The SFMA Turfgrass Science Certification continues to prepare learners for careers while expanding its reach through secondary education, higher education, and workforce development.
SFMA recently shared its Turfgrass Science Certification report, which highlighted certification growth, geographic reach, state approvals, educational partnerships, and key initiatives from the past year.
SFMA utilizes iCEV as the certification testing platform to fulfill the following responsibilities:
- Provides secure testing technology for certification exams
- Regulates testing environment
- The proctoring guidelines are designed to protect the integrity of the certification exam. Testing must be proctored, and referencing any study material is strictly prohibited. Re-tests, if needed, are available with remediation and remuneration.
- Works with Secondary and Post-Secondary academic institutions, workforce development associations, and the public at large to offer certification options for career advancement.
- Provides certification verification to employers for potential job applicants
- Offers certification exam preparation materials built at 150 instructional hours
The certification is available to anyone at any stage of their education or career. The largest population of certification earners is high school CTE students because industry certifications are a way to measure “career readiness,” which is required by all school districts nationally.
During the 2025-26 school year, 461 people earned certification. The top-performing states for 2025-26 were Texas, California and Florida.
SFMA Certification state approvals are currently as follows:
- Arizona
- Delaware
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New York
- New Mexico: (credit for prior learning at NMSU ACES College)
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
Why are industry certifications important in secondary education?
A certification can remain on a student’s resume for years and serves as a recognized signal of knowledge and skills to employers. Earning a certification while still in school allows students to graduate with a credential in addition to a diploma, helping employers identify qualified candidates and potentially reducing onboarding time. Additionally, because certifications are used as a way of measuring career readiness, and because this is usually financially incentivized on the federal and/or state level, programs of study can get cut from school offerings if there’s no way to prove career readiness at the end of the program of study. This is where the certification comes in for states/school districts.
How does the certification get implemented in secondary education?
Some (not all) state departments of education and workforce like to endorse certifications before students in their state obtain them. This means that though the certification is available to anyone, anytime, we also want on these “state-approved certification lists” to increase exposure and earner numbers. More certification earners mean more qualified job candidates.
The Impact of This Certification:
Reach & Educational Impact
- iCEV serves nearly 4 million students nationwide.
- iCEV’s largest customer audience is HS CTE, but also serves corrections, for-and-non-credit higher education, workforce, homeschool, and one-off individuals.
- iCEV curriculum is aligned to state standards, making the curriculum we built in collaboration with SFMA what teachers are already being asked to teach.
Testing & Learner Support
- Certification preparation, practice testing, and certification testing occur within the same platform.
- iCEV certifies all educators free of charge.
- iCEV manages testing accommodations for all 504/IEP/medical need/ELL learners.
Quality & Accessibility
- This certification is evaluated by a psychometrician at least every 3 years.
- SFMA has the opportunity to review the certification exam every 3 years.
- Certification preparation materials are available in any language via Google Translate.
- The certification exam has been professionally translated into Spanish by bilingual industry professionals.
Marketing & Growth
- iCEV pursues state endorsement opportunities and manages relationships with state departments of education and workforce agencies.
- iCEV pursues higher education recognition opportunities, including credit for prior learning, prior learning assessment, and dual credit.
- iCEV attends events on your behalf and provides marketing materials and talking points.
- iCEV awards plaques to schools with 10 or more certification earners.
- iCEV provides a free “Now That I’m Certified, What’s Next?” resource for certification earners.
- iCEV manages certification records, verifying certification status for employers