SecProve
LeadershipVendor-neutralISO 17024ISACA· issued from US

CGEIT

Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT

Board / executive-level IT governance and investment oversight.

Official page at ISACA↔ Compare with another cert
Exam fee
$760
Ongoing
$45/yr AMF · 40 CPE/yr
Study time
100–200 hrs
Delivery
Test center
Validity
3 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

14.5 / 40

Four-axis SecProve rubric, each 0–10. SecProve editorial assessment — each axis carries a written justification so you can push back on any single call without dismissing the whole score.

Blueprint rigor
How well-defined and rigorous the exam blueprint is.
Five domains, but written at a board / portfolio altitude that's hard to test rigorously.
6.0/10
Practical evidence
Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.
No lab. Heavy reading load with case-study MCQs.
0.5/10
Currency & upkeep
How aggressively content is kept current with the field.
Updates trail the broader IT-governance landscape (COBIT cadence helps).
4.0/10
Market recognition
How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.
Recognised among CIOs and IT auditors but a niche signal outside that lane. [Holders: 12k, 2024-12]
4.0/10

› Market signals

public, citable inputs to the recognition score
Holders worldwide
12,000
as of 2024-12 · source

› Built for these roles

IT Director / VPCIO / Deputy CIOIT Governance ConsultantBoard IT advisor

› Exam format

150 multiple-choice questions over 4 hours, English. Pearson VUE proctored. Heavy on COBIT, portfolio prioritization, and benefits realization.

Passing score
450/800 (scaled)
Retake policy
Fee: $760 per attempt
Wait: 30d between attempts
Cap: 4 attempts/year

ISACA member $575 / non-member $760. Max 4 attempts per rolling 12-month window.

› Recertification

120 CPEs over the three-year cycle (avg 40/yr) plus the $45/yr ISACA member fee ($85/yr non-members).

› 3-year cost of ownership

Exam (1×)
$760
AMF (3×)
$135@$45/yr
Total
$895

Excludes study materials, training, retake risk, and lost-wage opportunity. Use as a floor estimate.

› NICE Framework work roles

The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.

OG-WRL-007OG-WRL-010OG-WRL-014
Recognition
GlobalUSEUUKDACH
Exam languages
en

› Core domains covered

The 2 domains this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.

A1Governance, Risk & Compliance

Risk frameworks (NIST RMF, ISO 31000, FAIR), policy development, audit, regulatory compliance, third-party risk.

A18Security Leadership

Cyber risk quantification, board communication, security program development, budget & ROI.

› Prerequisites

Experience

Five years of IT governance experience with at least one year in defining / establishing IT governance.

Knowledge assumed
  • IT governance frameworks (COBIT, ITIL)
  • Portfolio and benefits management
  • Board communication

› Progression

requiredrecommended

Where this cert fits in the typical learning path. Required edges are vendor-gated; recommended edges reflect de facto industry progression.

Required prereqs (0)

No vendor-gated prereqs.

Recommended priors (2)
CISAISACACISMISACA
CGEIT
ISACA
Required by (0)

No certs require this one.

Recommended next (0)

No follow-on certs reference this one yet.

› Study materials

Curated starting points. Not exhaustive — vet each against your learning style and the current exam version.

Official guides
Training providers
  • ISACA Official CGEIT Online Course
Practice tests
  • ISACA CGEIT QAE
Free / community

› Version & lifecycle

Current version
2020 job-practice analysis
Released
2020-12

Five domains. ISACA refresh cadence is ~5 years; expect a refresh ~2025–2026.

› Salary signal

IT governance lead / enterprise architect, US, 7+ years.

$130K–$190K
median $155K

ISACA Salary Survey + Robert Half Salary Guide · 2024 · US base only · p25–p75 range

› How it compares

vs
CISM

CGEIT is broader IT governance; CISM is security-program-specific. Different scopes, often complementary.

↔ Compare side-by-side

› Careers that commonly pursue this cert

CISO / Security Leader

Lead security strategy, communicate risk to the board, and build security programs. Executive-level cybersecurity leadership.

› Common exam traps to study

Cybersecurity cert exams reuse the same 25 distractor patterns over and over — category confusion, RTO vs RPO, IDS vs IPS, MD5 vs SHA-256, and more. Once you can name the trap, you stop falling for it. Each archetype page covers what it is, the specific pairs candidates confuse, and how to avoid it.

Browse all 25 cert-exam trapsStart with: BEST vs correct

See this cert’s domains highlighted on the interactive map, or compare it against the rest of the catalog.

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