Novell Readies American Students for "Top 10 Careers" with "Real-world,
Leading-edge" Training, Certification Opportunities

"NEAP" Program Rolls Out To High Schools, Colleges Across The Country

FETC -- February 20, 1996 -- This weekend Novell officially rolled out its
Novell Education Academic Partner (NEAP) program to educators at the
Florida Education Technology Conference. Novell goes "full thrust" with
its NEAP program by enabling high school as well as college students to
prepare for current work skills in information technology (IT) jobs that
are numbered in the "top 10 careers" by Money Magazine.

With Novell's new NEAP-Secondary program, any non-profit secondary or high
school level audience can prepare for Novell's globally-recognized
technical certification, the Certified Novell Administrator (CNA), in the
classroom via authorized training in participating secondary schools. The
CNA certification is less than three years old, yet has grown to more than
94,000 certified individuals worldwide.

NEAP-Secondary builds off the strength of the original NEAP program. Formed
in 1992, the NEAP program was Novell's and the entire IT industry's
pioneer training program for bringing vendor training to colleges,
universities and trade schools. The NEAP program has since grown to more
than 150 schools worldwide. An authorized education partnership with
Novell, the NEAP program focuses on both the CNA and CNE certifications.
CNE is Novell's pioneer IT certification, and since its inception in 1989,
has become the global standard for service and support and a common global
requirement for many networking jobs. There are currently 78,000 CNEs
worldwide.

"Certification changes people's lives, and the NEAP and NEAP-Secondary
programs give students the opportunity to best prepare for the job market
with real-world, leading-edge training in some of the fastest-growing
careers of the decade, network support and administration," said Gary
Clark, Director of Certification and Authorization Programs for Novell.

Money Magazine's "Money Forecast '96" lists three of the nation's "top 10
careers" as networking-technology related, indicating the need for
individuals to service, support and administer Novell networks. Novell is
the networking leader with global market share estimated at 70-plus
percent.

Computer education and training are high on the nation's agenda. The
Education Technology Initiative was a key topic in President Bill
Clinton's 1996 State of the Union Address, stating that every classroom
and every library in the entire nation will be connected to the
"information superhighway," with computers, software, and well-trained
teachers by the year 2000.

Program Endorsements

Virginia Beach City Public Schools have participated in Novell's
NEAP-Secondary pilot program since 1994. "The opportunities that resulted
for students with Novell's CNA training have been incredible," said Jim
Barger, Coordinator of Business and Marketing for Virginia Beach City
Public Schools. "The students that passed the CNA exam were hired over
non-certified individuals for IT jobs because of the clout of their
certification and their hands-on networking experience. Some students are
even working at higher-level part-time jobs while attending college
because of their CNA certifications, and a few have started their own
businesses in the computer technology field."

As with many state and federal governments and private companies, the state
of Utah uses the CNE and CNA certifications as a basis for hiring in
Utah.

"Novell's NEAP-Secondary program provides a pipeline for students to get
the training, resources and industry certifications early enough to
compete in today's job market and gain access to well-paying careers,"
said Dr. Scott W. Bean, State Superintendent of Public Instruction for
Utah State of Education. "Our goal is to have every high school in the
state of Utah up and running with the NEAP-Secondary program within three
years.

Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) became the first NEAP in 1992
and offers both the CNE and CNA curriculums. WITC has since become a
recognized leader of network training in the state, providing meaningful
industry-recognized skills and certification for its graduates, according
to Ted Simpson, Computer Information Systems Instructor at WITC and NEAP
program implementer.

Program Offerings

Participating schools must apply and meet certain criteria to participate
in both the NEAP and NEAP-Secondary programs.

Program benefits include:

  use of Novell-authorized training and curriculum.
  multimedia-based training.
  Novell Education training discount vouchers for full-time faculty.
  free test vouchers for full-time faculty.
  academic software licensing.
  seminars, conferences and special events.

No program fee is required, however an initial NEAP Starter Kit must be
purchased for $895 (NEAP), and $695 (NEAP-Secondary). Schools interested
in participating in the NEAP and NEAP-Secondary programs should call (800)
824-5179.

Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading network software provider.
Novell software provides the infrastructure for a networked world,
enabling our customers to connect with other people and the information
they need, anytime and anyplace. Novell partners with other technology and
market leaders to help customers make networks a part of their everyday
lives.

Press Contact:
Jennifer J. Johnson
Novell, Inc.
(801) 222-7734 (voice)
(801) 222-7777 (fax)
jjohnson@novell.com (Internet)

Program Endorsers:
Jim Barger
Coordinator of Business and Marketing
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
(804) 426-5724 (office)
(804) 651-0132 (voice mail)

Ted Simpson
CIS Instructor
Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College
(715) 234-7082 (office)
 
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