FedVTE Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create a new account?
To create a new account, use this link.

Who manages FedVTE?
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Cybersecurity & Communications, Cybersecurity Education and Awareness (CE&A) branch manages the FedVTE program. FedVTE is administered through an interagency agreement with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and is supported by the Department of Defense's Defense Information Systems Agency through generous course development initiatives.

What is the benefit of FedVTE?
FedVTE helps train current and future government cybersecurity professionals, as well as U.S. veterans. To ensure a secure cyberspace, we must develop a technologically skilled workforce and an effective pipeline of future employees.

Who can take FedVTE training?
FedVTE courses range from beginning to advanced level cybersecurity courses. Check with your Department or Agency to determine if there are specific training requirements (e.g., DoD 8570, etc.) that you must adhere to.

Who should take this training?
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Cybersecurity & Communications, Cybersecurity Education and Awareness (CE&A) branch manages the FedVTE program. FedVTE is administered through an interagency agreement with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and is supported by the Department of Defense's Defense Information Systems Agency through generous course development initiatives.

If I used the older FedVTE system (before February 2015), was my old FedVTE account information (certificates, course progress, completions, etc.) transferred to the new FedVTE site?
Your old account information was retired on February 13, 2015, when the previous FedVTE system closed. The current FedVTE system (launched on May 4, 2015) has no record of your previous activity.

Which email address should I use to register on FedVTE?
Use your official government (.gov, .mil, or .fed.us) email address. If you are a government contractor or State, local, tribal, and territorial government employee who does not have a .gov, .mil, or .fed.us email address, use the email address you use for official government business. Once the system recognizes that you are not using a pre-approved government email address, you will be prompted with further instructions. For veteran accounts, see Veterans question below.

How do I reset my password?
Click on the Profile link in the navigation bar to update your password.
If you aren't able to login to your account, click on 'I forgot my password' on the login page, then enter your email address and click on "lost password." Enter the answer to your security question, then click on "Reset password" to have an email sent to you with a password reset link.

How can I update my name or email address in the system?
In order to switch from your previous email to your current email, you will have to create a new account with your current email at https://fedvte.usalearning.gov/register.php



Upon creation of your second account, please give us a call at:
(202) 753-0845 within the Washington, DC area or toll free at (833) 200-0035 Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM EST, except holidays.

Can contractors with .gov, .mil, or .fed.us email addresses receive training via FedVTE?
Yes, contractors supporting the government are often required to obtain certifications to perform their duties, and thus are able to access FedVTE training using their .gov, .mil, or .fed.us email addresses.

How will the self-registration process work for contractors without .gov, .mil, or .fed.us email addresses?
When registering, government contractors who do not have a .gov, .mil, or .fed.us email address will be prompted to enter a government sponsor's email address to approve their account. That government sponsor will then receive an email from the system requesting them to approve the account. Once approved, the government contractor will be able to continue normal registration procedures.

Can I use a non-government email address to register?
Only if you are a government (federal, state, local, tribal or territorial) employee, a U.S. veteran, or a federal government contractor who does not hold a .gov, .mil, or .fed.us email address. Keep in mind, a federal government sponsor will be required to approve a contractor's account. For veteran accounts, see the veterans question below.

Who will be required to approve my request for access if my sponsor does not have a government email address?
Examples of a Government Sponsor who can approve your account can include your contract's COR/COTR (pronounced "core" or "cotar"), Government task lead, or Government Program Manager.

How long is the wait time for approval?
Approval time varies and depends on the Government approver. As soon as the approver selects the approval link, the user will instantaneously receive an email from the system to continue the registration process.

Can the general public register on this site and take courses?
No, these courses are not available to the general public.

Can veterans take courses on FedVTE?
Yes, U.S. veterans can take courses on FedVTE. The Hire Our Heroes website is no longer operational. If you are a veteran of a US military service, please use the veteran signup option. Your account will be subject to review by the Department of Veterans Affairs and potentially fraudulent accounts will be removed at their request.

What is the process for personnel from State, local, tribal, and territorial governments to obtain a FedVTE account? I work for a government organization that does not have a .gov email address.
If your State, local, tribal, or territorial (SLTT) government is one of the 700+ member organizations of the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), your email domain extension has already been added to the FedVTE system as an accepted email. SLTT government personnel from non- MSISAC member organizations may also begin the account creation process using their official government email address. The system will send a message to the MS-ISAC for approval. The MS-ISAC will then then review and manually approve personnel from non-MS-ISAC member organizations. SLTT government personnel can contact info@msisac.org with any account approval questions.

I am an administrator for my agency/department and I need to track my users completions on FedVTE How can I do this?
If you are an administrator, please note that access policies have changed. A function will be provided by 8/15/2020 to allow users to email their completed transcript courses directly to you in CSV format from the Transcript page within FedVTE.

How do I register for a course once I'm in the FedVTE system?
Once you log in, hover over the word "Courses" at the top of your screen. Clicking "All Courses" will take you to a list of all courses available to you on the FedVTE site. On this page, clicking the blue "Start Course" button to the right of the course will take you to a description of the course. If you would like to start the course click "Start Course" and you will be taken to the course.

Once you have started a course, you can return to it by clicking "Transcript" at the top of your page and clicking "Resume Course" to the right of the course.

