Prices for Microsoft certification exams have been increased US$25, to US$125. The change will slightly increase costs for Microsoft partners that are required to have a certain number of certified professionals on staff. The increase applies to all exams worldwide and is the first increase in exam prices in North America since Microsoft introduced its Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) program in 1992. Exam prices in some other countries were last increased in 1999. Microsoft exams are administered in North America by independent testing organizations Prometric and VUE, which share the exam fee with Microsoft. More information about Microsoft exams is available at www.microsoft.com/traincert/mcpexams.