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Certification Programs

We offer several options for certification in Coastal Navigation, Celestial Navigation, Radar, Weather, and Electronic Chart Navigation. Our certification is recognized worldwide. We have been a leader in navigation certification for decades. Starpath certification is achieved by taking a special test at the end of the associated course. Instructor certification includes an extra test and interview.

Beyond our own certification program, and our ASA certification program, Starpath courses and certification tests are also designed to prepare students for similar tests from other agencies. We offer the unique resource of helping students arrange to take the appropriate tests from other agencies after completing our courses. These other certifications typically require proctored exams, which can often be given in your local library if you do not have an appropriate facility nearby. These certifications would be offered through the agencies involved, not Starpath. We have worked with several agencies for many years offering this unique service. It is especially valuable if you need a certification from one of these agencies, but the required agency course is not available from one of their affiliates at the time you need it. Our Online courses will meet all of these requirements.

Read about the difference between licensing and certification and the values of certification, along with notes on other agencies offering certification.

Procedure

The Starpath certificates can be obtained after completing our Online home study courses. This certification requires that you have completed the Online course with an accumulated average of 70% on the individual required quizzes in the courses. The optional and special quizzes and exercises are not required. Also, you must achieve a 75% score on our certification test that you work at home.

We do not offer Certification without Online course completion.

Step 1. When doing the courses, save your work, and do not erase the charts or plotting sheets for all lessons. This will be your best source for review for the certification test. It is also the best way to document your work later on if that might be useful.

Step 2. At the end of the course, purchase the certificate application and we will provide you with all instructions on where you can download and print the test. You can use any materials or references you like, but you should do your own work. This test will take approximately 4 to 6 hours to complete. It need not be done at one time, you have 30 days to complete the test. If your webcard is set to expire in under 30 days, you will be provided with a 30 day extension when you purchase the certification. The Inland and Coastal Nav test is worked on the same chart we use for the course. The celestial test uses the same almanac pages as used in the course.

Step 3. When the test is done and you have double checked your answers, be sure to save your work or take a cell phone picture of any part of the solution that requires a computation or plot, so this will be available if requested. There is also a place to include a list of any questions or comments on your answers that might have arisen during the test. We provide signed logbook stickers for Starpath certification.

Step 4. We will score the exam, provide the solutions, and answer questions that may have arisen during the test. If the 75% score has been achieved, we will record your certification and deliver your certificate and stickers by the method of your choice. The certificate is a diploma stating the name of the course, your unique certification number, signed by an instructor.

If you do not make the 75% score on the first try, the instructor will offer you a few extra questions to solve in the problem areas.

Note to ASA students: When you purchase our course from the ASA directly, their fee includes the certification fee; you do not need to purchase the certification. After completing your last course quiz, the instructor notifies the office, which in turn unlocks the certification quiz for you and sends instructions. Once completed, your score is passed onto the ASA and they update your Online records, normally on the same weekday, and then in a week or so they ship out the logbook stickers to you.

Note to ASA instructors working on an IQC. When purchased at the ASA there are no extra fees to complete the IQC, but there can be extra exercises to complete along with a personal interview. See prerequisites here.