CompTIA, Inc.

Who owns CompTIA?
Since 2025, the CompTIA brand and certification business are owned by private equity firms H.I.G. Capital and Thoma Bravo. The legacy 501(c)(6) member association was separated from the commercial business as part of the transaction.

Is CompTIA a nonprofit?
Not anymore for the certification business. CompTIA operated as a nonprofit trade association from 1982 until 2025, when its brand and commercial certification operations were sold to private equity owners and became a for-profit company.

Is CompTIA publicly traded?
No. It is privately held by its two sponsor owners and has no listed shares.

What certifications does CompTIA offer?
Its best-known credentials are A+, Network+ and Security+, alongside CySA+, PenTest+, Cloud+, Data+, CASP+ (SecurityX) and others, covering support, networking, security, cloud and data skills.

When was CompTIA founded?
The Computing Technology Industry Association was formed on 1 January 1982 from the merger of two computer dealer associations.

How many CompTIA certifications exist?
More than four million CompTIA certifications have been awarded over the program's lifetime, according to owner Thoma Bravo, making it the largest vendor-neutral IT credentialing program.

Where is CompTIA headquartered?
The company is headquartered at 3500 Lacey Road, Downers Grove, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

The Computing Technology Industry Association formed on 1 January 1982 through the merger of two earlier dealer associations, ABCD and the National Association of Computer Dealers. For its first decade it functioned as a conventional trade group serving computer resellers and distributors.

The transformative decision came in 1993 when the association launched the A+ certification, a vendor-neutral credential for PC technicians created because member companies needed a common benchmark for hiring. A+ took off through the 1990s dot-com hiring boom and passed one million credential holders by 2014. Network+ and Security+ followed, and Security+ became the association's most valuable product after the US Department of Defense approved it under Directive 8570/8140 for its workforce.

Through the 2000s and 2010s CompTIA expanded internationally, opened an EMEA headquarters in London and offices in Australia, India, Japan and South Africa, and absorbed rival bodies: TechAmerica's advocacy functions in 2014 and the Association of Information Technology Professionals in 2017. It established the Creating IT Futures nonprofit foundation in 1998 to fund workforce programs. Headquarters consolidated at a purpose-built campus in Downers Grove, Illinois, in 2010.

The decisive transaction came on 4 November 2024, when H.I.G. Capital and Thoma Bravo announced a definitive agreement to acquire the CompTIA brand and its certification and training business. The deal closed in 2025, splitting the organization: the for-profit certification company went to the private equity buyers, while the 501(c)(6) membership association separated and continued independently. Financial terms were not disclosed; the for-profit business was widely estimated to sell for several billion dollars.

Under new ownership through 2025 and 2026 the company refreshed its certification roadmap around cybersecurity, data and AI skills, added apprenticeship and employer-partnership programs, and expanded proctored online testing.

CompTIA certifications hold ANSI/ISO 17024 accreditation, the credentialing industry's quality standard, and several are approved under US Department of Defense Directive 8140 for cybersecurity workforce qualification. The organization has repeatedly appeared on industry lists of top certification programs, and its research reports are routinely cited in technology workforce policy discussions.

The 2025 sale attracted industry debate over whether a member-founded nonprofit's flagship credentials should be owned by private equity, with critics questioning whether exam pricing and renewal fees would be pushed for returns. The company committed to maintaining ANSI accreditation and existing employer recognition. Beyond that, its public record contains no major regulatory sanctions; disputes are limited to routine exam-security and test-center service complaints.