they decide on a what kind of fundraiser, they should advertise it, so the community knows to show up and support. They can advertise through social media, local newspapers, school newsletters, or word of mouth.

Please reach out to ACPChampionship@pearson.com with any questions regarding costs or funding.