The INCOSE Certification Program recognizes multiple verification methods for an applicant's knowledge of the Systems Engineering Handbook. One method is the knowledge exam. Another method is to recognize assessments done as part of a university program. Academic Equivalencies (AcEqs) are this second path.

A university considering having its students' schoolwork credited toward the INCOSE knowledge exam should first review the information INCOSE has posted online. There are both administrative and technical requirements that can be met in parallel.

Administratively, a university must be a member of the INCOSE Academic Council or international equivalent. They must also sign an agreement with INCOSE about the execution of the AcEq. 

The technical requirements for AcEq approval are captured as a compliance checklist. INCOSE provides a template listing learning objectives (LOs) and asks a university to complete the list by describing which courses and which assessment methods are used against each LO. The most challenging part of this task for most universities is that they are used to describing what they teach, not what they assess. It is acceptable to INCOSE that a university assesses against topics they do not teach, but it is not acceptable to lecture on a required topic but to leave that topic unassessed.