1/8/2003 -- Active duty military personnel, veterans and their family members can now use Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) education benefits to cover the costs of Microsoft Office Specialist certification exams, Microsoft announced last month.

The eligibility applies to all Office Specialist exams, Microsoft said. According to the announcement, benefits may apply retroactively for exams taken on or after November 2001, and individuals do not have to pass the exam to qualify for the reimbursement.

Microsoft's Office Specialist program certifies a candidate's skills in one or more of the company's Office products, including Word, Excel and Access. Office Specialist exams vary in price depending on testing center, but generally cost around $70 each.

Office Specialist is the just the latest certification to qualify for these benefits; Microsoft's professional certifications, as well as those from Cisco, CompTIA, Novell, Sybase and others, have also received such approval.

In other Office Specialist news, the American Council on Education recently certified passage of the XP exam to count as one semester hour of college credit.

More information on the Microsoft Office Specialist program and these announcements can be found here. - B.N.