Certificate Service Annual Fee Schedule

The InCommon Certificate Service provides unlimited certificates for US higher education for one fixed annual fee–including SSL, extended validation, client (personal), and code-signing certificates.

New fees

In July 2024, Internet2 renewed its agreement with Sectigo, our underlying provider for the InCommon Certificate service. For the first time since the service was established, the renewal presents a significant increase in the cost of providing this offering to the community. Fees will increase effective April 1, 2025. Please Note: The 2025 fee increase for your organization is effective on the anniversary date of your subscription beginning on April 1st.

We remain committed to providing you with exceptional value and service, and continue to keep a pulse on community needs and the changing dynamics across research and education and the supplier space.

How does this affect your institution?

The fee changes that take effect April 1, 2025 are outlined in the chart below.

• For higher education institutions, InCommon certificate annual fee levels are determined by Basic Carnegie classifications. You can cross-check those classifications (numbered 1 through 6) in the second chart below, or look up your institution’s classification. 
• Do you have multiple campuses? We have developed special pricing for multi-campus organizations.
  
  

New Fee Schedule Starting April 1, 2025

Basic Carnegie Classification

Special pricing for multi-campus universities

We have developed special pricing for multi-campus organizations (those essentially operating as a single unit). Such universities must subscribe as a single entity, with a subscriber addendum signed by an appropriate official on behalf of all campuses.

InCommon will then provision up to three authorized users (Registration Authority Officers or RAOs) who will be able to further delegate authorization to individual campuses.

Determining the cost for a multi-campus university

1. Determine the Carnegie classification of each of your campuses.
2. Locate the Carnegie classification types on the fee chart above and find the matching certificate levels.

If your multi-campus university includes campuses in Certificate Level 1 or Level 2

1. Each Level 1 and Level 2 campus pays the full price listed on the chart above.
2. There is no additional charge for the first three (3) Level 3, 4, or 5 campuses in your multi-campus organization.
3. You receive a 50 percent discount for additional Level 3, 4, and 5 campuses beyond the first three.
4. Any Level 6 campuses are complimentary, as is the system office (if you have one).
5. If any of your Level 1 or Level 2 campuses are Internet2 members, your multi-campus organization is eligible for the 25 percent Internet2 member discount.

If your multi-campus organization includes no Level 1 or Level 2 campuses:

1. All Level 3, Level 4, Level 5, and Level 6 campuses receive a 50 percent discount
2. If 25 percent of your campuses are Internet2 members (or the system office is a member), all campuses receive the 25 percent Internet2 member discount.

In all cases, the entity administratively responsible for managing the certificates must join InCommon.

Research and Education Regional Networks…

…and other qualifying non-Carnegie classified organizations in the United States

Not-for-profit regional research and education networking organizations with primary offices in the United States that are not housed within an otherwise eligible educational institution may join this program by paying an annual fee of $2,000. No further discounts are applicable to this fee. In all cases, participation in this program is solely to allow the organization to acquire certificates for staff within that organization and for servers and services operated directly by the organization. Participation explicitly excludes the ability for the organization to issue certificates to affiliated organizations and individuals or to resell the service to members of the organization. This fee also applies to any non-Carnegie classified organizations that qualify for participation (i.e., organizations in the United States who currently have a .edu domain). All participating organizations must still join InCommon as is required for all participants in this program.

Principles in establishing the annual fees

The fee schedule was discussed and approved by the InCommon Steering Committee. The following five principles are core to the fee schedule:

• Financially viable. The program must be financially viable and cover its costs. The key assumption of the financial model of the program’s viability was based on the assumption of significant and early uptake by the larger institutions (Carnegie Very High and High). While these institutions shoulder more of the cost, the value remains considerable as they stand to save the most in an unlimited certificate issuance service.
• Affordability. We hope this certificate service generates a new era of cross-campus, personal certificate usage. For the broadest network affect on behalf of the research and education community, the program needs to be affordable to both very small and very large institutions, relative to their ability to pay.
• Simplicity and Complexity. While the goal is to create a simple fee schedule, university systems are complex and require subtle distinctions for the sake of fairness across our community’s diverse structures. Using an external classification system for campuses creates an objective and well understood measure. Levels create a relatively simple structure that balances simplicity with an equitable ability to pay. For systems of universities, there are additional, real cost savings to the certificate program by allowing campus systems to participate as a single entity. We can create incentives for campuses to sign-up as part of a larger system while remaining true to the spirit of providing an equitably costed service across the community. We realize that no fee system can capture all of the diverse demographics in university systems across the nation. Even so, we are committed to recognizing this important structure and dealing with systems in a unified and transparent manner.
• Innovation and Savings. If the program gets roughly 25% participation by the Very High and High campuses, it will cover its costs. If we are moderately more successful, the excess revenue over cost will be used to help fund and accelerate deployment of existing and future InCommon services.
• Flexibility. There may be a system or organization that falls outside of the certificate fee schedule’s parameters. InCommon may need to negotiate arrangements that follow the spirit if not the letter of the above principles.

Quick links

Need to have your password reset or get Sectigo support? Want to find subscribers or refer to the fee schedule? Use these resources to get you started.

• Types of certificates (wiki)
• Certificate Service Subscribers
• Fee schedule
• SSO and Multifactor Authentication for the Certificate Service
• Certificate Service Support
• Certificate Service document repository
• Certificate Manager password reset
• Certificate Manager login (external link)