An information technology (IT) certification. The certificate in data processing requires several years of IT experience before students can begin the prerequisite coursework. In order to obtain this designation, one must get a recommendation from a current designee and complete a rigorous six-part exam. All of the sections must be completed with a passing grade on each review exam before the CDP is awarded to the student.
The certificate in data processing exams cover such topics as hardware, telecommunications, operating systems, programming and other aspects of data processing. This program originally focused almost solely on IBM components. However, it has been modified over time to include several other operating systems as well.