I don't see DISA courses on "My Courses", how do I gain access to those courses?
The ACAS and HBSS courses will now be offered through the DoD Cyber Defense Training Cloud (https://cdtc.cert.org).
At the request of the Program Managers for these tools at DISA, the ACAS and HBSS course are no longer available through FedVTE as of July 31st, 2016. Progress was not transitioned, so completed modules will need to be re-completed in the new system. For more information regarding the transition of the DISA courses from FedVTE to the Cyber Defense Training Cloud (https://cdtc.cert.org), please contact the site administrator using the contact information listed below:
Email: pctc-support@cert.org.

How frequently will new courses be added to the new system?
New courses will be added to FedVTE on a rolling basis as they are updated or newly developed.

Is course progress tracked within the system?
Yes, course modules which have been started are denoted by a green button to the left of each module title within a course. However, if you start a module, leave it, and come back, the system does not track where you left off in the video. Fast Forward and Rewind capability is available within each course module.

How can a FedVTE user tell which courses (or in which order) they are supposed to take?
Always check with your Department or Agency to determine if there are specific training requirements (DoD 8570, etc.) that you must adhere to. You can also download the FedVTE Training Catalog and FedVTE Training Pathway Guide which may help you better navigate which courses to take and in which order. To learn more about various cybersecurity categories and specialty areas, take a look at the National Cybersecurity Workforce Framework at: www.niccs.us-cert.gov

Once I complete a course, will I be provided a certificate?
Yes, when you successfully complete courses on FedVTE, you will receive a FedVTE course completion certificate. The information learned from FedVTE's various certification prep courses will help prepare you to take various industry certification exams. Keep in mind that you must adhere to each individual certification provider's requirements including meeting experience requirements and paying any applicable fees.

Which courses can I take as part of my continuing education?
FedVTE courses range from beginner to advanced levels. Once you establish an account, please view the FedVTE Course Catalog and the Training Pathway Guide on the Welcome screen to see where you can get started. The documents can also be downloaded at: https://fedvte.usalearning.gov/pdf/FedVTE_Training_Catalog.pdf and https://fedvte.usalearning.gov/pdf/FedVTE_Training_Pathway_Guide.pdf

How many CEU's will one course satisfy?
FedVTE does not provide CEU or CPE credits. It is up to each certification body that you're seeking certification with, to determine if it will confer credit for FedVTE training (along with experience, and other factors) to count toward a certification. For example:

• CompTIA has reviewed the CompTIA FedVTE courses for continuing education (CE) credit and has pre-approved the courses. Please see: https://certification.comptia.org/docs/default-source/downloadablefiles/fedvtetraining-v8.pdf
• In addition, GIAC has approved our Security+, A+, and Network+ courses to qualify as accredited training, and confers 1 CPE per completed training hour. They will require a copy of the FedVTE course completion Certificate with any new online CPE submission.

Can I take FedVTE courses outside my Department or Agency? For example, on my personal computer at home?
Check with your Department or Agency regarding where you are authorized to take training. The courses are available outside your agency from the internet. It's always a good idea to coordinate your training plans with your supervisor.

My Department or Agency would like to load some of our courses to FedVTE. Is this possible? What is the accepted format?
Yes, we are actively seeking relevant and timely cybersecurity courses to upload to FedVTE. Each proposed course must be tested and vetted by the FedVTE team before being loaded to the system. The current accepted format is Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) 1.2. Other formats may be accepted on a limited, case-by-case basis.

How can I get technical support?
Contact the Help Desk. If you have any problems please call the Help Desk at (202) 753-0845 or toll-free at (833) 200-0035 Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM EST, except holidays. Report an issue to the Help Desk on-line or email the Help Desk at: support@usalearning.net to report an issue.

Will users be able to access the training materials on FedVTE from unclassified networks?
Yes, FedVTE is an unclassified system and only hosts unclassified courses.

I have been denied access to the site. What steps should be taken to grant my approval?
If you are a Federal contractor who was denied access to the site, it is advisable to make your "Government sponsor" aware of your request before entering their email address on the system as your Government sponsor. A Government Sponsor includes your COR/COTR (pronounced "core" or "cotar"), Government task lead, or Government Program Manager. That individual will be responsible for approving or disapproving your account.

If you are a State, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government employee whose request was denied, please first ensure that you are using your official Government email address to request access on the system. If you use a commercial email provider (gmail.com, yahoo.com, aol.com, comcast.net, etc.) you will be automatically denied because there is no way to confirm that you are actually affiliated with an SLTT government. If you have any questions please email info@msisac.org from your official Government email.

I forgot my security question and answer. How do I log back in?
Contact the Help Desk to regain access to FedVTE.

The text is very small. How can I enlarge it?
Use your internet browser's zoom feature.

Does it matter which Internet browser I use to access FedVTE?
No, the site and courses are tested for Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. No problems have been reported with other browsers.

Can I access FedVTE on an iPad, tablet, or smartphone?
The site and training are designed to be mobile device friendly and the courses deliver to a wide range of smart devices.

I did not receive the link to complete my registration. What do I do next?
Contact the Help Desk to have the activation email forwarded to you.

Can I contact the Help Desk after hours?
Yes, you can use the Help Desk link on the FedVTE site to create a ticket, email support@usalearning.net or leave a voice mail message at (202) 753-0845 or toll-free at (833) 200-0035 that will be responded to the next business morning.